Freenet's History

History of Freenet

Introduction

Freenet has a long and somewhat complicated 25-year history. This page aims to clarify the timeline and the relationship between various projects that have evolved from the original Freenet.

Timeline and Evolution

The Birth of Freenet

Freenet was initially developed in 1999 at the University of Edinburgh by Ian Clarke. It was conceived as a decentralized system for anonymous information storage and retrieval. Over time, the project evolved significantly, incorporating various rewrites and improvements.

Major Milestones

  • 1999: Development of the original Freenet began at the University of Edinburgh.
  • 2005: A significant rewrite of Freenet was initiated, further enhancing its capabilities.
  • 2012: Work started on “Tahrir”, a potential successor to Freenet, but it was later discontinued.
  • 2019: Work began on a successor to the original Freenet, internally named “Locutus”. This project was a ground-up reimagining of Freenet, incorporating lessons learned and addressing modern challenges.

The Split and Rebranding

  • March 2023: The original Freenet codebase, developed from 2005 onwards, was spun off into an independent project called “Hyphanet” under its existing maintainers.
  • Concurrently, “Locutus” was rebranded as “Freenet,” also known as “Freenet 2023.”

Project Summary

Original Freenet

  • Initial Development: 1999
  • Major Rewrite: 2005
  • Current Status: Spun off as “Hyphanet” in March 2023

Locutus

  • Initial Development: 2019
  • Purpose: Ground-up reimagining of Freenet to address modern challenges
  • Current Status: Rebranded as “Freenet 2023” in March 2023

Hyphanet

  • Origin: The original Freenet codebase
  • Status: Independent project as of March 2023
  • Maintainers: Original Freenet maintainers

Freenet 2023

  • Origin: Rebranding of “Locutus”
  • Status: Active development since March 2023

Decision Rationale

The decision to rebrand Locutus as Freenet 2023 and spin off the original Freenet as Hyphanet was made after over a year of debate. As the architect of Freenet and the president of the Freenet non-profit, Ian Clarke made this decision to focus resources on the new architecture. This was driven by the need for a fresh approach to address significant changes and challenges since the original codebase was designed. The goal is to create software that can gain sufficient adoption to tackle serious issues with centralization.

Conclusion

This timeline and summary clarify the evolution and current status of Freenet and its related projects. The renaming and restructuring were strategic decisions aimed at addressing modern challenges and ensuring the project’s long-term success.