Introducing the Nostr Variant: A decentralized future for Openletter
Published on March 20, 2025 by Jurjen
Dear Openletter community,
We’d like to introduce ourselves and share some exciting news about a new project we’re working on. At the request of Xavier, the founder of Openletter, we have begun developing a Nostr variant for this platform. This is a significant step in the further growth and improvement of Openletter, and we’d love to take you along on this journey.
What is Nostr?
Nostr stands for "Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays." It’s a simple, decentralized protocol that allows users to share messages and other content without relying on a central server. Instead, Nostr uses a network of independent "relays" to forward messages. Nostr is fully open source, meaning anyone is free to contribute to and use the protocol.
Why Nostr for Openletter?
The current system of Openletter is centrally organized, meaning all data and interactions flow through one server. While it’s open source, allowing anyone to run their own Openletter server, it remains centralized within individual servers. At the moment, openletter.earth is the primary server in use. By transitioning to a Nostr variant, this changes fundamentally. There is no central server, which results in increasing reliability and resilience. There is no single point of failure. This offers several advantages:
Decentralization: The system will no longer depend on a central server, increasing reliability and resilience. There is no single point of failure anymore.
Free and open source: The open source nature of Nostr aligns perfectly with the values of Openletter. It enables us to work transparently and in a community-driven manner.
Digital signing: Nostr provides the ability to sign content with a personal key, adding an extra layer of authenticity and trust.
Who are we?
Jurjen de Vries: MVP lead & coordination, UX, functional tester, and community lead.
Abir: Designer & developer.
Rafid: Senior developer.
We have experience in digital ethics and bring values like free open source, sustainability, and accessibility into the code we develop. These principles form the foundation of our work and align seamlessly with the mission of Openletter.
How are we approaching this?
We’re starting with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), a first version of the Nostr variant that includes the core functionalities. We’ll keep you regularly updated on our progress here on Openletter. Your feedback and input are invaluable, so we encourage everyone to share ideas and suggestions.
How can you help?
Early adopters: We’re looking for early adopters to test the MVP and provide feedback, particularly on the user experience (UX). As an early adopter, you should be able to use the system seamlessly, without any struggles related to Nostr, such as key management. If you’re interested, please let us know!
Financial support: Monetary contributions are still welcome to support the development of this project. Every contribution, big or small, is greatly appreciated.
We’re excited to write this new chapter of Openletter together with you. Thank you for your support and involvement!
We’d like to introduce ourselves and share some exciting news about a new project we’re working on. At the request of Xavier, the founder of Openletter, we have begun developing a Nostr variant for this platform. This is a significant step in the further growth and improvement of Openletter, and we’d love to take you along on this journey.
What is Nostr?
Nostr stands for "Notes and Other Stuff Transmitted by Relays." It’s a simple, decentralized protocol that allows users to share messages and other content without relying on a central server. Instead, Nostr uses a network of independent "relays" to forward messages. Nostr is fully open source, meaning anyone is free to contribute to and use the protocol.
Why Nostr for Openletter?
The current system of Openletter is centrally organized, meaning all data and interactions flow through one server. While it’s open source, allowing anyone to run their own Openletter server, it remains centralized within individual servers. At the moment, openletter.earth is the primary server in use. By transitioning to a Nostr variant, this changes fundamentally. There is no central server, which results in increasing reliability and resilience. There is no single point of failure. This offers several advantages:
Decentralization: The system will no longer depend on a central server, increasing reliability and resilience. There is no single point of failure anymore.
Free and open source: The open source nature of Nostr aligns perfectly with the values of Openletter. It enables us to work transparently and in a community-driven manner.
Digital signing: Nostr provides the ability to sign content with a personal key, adding an extra layer of authenticity and trust.
Who are we?
Jurjen de Vries: MVP lead & coordination, UX, functional tester, and community lead.
Abir: Designer & developer.
Rafid: Senior developer.
We have experience in digital ethics and bring values like free open source, sustainability, and accessibility into the code we develop. These principles form the foundation of our work and align seamlessly with the mission of Openletter.
How are we approaching this?
We’re starting with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product), a first version of the Nostr variant that includes the core functionalities. We’ll keep you regularly updated on our progress here on Openletter. Your feedback and input are invaluable, so we encourage everyone to share ideas and suggestions.
How can you help?
Early adopters: We’re looking for early adopters to test the MVP and provide feedback, particularly on the user experience (UX). As an early adopter, you should be able to use the system seamlessly, without any struggles related to Nostr, such as key management. If you’re interested, please let us know!
Financial support: Monetary contributions are still welcome to support the development of this project. Every contribution, big or small, is greatly appreciated.
We’re excited to write this new chapter of Openletter together with you. Thank you for your support and involvement!
🎉 1
on
Quite excited for the development of this new version!
Another big advantage of this new architecture with Nostr is that it removes the bottleneck of a single point of control / failure.
In this current version, there is a central database that I have access to. So I could technically tamper with any letter or any signature. As a result many people have asked me to remove a signature or even an open letter. I don't want that power. People should own their own data, and own the fact that they've signed something (in the same way that you cannot take back an email that you sent). That being said, and given the (surprising) amount of people who have asked to remove or alter their signature, I think we should allow people to override their signature so that people that look at the latest version, see the latest version of each signature.