[kick]

It doesn't actually solve the problem, which is something you would have imagined they would have thought out from the beginning.

They basically admit, outright, that their proposed solution doesn't solve the problem:

The ideal would be for this to be completely distributed. Everyone's pod would be on a computer they own, running on their network. But that's not how it's likely to be in real life. Just as you can theoretically run your own email server but in reality you outsource it to Google or whoever, you are likely to outsource your pod to those same sets of companies. But maybe pods will come standard issue in home routers.

Imagine you're an average user: you don't know much, but you've maybe read one of the billion news articles about how Google reads the context of every inbox on their service. Now some guy comes up and tells you that you should put all of your data in the hands of Google.

Totally a good idea.

And can you imagine how bad it would be if this came standard in home routers?

Congratulations, it's 2058 and there are over three billion routers & modems released in 2025 that haven't been patched since, but instead of just being a minor issue like it was when routers and modems did relatively little back in the 2010s, they're containing all of their users' personal data. And that's not even getting into how bad of a concept it is to have a family sharing a single access point for their data.

[Vinnl]

Note that Solid certainly doesn't dictate you should keep all your data together. For example, it is perfectly possible to have e.g. a 'work' Pod and a 'personal' Pod. Additionally, data within a single Pod need not necessarily be physically stored together.

But yes, Solid doesn't solve all problems, and I don't think it even solves (or will solve) one problem by itself. But I certainly believe it can be part of a solution, and I believe even more strongly that we desperately need one, which is why I'm happy we're at least trying.

(Disclosure: I also work for Inrupt, but views are my own.)

[willvarfar]

Yeah there are so many moving parts, and so many things vying to be the weakest link.

If we step back and consider what we all have today, it’s amazing we actually have a functional internet. It’s amazing that the script kiddies who are prepared to destroy things for the lols haven’t turned the internet into a dysfunctional cesspit already?

One bit of good news is that Schneier is an authority on the out-of-date router and related problems. I guess whatever they come up with will at least understand the wider threat landscape.

[pencilcode]

That’s why the protocol is open, so there will be multiple players. They will naturally converge like we currently have but that’s not what’s game changing. The game changer is the visibility and control of what data is collected about you.

[pencilcode]

The router thing is just a possible future and not the most likely even if it succeeds.

[BlueTemplar]

Some of these issues are going to be helped by the adoption of IPv6.