Enjoying I2P

Many years ago I’ve encountered i2p and ignored it because I didn’t understand its concepts and saw no point in a separate, stub network accessible by a java application. As I’m re-discovering i2p now, I feel that was a shortsight. Separate networks are, maybe regrettably, a necessity.

While the name of I2P can be often seen alongside TOR, they don’t really have much in common. Access to the clearnet from I2P is just a collateral, unrecommended feature. And access to it from the usual internet is also more scarce, compared with accessibility of .onion hidden services.

For me the main features of i2p is simplicity and security for filesharing — my profound love for bittorrent method may be more nostalgic than unfounded, yet I still prefer this approach over other things now available. But how would I describe torrenting on i2p? In two words, pretty slow. Or more describing — about right. There is no abundance of content and since the population of the network is more scarce and design involves more hops, latency and traffic, number of complete copies, seeds and kilobytes per second is much less than numbers I’ve used to see since the dawn of ADSL.

Being in no hurry, I don’t mind. Besides, exploring the network feels like an exploration quest — my imagination paints a kind of village in a desert full of artifacts of the lost civilization. It can be frustrating with different mindset, but so far I enjoy i2p for what it is and for the time curve it requires to integrate into it and to mutually benefit.