=head1 Darknet Comparison

Back to homepage - L<http://www.anonet2.org/>

There are a number of darknets out there.  Different darknets have
different features, which any individual may consider as advantages (or
disadvantages) depending on his goals.  This page attempts to present
an accurate comparison between the different darknets known to SRN.
In particular, SRN has attempted to avoid being unjustly critical of
AnoNet1 even after having been a victim of AnoNet1's ugly side on multiple
occasions (although obviously, no attempt has been made to avoid "earned"
criticism).  If you'd like to add other darknets to this table, keep
in mind that all of anonet2.org is freely editable from within AnoNet.
If none of the existing darknets suit your needs, you're encouraged
to advertise your new one here.  You're also more than welcome to spam
AnoNet IRC for new members, but if your advertisements get redundant and
boring and redundant and repetitive and redundant after a while, don't
be surprised if people start B</ignore>ing you.  (Please don't let that
discourage you, if you truly believe your new darknet is worth joining.
You may want to rethink your advertising strategy, though.)  You may
also be able to get help in planning and/or building a new darknet on
AnoNet IRC.

Please keep in mind that this comparison is mostly focused on relative
anonymity value, rather than, say, the quality of the available social
networks.  If the latter is more important to you than the former, you're
almost certainly wasting your time here.  If you'd like to understand
more about the mechanics of anonymity, L<there's a whole separate page
here devoted to that topic|http://www.anonet2.org/anonymity>.

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Z<><table>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th colspan='5'>OverviewZ<></th>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><td>&nbspZ<></td>Z<><th>AnoNet1Z<></th>Z<><th>AnoNet2Z<></th>Z<><th>dn42Z<></th>Z<><th>VAnetZ<></th>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Claimed PurposeZ<></th>Z<><td>anonymity to prevent censorshipZ<></td>Z<><td>anonymity to prevent censorshipZ<></td>Z<><td>have fun with BGPZ<></td>Z<><td>freedom and network efficiencyZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Claimed GovernmentZ<></th>Z<><td>nearly noneZ<></td>Z<><td>noneZ<></td>Z<><td>nearly noneZ<></td>Z<><td>backbone onlyZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Actual GovernmentZ<></th>Z<><td>oligarchyZ<></td>Z<><td>noneZ<></td>Z<><td>nearly noneZ<></td>Z<><td>backbone onlyZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Actual Government betrays Claimed PurposeZ<></th>Z<><td>yesZ<></td>Z<><td>noZ<></td>Z<><td>noZ<></td>Z<><td>noZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Centralized Critical InfrastructureZ<></th>Z<><td>wiki (includes resource database), client port, IRCZ<></td>Z<><td>noneZ<></td>Z<><td>wiki, IRCZ<></td>Z<><td>allZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Decentralized Critical InfrastructureZ<></th>Z<><td>routingZ<></td>Z<><td>allZ<></td>Z<><td>routing, resource databaseZ<></td>Z<><td>noneZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Current SizeZ<></th>Z<><td>15-25Z<></td>Z<><td>15-20Z<></td>Z<><td>40-50Z<></td>Z<><td>&lt;5Z<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Average Monthly GrowthZ<></th>Z<><td>-10%Z<></td>Z<><td>~20%Z<></td>Z<><td>~5%Z<></td>Z<><td>~0%Z<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Activity LevelZ<></th>Z<><td>mediumZ<></td>Z<><td>mediumZ<></td>Z<><td>mediumZ<></td>Z<><td>lowZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Interdarknet ConnectivityZ<></th>Z<><td>censored access to AnoNet2 (must use AnoNet2 DNS), censored access to dn42 (must use AnoNet2 DNS)Z<></td>Z<><td>full routing to most of AnoNet1, full routing to part of dn42, full routing to VAnetZ<></td>Z<><td>censored access to AnoNet (1&amp;2, must use SRN's DNS), censored access to VAnet (must use SRN's DNS)Z<></td>Z<><td>full routing to part of AnoNet1, full routing to AnoNet2, full routing to part of dn42Z<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>DNS CoverageZ<></th>Z<><td>AnoNet1Z<></td>Z<><td>AnoNet (1&amp;2), dn42, VAnet, IcannNetZ<></td>Z<><td>dn42, IcannNetZ<></td>Z<><td>AnoNet (1&amp;2), dn42, VAnet, IcannNetZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Peering PrerequisitesZ<></th>Z<><td>OpenVPN, BGP daemon, sustained IRC participation for over a month, and a miracleZ<></td>Z<><td>OpenVPN or tinc or L<quicktun|http://wiki.ucis.nl/QuickTun>, BGP daemon or static routingZ<></td>Z<><td>OpenVPN, BGP daemon or static routingZ<></td>Z<><td>depends on individual PoP policyZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th colspan='5'>ServicesZ<></th>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><td>&nbspZ<></td>Z<><th>AnoNet1Z<></th>Z<><th>AnoNet2Z<></th>Z<><th>dn42Z<></th>Z<><th>VAnetZ<></th>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>RoutingZ<></th>Z<><td>decentralizedZ<></td>Z<><td>decentralizedZ<></td>Z<><td>decentralizedZ<></td>Z<><td>centralizedZ<></td>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>Resource DatabaseZ<></th>Z<><td>centralized (part of wiki)Z<></td>Z<><td>decentralized (part of git-based resdb)Z<></td>Z<><td>decentralized (part of monotone-based registry)Z<></td>Z<><td>centralized (ask Borg)Z<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>DocumentationZ<></th>Z<><td>centralized (crzydmnd's wiki)Z<></td>Z<><td>decentralized (part of git-based resdb)Z<></td>Z<><td>centralized (helios's wiki)Z<></td>Z<><td>centralized (vanet.org)Z<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>ChatroomZ<></th>Z<><td>centralized (single IRCnet)Z<></td>Z<><td>decentralized (ad-hoc relaying between IRC and Jabber chatrooms)Z<></td>Z<><td>semicentralized (single IRCnet, with a Jabber chatroom relay)Z<></td>Z<><td>decentralized (shared with AnoNet2)Z<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>DNSZ<></th>Z<><td>centralized (from wiki), several official "rootservers"Z<></td>Z<><td>decentralized (from resdb), each user fields his own, public nameservers available for the lazyZ<></td>Z<><td>decentralized (from registry), multiple competing deploymentsZ<></td>Z<><td>centralized (from svn), centralized official deploymentZ<></td>Z<></tr>
 Z<><tr>Z<><th>BitTorrent Trackers/IndexersZ<></th>Z<><td>none?Z<></td>Z<><td>1 centralized and 1 decentralized (git-based)Z<></td>Z<><td>1 centralizedZ<></td>Z<><td>1 centralizedZ<></td>Z<></tr>
Z<></table>

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