Bitchan/Bitmessage fully over I2P? Good idea or why.?

HowTos, FAQs, Tips & Tricks, & Guides
Post Reply
robabok978
Posts: 36
Joined: 12 Feb 2022 02:58

Bitchan/Bitmessage fully over I2P? Good idea or why.?

Post by robabok978 »

Bitchan/Bitmessager fully over I2P? Good idea or why.?


Why i think that bitchan/bitmessage and i2p is a rich combination:

It would give i2p a new tech for messaging, posting etc with bitchan which is kind of anonymous and decentralized and with bitmessage the opportinity to do more than chan and use for other i2p usage.

small updatable distributable blockchain, 200KB message/data limit, 28 days ttl, decentralized, encrypted 3rd party hosting by bitchan, data gets insert, long persistence with local instances

The data limit and size does not allow for big data.

Hosting of small website, bitchan i2p forum groups, torrents for updates, network news, etc. thus eleminating some central instances downtimes.

If it is closed in i2p it would be a seperate network, which could be good or bad. Maybe a hybrid using the outproxyies or special ones could be a compromise.

Would be great if this two techs would come together. Bitchan is easy to use and to install with docker. I think that i2p could benefit tech and user wise and becomes imo more advanced than other solutions.

There is a test kiosk accessable via i2p bitchan.i2p to get an impression how it looks and behaves.

Could be an alternative to irc or/and forum for i2p.

There is some old code up
https://github.com/metamarcdw/PyBitmessage-I2P

links

https://github.com/metamarcdw/PyBitmessage-I2P
https://github.com/813492291816/BitChan
https://github.com/Bitmessage/PyBitmessage
https://github.com/813492291816/BitChan ... ENSHOTS.md
https://github.com/813492291816/BitChan ... /MANUAL.md


from the manual:

About
BitChan is a decentralized anonymous imageboard inspired by Bitboard{.link} and built on top of Bitmessage{.link} with Tor{.link} and GnuPG{.link}.

BitChan solves a number of security and free speech problems that have plagued most imageboards. Centralized imageboards can be taken offline or hijacked and can leak user data. BitChan reduces the likelihood of this by being decentralized, requiring all connections to go through Tor, and not requiring Javascript.

When installed locally on your computer, BitChan acts as an extension to Bitmessage, a decentralized, blockchain-based messaging program. Bitmessage relies on public key encryption similar to PGP and decentralized message delivery, which due to the fact that every message is distributed to every client, also provides plausible deniability (i.e. no one knows who the message was intended to go to). Bitmessage handles the sending and receiving of messages and BitChan acts as a sophisticated message processor, which includes a web front end. All communication happens over the Tor onion routing network for anonymity and every BitChan message is encrypted using GPG, an open source version of PGP (Pretty Good Privacy). Instead of connecting to a stranger's server and volunteering potentially identifying information, BitChan anonymously adds your message to the Bitmessage block. Everyone on the Bitmessage network downloads and shares your encrypted messages and only those with the correct credentials can decrypt them.

Users of centralized forums often have to deal with overzealous moderators and sometimes even pressure from State powers that tend to suffocate the forum's culture. BitChan's moderation is multifaceted, but to be brief, the option exists to create entirely unmoderatable boards. Due to its decentralized design, BitChan cannot be moderated by its developers or the government. Indeed, there is no way to disconnect BitChan from the internet, and as long as people are still running Bitmessage, BitChan lives completely untouchable by any authority. With that said, boards can be created with a variety of rules which allow board owners or admins to moderate them if so desired. Unmoderated boards can be locally moderated by the user. Additionally, users can set their install to act as a Kiosk and enable a Tor Hidden Onion service to allow anonymous users to utilize their install through an .onion address, however when accessing BitChan in this way, you will be constrained by the settings that user sets for their BitChan install. In order to utilize the full features of BitChan, including reliability and a censor-free environment, you will need to install it locally on your computer.

BitChan features boards for forum-like discussions with image and file sharing, lists to organize and share other boards and lists, and a host of additional features. Board/list management is possible via the application of owner, admin, and user permissions. Boards and lists can be public or private and with or without owners or admins, allowing a full range of options from completely unmoderatable to strict, where only select addresses are allowed to post or modify list contents.

Boards and Lists
Both boards and lists are built on what Bitmessage calls chans (short for channels), each with an address that allows a public key to be derived from which messages can be encrypted. Within BitChan, messages sent to a board/list are further encrypted again so only members of that board with the proper credentials can decrypt and read them. To become a member of a board (or list), you must know the passphrase used to generate the Bitmessage address and the PGP passphrase(s) used to decrypt BitChan messages. Under normal circumstances, anyone that has the passphrase that generates the address of the board/list and the message PGP passphrase(s) can read the messages sent to it. Under the most relaxed board configuration, you can use any address to send messages to a board, including the same board's address that's receiving it (considered anonymous), your own identity addresses (personal address only you can send from), or other board/list addresses (addresses all members of those boards/lists can send from). More about board creation, configuration and permissions can be found in Board and List Creation{.link}.

Although the functionality of boards and lists are very different, they both operate on Bitmessage chans. The messages received in chans are processed to determine if they originated from BitChan by their decryptability and their content. BitChan parses the contents of messages and presents the data in a meaningful way that extends the functionality of mere text communication.

Boards act as communication platforms for producing threads consisting of posts, with added functionality, including text formatting (color, style), multiple file attachments (with any extension and in-browser embedding of image, audio, and video), and admin moderation, among others. Public boards allow anyone to post, including from the address of the board itself (an anonymous post) or from a different address (similar to using tripcodes). Private boards allow only specific addresses to post. If a public board does not have an owner or admin set, it is completely unmoderatable and posts cannot be removed (unless an automatic wipe rule{.link} was set when it was created).

Lists act as a medium to compile a list of other boards and lists that can be modified and shared with others. Users can join any of the boards or lists on the list. Any user can add to a public list, but only authorized users may add to a private list. Owners and admins may delete items from both public and private lists. If a public list does not have an owner or admin set, it is completely unmoderatable and can only grow in size (unless an automatic wipe rule{.link} was set when it was created). Ticking the first checkbox when viewing a list will select all un-joined entries. Clicking Join All Checked at the bottom of the list will automatically join the selected entries. Note: Bulk joining skips the prompt to enter custom PGP passphrases, however, those entries which include their own passphrases will automatically be joined with those passphrases.

Information about a board or list can be found in the "Information" dropdown box near the top of their page. See Board and List Information{.link} for what is included.

Frequently Asked Questions
How does this differ from a traditional imageboard?
Unidentifiable: BitChan utilizes Bitmessage for communication, which sends every encrypted message to everyone else, providing anonymity and plausible deniability as to the origin of a message.
Uncensorable: If you are permitted to post on a board and there is no owner or admin for that board, it is impossible for your message to be censored. If a board has an owner or admin, your message can be deleted by the owner or admin.
Can I create my own board?
Yes, see Board and List Creation{.link}.

Why does my post not appear immediately after clicking post?
There could be a few reasons for this. The most common is that the Bitmessage network, which BitChan utilizes to send and receive posts, requires time to proliferate any message. A message is not displayed until Bitmessage receives it and BitChan processes it. Another reason is that larger messages take longer to produce proof of work (POW) which Bitmessage requires to authenticate messages. A third reason is that, if you include a large file and choose to upload it to an external file host, the upload must be successful before BitChan will attempt to send the post. Sometimes external file hosts can malfunction and posting will fail if this happens.

Why are there no threads/posts that appear immediately after joining a board?
You will not see any activity on a recently joined board, assuming it has had recent activity, unless 'resync' was selected when joining it. Resync forces Bitmessage to scan its block for old messages and BitChan will display them if any are found. If this option is not used only posts received after joining will be seen. NOTE: resync can only display activity which have unexpired time to live (TTL). Expired activity is automatically purged from the Bitmessage network and so cannot be recovered.

Will my posts and attachments live forever?
BitChan utilizes Bitmessage to communicate via messages. Each of these messages has a user-set time to live (TTL), which is the duration it will be propagated on the Bitmessage network. If a user makes a post on a board at time X with a TTL of 28 days (the maximum allowed), any other user running BitChan and who is also member of that board will receive that post between time X and X + 28 days. If the user doesn't have BitChan running since before X (or has it running but hasn't joined the board), and doesn't start BitChan until after X + 28 days (or has it running but doesn't join the board until after this period), the user will not receive the post.

As the Owner of a board, what will happen to my board if I don't keep BitChan running?
Users that have joined your board can continue posting to your board regardless if the owner keeps BitChan running or not. However, if you have set any additional Owner Options after the board creation, you will need to run BitChan at least every 28 days (preferably 20) in order to maintain those options. These include bans, the long description, permission changes, custom CSS, etc.

What's the deal with the "PGP passphrase" options for boards and lists?
The PGP passphrase is populated by default unless a custom one is provided. As an additional level of privacy, every post is PGP encrypted with a PGP passphrase. If users don't want to use the default passphrase they can change it. Only users who have the same PGP passphrase will see content encrypted with it. NOTE: only change this passphrase if you are sure others are aware of its use, otherwise you will no longer see any content that is encrypted with the default or any other passphrase.

Why do I have to click "Allow Download" for every post with an attachment?
By default, BitChan will not auto-download attachments from upload sites. If you would like to automatically download attachments if they are below a certain size, change the "Auto-Download Max Size" option on the configuration page.

How do I securely get people to join my board?
If your board is public, just share the board passphrase or share link. If your board is private, you will have to add the Identity address of each person to the User addresses field under 'Owner Options' on the index page of your board.

Permissions
For both boards and lists, there can be Owner, Admin, and User addresses specified. If you control an address that is an Owner or Admin of a board or list, you can perform special actions that affect all members. Normally, when you click a link for a thread or post to be deleted from a board, this occurs only locally on your computer. However, Owners and Admins have the ability to delete threads and posts for all users of the board. For private lists, Owners and Admins can delete list items and the changes will be reflected for all users of the list.

Owners of private boards and lists will see an Owner Options{.link} menu at the top of the page, where they can modify the parameters of the board or list. Additionally, when an Owner or Admin selects the dropdown menu next to a user's address or post ID, there will be additional options available to them. See the table, below, for what actions are available to each access level. Additionally, some actions may be restricted based on other settings of the board or list.

Code: Select all

Ability	Board Owner	Board Admin	Janitor	User
Modify Access Addresses	X			
Set Custom Banner Image	X			
Set Custom CSS	X			
Set Word Replacements	X			
Global Post/Thread Delete	X	X		
Local Kiosk Post/Thread Delete			X	
Ban Address	X	X		
Delete from List	X	X		
Post	X	X	X	X
Add to List	X	X	X	X
User avatar
eepman
Posts: 10
Joined: 17 Sep 2023 14:10

Re: Bitchan/Bitmessage fully over I2P? Good idea or why.?

Post by eepman »

I like bitchan. It offers a truly decentralized, uncensorable, and anonymous image-board forum to its users. It has good potential to be a place for anarchistic discussion hub. However, afaik, its message relaying system is handled by bitmessage itself, which is, again afaik, not anonymous message relaying.

So, instead of using bitmessage underneath, why not have a bitchan on i2p but using i2p-bote as the message relaying system? Would such a system work? What is the current state of i2p-bote, is it functional?
xmr: 82w6CM9MKMyNpyj8grvxfXhnm4CJUJbBAUjtTTTBd4tXFmrL4MTDW2xGFFhCrUzEr7hsoL4nc1687SsP8umwCucU8cwXi5D
Post Reply