Welcome to the OrbitDB Field Manual. This book serves as a technical manual to the distributed, decentralized, peer-to-peer database engine known as OrbitDB, and also provides higher-level context for peer-to-peer technologies and ways of thinking.
Please read the introduction first and then feel free to skip ahead to the relevant part or parts that interest you. Parts 1 and 3 are more technical in focus, and Parts 2 and 4 are more prosaic.
We think there's enough writing out there about the evils of centralization.
Instead, we want to offer a more positive perspective: Every third-party company that has come before us, every technology that they have created, and every piece of data they have stored in their silos has collectively provided a vast set of opportunities for us to build off of inside the decentralized space. We believe that the ziggurat of the centralized is not only a pedestal for us to stand on, but also a springboard for us to leap off of into a bright future - filled with new products and services as yet unimagined.
We now have the capabilities to create distributed, decentralized applications where:
- The user is in full control of their own data.
- Third-party applications ask permission to run their code locally, instead of on their servers.
- Peers connect directly to each other, without third parties.
- Applications start as GDPR and HIPAA compliant, never revealing sensitive information.
- Every layer of the application can be swapped out and configured: the data layer, the middleware, and the UI layer, creating hyper-customizable experiences.
- Industries once thought intractable can be served: finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and more.
We truly believe that everything past, for better or worse, is a prologue to this, and we're so glad you're with us.