Re: Talks of hidden services and DNS

[herfel@xxxxxxx]

> As I understand it (correct me if I am wrong -- I am very new), the
> .onion TLDs are built up from two hexadecimal parts, so they are
> cannot be something that is easy to remember (such as
> hiddenwiki.onion).

It is explained here:
http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/HiddenServiceNames

+++++

The reason for using cryptic fingerprints instead of human-readable names is described in [WWW] Zooko's Distnames: they are self-authenticating. If a client wants to connect to a hidden service he asks the directory services for the .onion name's service descriptor which includes its public key. If the hash of the public key matches the .onion name, the client can be sure it will encrypt data for the right hidden service.

"Zooko's Triangle" which is discussed in Stiegler's [WWW] Petname Systems argues that names cannot be global, secure, and memorable at the same time. This means while being unique and secure, .onion names have the disadvantage that they cannot be not meaningful to humans. 

Links:
http://zooko.com/distnames.html 
http://www.skyhunter.com/marcs/petnames/IntroPetNames.html
+++++

A naming system introduces costs and reduces benefits gained from the current system - and it doesn't offer much in return. I could rehash all the old argument, but it's already explained so well in the links above...

And yeah, a naming-schema/translator existed at one point (and there's nothing to stop anybody from offering such a system), but IIRC it was not exactly wildly popular.


Regards

herfel
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