Ask HN: Is it possible to have client discovery without a server?

[hereiskkb]

Hi Folks,

Is there a way to do client discovery without a identity server?

I know of Distributed Hash Tables to be a way to implement this. But are there any alternative ways to do this?

[ktpsns]

On a general level, what about broadcasting? This is (was) standard in SoHo ethernet networks for service discovery (also used on higher levels such as Bonjour/Avahi).

[therm0]

ad hoc networks