How To Set Up An IPFS Node

PRIOR TO IPFS

Back in the nineties, the INTERNET used to be decentralized. It used to be thought of as the answer to government censorship and control. Now, increasingly, the web has began to become increasingly concentrated among a few websites. Many have proposed that http (and its cousin https) is permanently broken.

For example, currently websites like Facebook bow down to various Third World countries like the middle east, and specific Second World countries like Thailand. In one specific case, one person had their account deleted off of Facebook for mentioning the Thai King.

On Twitter, we have those of traditionally conservative, libertarian, and green party viewpoints blocked from accessing Twitter. A couple of well known activists include Roy Shestowitz and Caitlyn Johnstone. In fact, it is for people like them that I write this tutorial.

NAVIGATING AND SETTING UP

The first place we will arrive at is the website. Here you can choose to either watch the demonstration and explanation, or you can go ahead and download. Because I have experience downloading other protocols, I went ahead and downloaded my own copy of the software.

Before we navigate to the folder, there are some specific Linux commands we need to deploy

Before we navigate to the folder, there are some specific Linux commands we need to deploy. The website will generally suggest: ipfs init and ipfs readme. IPFS init will initialize your node and set up your private key. Once this is set up, the readme will give your an introduction to the platform. You can also gather other nodes using the command: ipfs swarm.

DAEMON, ADDING, AND PUBLISHING

Before I have you turn on the daemon (ipfs daemon), you need to develop a website that you want your readers to view as part of your author platform. Or whatever else you decide to use your website for. https://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp is a great start for learning basic html and css.

I never bothered to learn javascript, simply because it effects my ability to browse my page in text based web browsers like w3m. Once your web page is developed (my suggestion is to start with a basic static web page for testing purpose, so don't worry about being to elaborate) simply type this command in terminal:

ipfs add -r folder

Technically you can add individual files, but I've developed a habit of adding entire folders. You can decide whether you'd rather take the time to add files individually or as a whole depending on your needs.

Now to publish the page, simply type: ipfs name publish your base52 hash value here

Once this is done, simply wait till a seperate url is displayed in terminal: /ipfs/hash value

Note that because the file is on your computer, you can only send it to other people by sending it through a public gateway.

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