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5 Open-Source Tools You Can Donate to via Kivach, Episode VI: Decentralized Services

by ObyteJanuary 24th, 2024

Too Long; Didn't Read

Delve into the world of decentralized and open-source services fueled by community support through Kivach donations. From privacy-first communication with Berty to ad-free video hosting on PeerTube, these projects showcase innovation and transparency. Join the movement, contribute to their development, and empower the future of decentralized services.

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Believe it or not, there are a lot of decentralized services beyond cryptocurrencies. That means they don’t have a central authority—like banks or yes, the company behind Google, for instance—behind, controlling everything. As a great plus, most of them are open-source and free to use for everyone. And you can also support them with some tokens via .

This Obyte-based platform lets donors easily help their favorite open-source software projects on GitHub. As a unique feature, recipients on Kivach can distribute a part of the received funds automatically among other repositories, considering their contribution to their projects —creating ‘cascading donations.’ On the other hand, you can donate to any project, even if they initially don’t know what Kivach is. It’s enough for you to tell them about your donation and for them to verify their profiles to receive the funds!

In this episode, we’ll explore five decentralized and open-source services available for free, with several interesting uses, and that mostly run thanks to donations. Let’s start!

Berty

Berty is an open, secure, and privacy-first communication app developed by Berty Technologies, a French nonprofit organization. Built on the Wesh Protocol, Berty ensures end-to-end encryption by default, minimal metadata, and doesn't require phone numbers or email addresses for account creation. It operates in a decentralized, distributed, and peer-to-peer (P2P) manner, allowing communication even in offline or adversarial network conditions using Bluetooth technology and multicast DNS.

As a versatile messaging application, Berty is designed for sharing sensitive information, anonymous communication, and data control without relying on third-party servers, and for use in restricted or low-connectivity areas. Developed by a small team, Berty is committed to open-source principles, aiming for a world where free and secure communications prevail.

While still in active development, it invites contributions and feedback from users and other developers to enhance its features. Funding sources for Berty primarily come from community gifts and sponsors, and this is, indeed, one of its organizational challenges. They refuse to sell user data or privatize it, so they accept donations. If you want to support them, you can find them as on Kivach.

Peertube

If YouTube, Vimeo, and other big video platforms are starting to look shady and a bit ad-annoying to you, Peertube could be your best friend. Developed by the NGO Framasoft, this is a decentralized and federated video platform, offering an alternative to centralized counterparts. It’s community-owned, ad-free, and built to avoid vendor lock-in.

Users become part of a network of federated (independent) video hosting providers, promoting interoperability. PeerTube facilitates video creation, encourages following creators, and operates on the principle of customization without data mining. They don’t have privately-controlled algorithms or moderation policies, because every server has its own rules. There are already a lot of videos, ranging across different categories: music, art, gaming, tutorials, entertainment, news, films, science, activism, food, etc.

As for their funding sources, as , Peertube exists thanks to donations: “We are a public interest organization where over 90% of our funding comes from donations. Every contribution, even the smallest, allows us to continue developing PeerTube.” They appear on Kivach as .

Neocities

Looking to create a new site online or simply share your own content? This one may be your decentralized answer. Neocities is an open social network hosting 708,800 websites. It champions individual web creativity with ad-free static web hosting, an in-browser HTML editor, custom domain support, and RSS feeds. The platform fosters exploration through a website gallery and surf bar, emphasizing individuality. Users can follow, comment, and share sites within a supportive community.

Creating a new website through Neocities doesn’t require technical knowledge. It’s like signing up on any other website, using your email, and establishing a password. Beyond this, you can choose between a free plan of 1 GB of storage and 200 GB of bandwidth or a $5-per-month plan with more features.

Other than those plans, the platform is only supported by community donations. As it reads on its official website: “Any donations received go directly towards paying bills and acquiring the server infrastructure we need to continue improving and upgrading the site. Any amount helps!” They accept Bitcoin and Filecoin, and you can find them on Kivach as .

Diaspora*

Diaspora* is a pioneering decentralized social network embodying three core principles: decentralization, freedom, and privacy. Operating on independently run servers or "pods" worldwide, users choose where their data resides, fostering a global, connected community. Privacy is paramount here, with users retaining control over their data and selectively sharing content.

To join Diaspora*, users select a pod aligned with their preferences or create a new one, sign up, and customize their profile. Organizing contacts via "Aspects" enables tailored content sharing. Hashtags facilitate interest-based exploration, while features like @mentions and expressions enhance user interaction. Besides, it’s also possible to cross-post on other platforms, including Twitter (X), Tumblr, and WordPress.

Developed by volunteers, Diaspora* thrives on community support, seeking assistance in coding, testing, pod maintenance, and advocacy. Funding primarily relies on user contributions, ensuring independence from corporate interests. You can donate to individual contributors through Liberapay or Patreon, or you can choose to send inexpensive and cascading donations via Kivach. They appear there as .

Minetest

Time to play! This tool stands as a versatile open-source voxel game engine, providing numerous gaming experiences for users across Windows, macOS, GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, DragonFly BSD, and Android. The brainchild of a dedicated community, Minetest offers a rich and decentralized gaming ecosystem with multiple options, including survival challenges, creative building, and player-versus-player battles.

Supporting both solo and multiplayer modes, Minetest accommodates local and online play, fostering a collaborative gaming environment. Texture customization allows players to tailor the visual experience to their preferences. In addition, developers find Minetest user-friendly for crafting their voxel games, thanks to the Lua API, eliminating complexities in rendering and networking. For users, numerous games are already completed to play and explore.

With transparency in its open-source development, Minetest invites its community to actively engage, report issues, and even delve into the source code. Funding sources primarily stem from gifts and collaborative contributions, sustaining Minetest's commitment to openness and user empowerment. Its founder accepts tips through Liberapay and PayPal, but you can also send some funds to via Kivach.

More to discover!

This is a tiny list, compared to the whole wide world of open-source projects on GitHub. Through , you can easily donate funds to any of them. You can also make suggestions to appear in our next list! Please comment on them below, on our or via . And read our previous episodes to discover other interesting software: