/overboard/ - Overboard

> What is the actual purpose of a registrar and how can I avoid using one? Domain name registrars are companies that are authorized to reserve internet domain names. You have to get a domain registrar to reserve a domain name on your behalf so that you can use it for your website. The reason why they need a registrar is because otherwise 2 people could try to register the same domain name, and that could end up causing certain people to get one persons server, while others get another person's server. People decided to solve this problem by creating a centralized authority that manages all of the domain names (ICANN). > Will hosting my own nameservers help? Generally no, if you host your own nameserver without being registered by ICAAN, then anyone who wants to use your nameserver would have to change their DNS resolution settings to look for your nameserver. > how can I avoid using one? There are many ways to avoid using a DNS registrar but they all have some disadvantages the main three ways are to give everyone your IP address instead of a domain name, register your name with an alternative DNS root, or use a the dark net (Tor, GNUnet etcetera). I'll write down a list of pros and cons to each IP address: The main problem with giving out the IP address of your server is that the IP address can be hard to remember. You could tell people to put your IP address in their hosts.txt file to make it easier to remember. The other problem is that if your IP address ever changes, then you'd have to tell everyone that the IP address changed, and anyone with the old IP address couldn't access the server anymore. The pro of this is that anyone can type in your IP address and connect immediately. Alternate DNS root: Using an alternate DNS root requires your user to configure their DNS lookup settings to use the alternate DNS root instead of the default top level domain, or use extensions to access them. A lot of them are based on blockchain but I don't know much about them. The nice thing about them is that they are usually decentralized and censorship-resistant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_DNS_root https://icannwiki.org/Alternative_Roots#Against_Governmental/Intergovernmental_Control_of_the_Internet Darkweb: You could host your website on a darkweb, and use whatever it uses for domain name resolution. For instance tor uses .onion. GNUnet has something called GNS that lets you register name for GNUnet (https://www.gnunet.org/en/gns.html), I think some other darkwebs have stuff that let you create memorable names. The pros and cons are basically the same as using an alternative DNS root, with the added pro of you being able to host your website anonymously.

>>fg-RMHLBGDJ I meant to link this for the icaanwiki link. It's the same page but it starts at the long list of alternate dns root projects. https://icannwiki.org/Alternative_Roots#Alternative_Root_Projects

>The reason why they need a registrar is because otherwise 2 people could try to register the same domain name, and that could end up causing certain people to get one persons server, while others get another person's server. People decided to solve this problem by creating a centralized authority that manages all of the domain names (ICANN). I know why ICANN was created. What I don't know is why you need a third-party "registrar" separate from the registry (the org that technically runs the actual server, delegated from ICANN).

Also, I know about all those alternate ways of accessing webpages. What I meant by "how can I avoid using one?" is is there some way of buying domains directly from a registry without going through a registrar as a middleman? It seems the registrar runs the nameservers by default, so that's why I asked about self-hosting nameservers.

>go to account registration page at https://icannwiki.org/Special:RequestAccount >'I have read and agree to abide by the Terms of Service of icannwiki. The name I have specified under "Real name" is in fact my own real name.' >click on "Terms of Service" to see the terms of service >am redirected to https://icannwiki.org/ICANNWiki >can't see the ToS anywhere lol

>>fg-M06B8F7L (I want to add GNS and OpenNIC to their list of alternate roots)