decentralized

 decentralized  is an adjective used to describe a system (often a network) where central authority is diminished, delegated, or possibly even eliminated (in that last case also known as fully decentralized or distributed ). The system or network can be any connected group: computers, people, governments. It is often misunderstood and misapplied.

Real World Misuse
The term is often used by monoculture social network (web or other) projects to at best inaccurately describe themselves (monoculture projects are centralized by definition, having a single point of failure of their particular implementation). When such mislabeled projects fail (e.g. Tent.io), they have the unintended consequence of teaching the market to expect anything labeled decentralized to fail.

Academic Definition
In a fully decentralized topology there is no one, true canonical definition of a concept. It is up to the individual node to determine what is and what is not "true".

Rohit Khare


Khare wrote in his thesis summary section 2.4 Definitions:


 * A centralized variable requires simultaneous agreement between a leader and all of its followers.
 * A distributed variable is determined by applying a shared decision function over all participants' inputs.
 * An estimated variable is in simultaneous agreement only a fraction of the time.
 * A decentralized variable is determined by applying a private assessment function over other trusted participants' variables (or estimates of those variables)

Khare wrote in his thesis Extending the REpresentational State Transfer (REST) Architectural Style for Decentralized Systems (2003) section 2.3.4 Decentralized:

"Decentralization is fundamentally different from either centralization or distribution because it permits multiple, distinct, simultaneously valid outcomes for the same decision. It also differs significantly from estimation, since several independent agents with their own estimates of a centralized or distributed variable can end up using multiple, distinct values at the same time, they are all attempting to recover a single outcome for the shared decision. In a consensus-free system, each agency’s updates merely represent its own opinion — and comparing more opinions from other, trusted agencies can increase the accuracy of one’s own opinion. The statistical premise behind this is that the errors of each agency are independent: they can’t all conspire against you. Thus, a hallmark of decentralization is its specific emphasis on agency conflicts — a shift from matters of fact to matters of opinion."

Example Chat Topologies
INDIEWEB = //indieweb.org OFFICIAL_CHAT = //chat.indieweb.org/indieweb ALICE_CHAT = //alice.example/chat/indieweb BOB_CHAT = //bob.example/chat/indieweb

Centralized
Alice signs in to  and posts a message to. Copies can be backfed to her own site.

Distributed
is the canonical resource for the "IndieWeb primary chat channel". Alice may reference this resource on her own  using. This would imply that her channel is a non-canonical alternate for the true IndieWeb's version. She posts to her own site, publishes them to   and from there her message is relayed to all other participants, all of whom respect the message as true and correct (author, content, timestamp). Bob renders Alice's message on his own.

Estimated
Take the distributed example above but instead of relaying through  Alice delivers the message directly to each participant directly. Bob checks  to see if   is listed before accepting and rendering her message on his own chat   (80% certainty). If this is the first time Bob sees Alice he may grey her text for the first hour until she's proven a trustworthy participant (95% certainty).

Note that in this public case a fair estimation can be made easily and the risks of failure are low. Consider alternatively a private chat where you risk revealing sensitive information with Alice before fully trusting her.

Decentralized
In this case you can remove  completely. Alice posts to her own site. Bob joins the channel by posting to his own site  and publishing to Alice directly. It is entirely up to Alice to determine if Bob is a trusted participant of the channel. If she decides that Bob is not to be trusted, she can squelch his publishes. When Carol joins she chooses who to trust.

Note that Tina from the IndieWeb can share trust information on new participants allowing for some degree of centralized trust in an otherwise decentralized topology.

Note that it is a certainty that a chat channel with tens, let alone thousands or millions, of participants will diverge over time as a consequence.

Decentralization and the web

 * https://twitter.com/timClicks/status/1463232958848929793
 * "If you are into decentralized systems, then learn web 1.0 not web3" @timClicks November 23, 2021
 * https://twitter.com/danyork/status/1463273746605780992
 * "THIS! The web (1.0) was & still IS extremely decentralized. Anyone can set up a web server. Anywhere. Anyone can own all their own content. They can literally own their hardware and #InternetAccess.  Or they can host their content anywhere.  They *can* own it all, BUT...  1/" @danyork November 23, 2021

Focus may make things worse

 * Thread: https://twitter.com/pfrazee/status/1348415859707023362
 * "Yo, decentralizers. If our projects are ONLY about censorship resistance and NOT about better algorithms for elevating truth, and NOT about creating constrained but real powers of moderation, then we're making things worse. 1/n" @pfrazee January 10, 2021

Distraction from user-problems
undefined: "Decentralization" is describes a type of architecture rather than any actual user problems being solved. As such, "decentralization" as a focus can be a techno-centric distraction from solving actual user problems.
 * 2018-07-17 Don Norman in Fast Company: Why bad technology dominates our lives, according to Don Norman "We must change our mind-set from being technology-centric to become people-centric. Instead of starting with the technology and attempting to make it easy to understand and use, let us take human capabilities, and use the technology to expand our abilities. We need to return to one of the core properties of human-centered design: solve the fundamental issues in people’s lives."

Abstract Jargon
undefined: The term "decentralization" is abstract jargon and has very little meaning to people who are not actively working in or following technology.

Vulnerable to hype sales
undefined: As an abstract term, "decentralization" is vulnerable to a two-step sales manipulation of:
 * 1) Hype the abstract word/concept/label to create emotional desire & attachment to it;
 * 2) Brand your project, plumbing, startup with that word/concept, perhaps even as "the" example of it, to get people to promote/buy/invest in it.

Negative framing
undefined: The very term "decentralization" is a negative framing, it is about not being centralized. Such a negative framing is more focused on tearing something down, than it is about building something useful.

Relation to cryptocurrency

 * https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/106987830364525291
 * "It's frustrating how cryptocurrency has poisoned all conversation about decentralization." @Gargron September 24, 2021

Dismantling fake decentralization

 * Stephen Diehl:
 * Decentralized Woo Hoo
 * The Handwavy Technobabble Nothingburger

Plumbing vs Architecture vs Use-cases
Which is more effective? Focusing on
 * 1) plumbing (any specific technology) or
 * 2) architecture ("decentralized" is a particular architectural approach) or
 * 3) solving use-cases and actual user-problems (e.g. can I collaborate with a small group in-person without an internet connection?)

undefined: Any time someone brings up "decentralization" or "decentralized" as an adjective, we should ask what actual user problems are being solved, and refocus the discussion accordingly, per the make what you need principle.

Local autonomy
undefined: I prefer the phrase "local autonomy" as an improvement that’s closer to user problems (e.g. "local collaborative editing"). It also lends itself to naturally talking about specific approaches such as local first.