Yukito Nakamura (@YukitoNakamura)

#AltTech and their drawbacks Writing this after using Qortal for a bit. #Nostr: Nostr is a very good protocol, with lots of different services, like payment systems, voice messages, social media and others. Most are quite ok, some apps are not that good, like Flare, ZapStream and Wikistr. For both Flare and ZapStream, browsing and watching videos is okay, works fine. The problem is when you want to create content for those. First issue with them is the small limit for uploads and buggy uploads. All 3 standard hosts for them have a limit of 25MB per video. And even under that limit, videos fail to upload. Also, ZapStream is a custom RTMP streaming, which means, you either need to set it up in OBS or pay Restream to stream to both your main platform and your Nostr counterpart, or use the multistream plugin for OBS(not for weaker PCs). The advantage of streaming on Zap is that when logged into a text-based social media app like Coracle or Primal, it will show a LIVE icon in the top right corner of a post by a user who is currently streaming. Clicking it will direct the user to the creator's livestream. Another good thing about Nostr is that all apps are single sign in, which means, you need a single account managed by either nos2x or entered manually to log into them. And you can simply log out by going to the nos2x panel and clicking REVOKE beside the service's address in the permissions table. Now, let's go to #Qortal: Qortal, unlike Nostr, is a complete and encrypted internet environment based on relays. When you join it, you become a relay. The interface is like what you'd see back in the 80's internet, mixed with a cyberpunk-esque icon style, but pretty easy to navigate. The service works around a cryptocurrency called QORT, with which you pay for services. Qortal offers various services like P2P messaging, group messaging, video site, currency/bank management, group creation, etc. But, the big drawback is that most services are paid in it and paid in QORT(25 cents of dollar or 7BRL approx). In order to really make use of it, you need to acquire a name. To get a name, you must pay 1.20 QORT to create one for yourself or use the ID store in QORTAL and buy a created one(there are lots). Once you acquire a name, you become a real user and can start earning QORT and "minting"(farming) it through leaving your relay open and online. The more time online, the more QORT you get, based also on economic rules(free market, or supply and demand). In a video with a Brighteon presenter, QORTAL's main creator said he wants a place free of government regulations and that bitcoin, with government's interference and purchases, is undermining the bitcoin's main feature, decentralization. Another thing is that people keep farming bitcoin, which can leave very few people with a lot of bitcoin, while the people with modest systems that cannot farm bitcoin will be left with way less. Here is the whole conversation: https://youtu.be/OVQ0fnFrm1k Well, those are my 2 cents about both platforms.