How far is the Radicle network, which has just launched the automated revenue protocol Drips, from becoming the GitHub of the Web3 world?

Author: Allen, PANews

On January 19, the decentralized code collaboration network Radicle launched a new Web3 protocol called Drips, built on Ethereum, which provides users with automated income and payment protocols. The main application scenarios of the Drips protocol include:

• Allowing any Ethereum user to regularly transfer funds to other users, enabling users to collect these funds through a single transaction when they receive multiple transfers from others.
• Allowing creators and developers to issue and sell NFT memberships, providing fans with unique benefits in exchange for ongoing financial support.
• Allowing any Ethereum address to automatically donate a portion of their income to other users (such as charities, creators, etc.) when they receive income.

Currently, most payment forms in the crypto space are one-time transactions, but the demand for recurring payments is rising, such as DAOs paying infrastructure service providers monthly. The current one-time payment process is cumbersome, highlighting the need for protocols like Drips designed for recurring payments.

The development team of the Drips protocol comes from Radicle DAO and will first be applied to the Radicle platform. Although it is an important tool for Web3.0, many users are still unfamiliar with Radicle DAO, which aims to become the GitHub of the Web3 world. This article by PANews will introduce the background, features, mechanisms, and usage methods of the decentralized code collaboration network Radicle.

Background

Code hosting and collaboration platforms like GitHub and GitLab have created a global developer community, bringing open source into the mainstream and promoting its development. Open source has become the standard for software development, lowering costs and difficulties in developing software, and accelerating the rapid growth of the software industry and advancements in internet technology.

Although GitHub has made significant contributions to the development of open source, it is essentially a platform controlled by centralization. In 2018, GitHub was acquired by Microsoft, which had previously shut down the code-sharing platform Codeplex in 2017.

A GitHub spokesperson once stated that to ensure normal operations in specific jurisdictions, the platform would block certain content based on government requirements. After GitHub blocked developers from Iran, Syria, and Crimea, it shut down an APK (Android application package file) used by Tsunami Democràtic (a group supporting Catalan independence) in 2019 at the request of a court.

Currently, the vast majority of protocols and applications in the crypto industry have their code uploaded to GitHub, with related discussions, issues, comments, and historical records hosted on the platform. The crypto industry is committed to creating a decentralized ecosystem, while Web3.0 aims to transition the currently centralized internet world controlled by platforms to a decentralized internet world driven by protocols.

The current situation in the crypto industry is that most decentralized projects rely on the centralized platform GitHub to distribute their code, increasing security risks and not aligning with the spirit of crypto decentralization. The development of the crypto industry and Web 3.0 requires truly decentralized infrastructure.

Against this backdrop, the Radicle protocol (decentralized code collaboration network) emerged, known as "decentralized GitHub," providing developers with functionalities similar to centralized platforms like GitHub.

Key Features and Operating Mechanism

Radicle is a decentralized code collaboration network based on open-source protocols, built on public key cryptography, and employs a peer-to-peer propagation model. Users can use the network without going through a third party, and all data on the network is encrypted, signed, and verified, propagating between peers.

The Radicle network supports users in discussing and communicating about code-related bugs, reviews, and other issues. The network has no central point of failure and is resistant to external (corporate or governmental) interference, making decentralized platforms comparatively more secure.

In response to the drawbacks of centralized platforms like GitHub, and considering the core values of free and open-source code collaboration, the design principles of the Radicle protocol include:

Prioritizing user freedom, including running, distributing, researching, modifying, and improving software;

Being accessible and uncensorable, with no party able to prohibit users from accessing the system or sharing content;

User-friendly, with an interface and functionalities easy for users to operate;

Offline-capable, with no single point of control or network restrictions;

Decentralized, using cryptographic verification and signatures instead of trusted third parties in traditional platforms.

The operating mechanism of the Radicle network is as follows:

The Radicle network is supported by Radicle Link (a peer-to-peer replication protocol), which propagates data through Gossip (peer-to-peer communication). In simple terms, users retain a redundant ledger locally and share (i.e., replicate) their local data with selected peers, achieving information propagation and decentralized storage.

All data on the Radicle network is globally decentralized through Radicle Link (peers on the network store data locally), so developers do not need to rely on centralized hosting servers and can directly share and collaborate on code in Git repositories.

By adopting a storage model that synchronously distributes data between peers, the Radicle network ensures that whenever user data is published to the network, it can be copied and stored on another peer machine, similar to a distributed ledger model, ensuring the authenticity, integrity, and permanence of the data.

Compared to centralized platforms like GitHub, the decentralized Radicle network has several key differences:

• Built on open-source protocols, with no 'special servers,' privileged users, or companies controlling users;
• Based on a peer-to-peer distributed model rather than a client-server model, which is beneficial for data storage;
• Non-global model, where the content users see, interact with, and replicate is determined by their areas of interest and projects;
• A community-driven DAO governed by holders of the circulating token RAD.

Usage Methods

The specific usage methods of the Radicle network are mainly divided into three steps: downloading and installing, creating an identity, and configuring the system.

Download and Install. The Radicle network can be accessed via the open-source desktop client Radicle Upstream. Currently, the Radicle Upstream package is available for Linux and macOS, and is only compatible with macOS version 10.14 and above.

Create Identity. Users create an identity and set a password through the Upstream client, which generates a unique identifier (device ID) paired with the user's computer. This ID is the only way for other users on the network to find you. The password is used for network access and content publishing, and there is currently no way to recover the password for users.

Configure System. Users first need to set up their Git account. To create a project and publish it to the Radicle network, they must ensure it is associated with their Git username. Then, they need to add the Radicle gitremote-helper to their shell configuration to publish code to the network through the Upstream client.

The Radicle network is deployed on the Ethereum chain and supports users in voting governance for participating projects by creating Radicle Orgs (a type of decentralized organization) (distributing developer rewards, software releases, or any significant upgrades), categorized into single-signature and multi-signature organizations based on the number of managers. With Radicle Orgs, projects can maintain a transparent project status history and anchor it on Ethereum for protection.

A Radicle Org can govern multiple projects, and users can add projects by clicking Anchor project on the Radicle Orgs page, as shown in the image.

Token Use Cases and Funding Situation

The governance token of the Radicle network is RAD, with current application scenarios including:

• Enjoying discounts or no fees when interacting with Ethereum-based protocols on Radicle, such as registering decentralized domain names under Radicle's ENS registrar (radicle.eth).
• Token holders can participate in the governance of the Radicle protocol through voting and proposals.

Radicle raised $12 million in funding in 2021, led by NFX and Galaxy Digital, with participation from Placeholder, Electric, Parafi, 1kx, and angel investors including founders of Aave, The Graph, Polkadot, CoinMarketCap, and CoinGecko.

As of April 2021, the Radicle network had integrated over 1,300 projects (such as The Graph), and currently, over 700 new projects are in development on the network. Due to Ethereum Gas fee issues, the team is closely monitoring Layer 2 solutions like Optimism and Matter Labs.

Conclusion

Currently, some projects in Web 3.0 are gaining market attention, such as Arweave (decentralized storage), ENS (decentralized naming system), and Mirror (decentralized writing platform), and the entire industry has experienced rapid development in the past two years.

As a code collaboration platform serving as industry infrastructure, the decentralized Radicle network aligns more closely with the spirit of the crypto industry and Web 3.0 compared to the centralized GitHub. The Radicle network has no central point of failure, employs decentralized storage, and possesses the ability to resist external (corporate or governmental) interference, making it relatively safer. It also does not restrict developers from specific regions, serving developers from any part of the world.

However, compared to the traditional internet, the entire crypto industry is relatively small, and GitHub still attracts the vast majority of developers. Currently, the application scenarios for the token are limited, and its value capture ability is constrained. Additionally, the development of the Radicle network is also influenced by overall market sentiment, with funding and users during bear markets being far less than in bull markets, which is detrimental to project development.