/tec/ minibase datacore

tags: #minibase

there have been some proposals to directly link derivations to torrent infohashes. without the mutable DHT BEPs this is difficult and not so interoperable, but probably still a good idea for a different purpose. before we consider that mystery, we can still make use of another application of bit torrent that still delivers a lot of value. namely, p2p distribution of `/nix/store` snapshots. we call one of these snapshots a "datacore".

datacore spec [draft]

• store paths
• gc roots for common configurations (dedup if possible + expect clients to optimize and hardlink their stores)
• expect peers to only cache a subset of the torrent files
• core manifest
• optimize the derivations to use the fewest possible nodes!

for fun, some cores could include data archives and the software + configuration to view it using common browser programs. possibly including the derivations for some viewers too. i'm thinking like wikipedia zim dumps and a web app to view them with.