The peer-to-peer Web is a loose term for websites and apps that are transported with a peer-to-peer protocol instead of HTTP.
There are many peer-to-peer (p2p) protocols with subtle differences, but they share some important properties:
- Files are not bound to any one IP address or server
- You download files from other people on the network
- Anyone can become an uploader (or seeder), contributing bandwidth to help host files
Peer-to-peer protocols and Beaker
We call Beaker a p2p browser because it supports a p2p protocol called Dat (dat://). Adding dat:// support in the browser made it possible for Beaker to provide experimental new features:
- Publishing websites and files from the browser, no server required
- APIs for building p2p apps
- Powerful View Source and in-browser editor
- Live reloading, offline sync, and more
How is Beaker different from other browsers?
Beaker is unique because it provides browsing support for dat:// URLs, and provides new Web APIs for building p2p websites and applications.
You can also browse http:// and https:// websites with Beaker, and Beaker’s browsing interfaces should feel comfortable and familiar.
Read next: peer-to-peer websites