Software distribution: new points of failure In a censored world

Discover the new points of failure in software distribution in a censored world, including mirrors, CDNs, and government intervention, and learn how to overcome these challenges to ensure access to information.

Key takeaways
  • Mirrors for software distribution can be used for geographical targeting, creating single points of failure in the infrastructure.
  • CDN provides redundancy and resilience, ensuring that users can download software from nearby mirrors, but can be blocked by governments.
  • Mirrors are not designed for dealing with censorship and can be easily blocked by ISP.
  • Content delivery networks like Cloudflare use Anycast, allowing multiple IP addresses to be hosted on multiple servers, but can still be subject to blockage.
  • Governments use single IP addresses to block content, causing issues with TCP connections.
  • Not all sensorware does Anycast, creating differences in how content is delivered.
  • Mirrors help with technical domains, but can be easily blocked by governments.
  • CDNs like Fastly use CNAME, allowing clients to query DNS for the nearest mirror, but can still be subject to blockage.
  • Governments want to restrict access to certain information, creating challenges for software distribution.
  • CDNs like Cloudflare and Fastly provide failover capabilities, allowing clients to download software from nearby mirrors if a server is blocked.
  • Software distribution systems like NPM and Flathub use CDNs to distribute software, creating potential points of failure.
  • Mirrors can be created for geographical targeting, creating single points of failure in the infrastructure.
  • CDNs provide redundancy and resilience, ensuring that users can download software from nearby mirrors, but can be blocked by governments.
  • Governments use single IP addresses to block content, causing issues with TCP connections.
  • Not all sensorware does Anycast, creating differences in how content is delivered.
  • Mirrors help with technical domains, but can be easily blocked by governments.