[shaddi]

I generally agree, but I tried to shed some light on the fundamental physics/math behind why building such a network is impractical. In any case, it might one day be possible, but I think a better use of resources (especially for non- and semi-technical people) is to contribute to the social movement around Internet free speech and to build real-world political networks.

[sliverstorm]

To me the damning evidence is that these problems still haven't been solved for decades even with a fair amount of work by professionals. Solutions probably exist, but will a decentralized group of redditors really be the ones who solve them?

I personally figure if people just accept the low speeds of HF instead of expecting full Hulu streaming for everyone, a lot of the problems will be immediately mitigated, but that's unlikely- if only because HF gear is not nearly as cheap and ubiquitous as WiFI.

[saulrh]

There's precedent for well-communicating groups with a well-defined goal producing impressive results in the short term. Examples include the Manhattan project, the space race, and the more recent Polymath projects [1]. These redditors probably aren't the people to do it, but if the same attempt were made on comp.* or at google it might go somewhere.

http://michaelnielsen.org/polymath1/index.php?title=Main_Pag...