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PeerTube is software that you install on a web server. It allows you to create a video hosting website, so create your + "homemade YouTube".
+The difference to YouTube is that it's not intended to create a huge platform centralizing videos from the whole world on a + single server farm (which is horribly expensive).
+On the contrary, PeerTube's concept is to create a network of multiple small interconnected video hosting providers.
PeerTube is unique because (as far as we know) it's the only video hosting web application which combines three + advantages:
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- An open code (transparency) under a free/libre license (ethic, respect and community-driven development); +
- A federation of interconnected hosting providers (so more video choices wherever you go to see them); +
- Peer-to-peer broadcasting – and therefore viewing – (so no slowing down when a video becomes viral). +
Linked together, these three features makes it easy to host videos on the server side, while remaining practical, ethical and + fun for the internet users.
++ Because by design free/libre software respects our fundamental freedoms, and guarantees them by + a license, + so a legally enforceable contract. +
+ +Concretely here, it means that:
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- PeerTube is freely provided, no need to pay to install it on your server; +
- We can look under the hood of PeerTube (its source code): it's auditable, transparent; +
- Its development is community-based, it can be enhanced by everyone's contributions. +
+ The advantage of YouTube (and other platforms) is its video catalog: from knitting tutorials to Minecraft constructions + through videos of kittens or holidays... you can find everything! +
++ The more the video catalogue is varied, the more people are interested, the more videos are uploaded... but hosting videos from + all over the world is (very, very) expensive! +
++ If the hosting provider Knitting-PeerTube becomes friends with Kittens-Tube and Framatube, it will display the videos of + others on its site, thus diluting hosting costs while remaining practical and complete for Internet users. +
++ PeerTube's federation protocol is fluid (everyone can choose who they want to follow), and based on + ActivityPub: this opens the possibility + to connect with tools like Mastodon for example. +
+When you host a large file like a video, the biggest thing to fear is success: if a video becomes viral and many people watch + it at the same time, the server has a big risk of getting overloaded!
++ Peer-to-peer broadcasting allows, thanks to the + WebRTC + protocol, that Internet users who watch the same video at the same time exchange bits of files, which relieves the server. +
+There is nothing to do: your web browser does it automatically. If you are on a mobile phone or if your network does not + allow it (router, firewall, etc.), this function is disabled and switches back to an "old-style" video broadcast 😉.
++ It's software you install on your server to create a website where videos are hosted and broadcast... + Basically: you create your own "homemade YouTube"! +
+There already exists free/libre software that enables you to do this. But with PeerTube, you can link your instance (your + video website) to Zaïd's PeerTube instance (where he hosts videos of the lectures for his people's university), to Catherin's + (who hosts her webmedia videos) or even to Solar's PeerTube instance (who manages a vloggers collective).
++ But PeerTube doesn't centralize: it federates. Thanks to the + ActivityPub + protocol (also used by + the Mastodon federation, + a free/libre Twitter alternative), PeerTube can federate several small hosters so they don't have to buy thousands of hard + disks to host videos for the whole world. +
+As a result, on your PeerTube website, the audience will be able to watch not only your videos, but also videos hosted by + Zaïd, Catherin or Solar... without having to host their videos on your PeerTube-powered website. Such diversity in a + video-catalog makes it very attractive. Such a large choice and diversity of videos is what made centralized platforms such as + YouTube succesful. +
++ Federation offers another benefit: everyone becomes independent. Zaïd, Catherin, Solar and yourself can make + your own rules, your own Terms of Services (for example, one can imagine a MeowTube where dogs videos are strictly forbidden + 😉). +
++ It allows you to choose a hoster that fits you. YouTube's excesses are a good exemple: its hoster, Google/Alphabet, can + impose its "Robocopyright" (the ContentID system) or its tools to index, recommend and spotlight videos; and those tools seem + as unfair as they are obscure. Even though, it already forces you + to give it extended copyrights on your videos, + for free! +
+With PeerTube, you can choose the hoster of your videos according to his terms of services, his moderation + policy, his federation choices... As you don't have a tech giant facing you, you might be able to talk with you hoster if you + ever have a problem, a need, or something you want.
++ The other big advantage of PeerTube is that your hoster doesn't have to fear the sudden success of one of your videos. + Indeed, PeerTube broadcasts videos with the protocol + WebTorrent. + If hundreds of people are watching your video at the same time, their browsers automatically send bits of your video to other + viewers. +
+Before this peer-to-peer broadcast, successful videographers (or videos that make the buzz) were doomed to be hosted by a web + giant whose infrastructure can handle millions of simultaneous views... Or to pay for a very expensive independent video host so + that it can hold the load.
+One of the benefits is that you become a part of the broadcasting of the videos you are watching. If other + people are watching a PeerTube video at the same time as you, as long as your tab remains open, your browser shares bits of + that video and you participate in a healthier use of the Internet.
+Of course, PeerTube's video player adapts to your situation: if your installation does not allow peer-to-peer playback + (corporate network, recalcitrant browser, etc.) video playback will be done in the classic way.
++ But above all, PeerTube treats you like a person, not as a product that it has to track, profile, and lock + in video loops to better sell your available brain time. Thus, the + source code + (the recipe) of the PeerTube software is open, making its operation transparent. +
+PeerTube is not only open-source: it's free (as in free speech). Its free license guarantees our fundamental + freedoms as users. It is this respect for our freedoms that allows Framasoft to invite you to contribute to this software, and + many evolutions (innovative comment system, etc.) have already been suggested by some of you.
+We can answer with certainty: no!
+In March 2018, PeerTube released its publicly usable beta version. Several collectives set up the first instances, thus + creating the bases of the federation.
+But this is just the beginning, PeerTube is not (yet) perfect, and many features are missing. But we intend to keep improving + it day after day.
+March 2018 thus represents the birth of the PeerTube federations: the more this software will be used and supported, the more + people will use it and contribute to it, and the faster it will evolve towards a concrete alternative to platforms such as + YouTube.
+Nevertheless, the ambition remains to be a free and decentralized alternative: the goal of an alternative is + not to replace, but to propose something else, with different values, in parallel to what already exists.
+Being free doesn't mean being above the law! Each PeerTube hosting provider can decide on its own general conditions of use, + abiding by their local laws.
++ For example, in France, discriminatory content + is prohibited + and may be reported to the authorities. PeerTube allows users to report problematic videos, and each administrator must then + apply its moderation in accordance with its terms and conditions and the law. +
+The federation system, for its part, allows hosts to decide with whom they want to connect, depending on the types of content + or the moderation policies of others.
+PeerTube is not a website: it is software that allows a web hoster (for example, Dominique) to create a video website (let's + call it DominiqueTube).
+Now imagine that Camille has created an account on DominiqueTube and uploads an illegal video, because this video uses music + created by Solal.
+Solal goes on Framatube, an instance which follows DominiqueTube. So, Solal can see, from Framatube, the videos published on + DominiqueTube.
+Solal sees Camille's illegal video, and signals it with the button provided for that purpose. Although the report is made + from Framatube, it is sent directly to the person hosting the illegal content, Dominique.
+From that moment on, Dominique is responsible, because they are warned that they're hosting an illegal video. It is therefore + up to them to act if they don't want to be held accountable before the law.
+Then Dominique and Solal can turn against Camille, who uploaded the video.
+There are none, not at the moment', 'PeerTube is a tool that we wanted neutral in terms of remuneration.
+For now, the solution proposed to people who upload videos is to use the "support" button under the video. This button + displays a frame in which people who upload videos can display text, images, and links freely. For example, it's possible to + put a link to Patreon, Tipeee, Paypal, Liberapay (or any other solution) there. Other examples: put a postal address if you'd + like to receive physical thank-you cards, put a logo of your enterprise, a link to support a non-profit organisation...
+We did not go any further because to favour one technical solution would be to impose, in the code, a political vision of + cultural sharing and its financing. All financial solutions are possible and treated equally in PeerTube.
+However, many improvements of PeerTube are to be expected... Including those that would allow you to create (and choose) the + monetization tools that interest you!
+Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that the vast majority of videos published on the Internet (and even on YouTube) are + shared for non-market purposes: remuneration is a tool, but not necessarily a main or essential purpose.
+You need to find a PeerTube hosting instance you trust.
++ There's a complete list of instances + here, + and a list of those that are open to registration here. +
+Then, we recommend you go to the instances, read their "about" page to discover their terms of use (disk space limit per + user, content policy, etc.).
+It's best to contact and talk directly with hosting providers, to understand their business model, vision, etc. Because only + you can determine what makes you trust such or such host, and thus entrust your videos to them.
+No. In October 2018, on an average instance federating with ~200 instances and indexing ~16000 videos, only ~200 videos are + tagged as NSFW (i. e. the content is sensitive, which could be something else than pornography). Therefore, they represent + only ~1% of all the videos.
+Moreover, each administrator decides with which instances he wants to federate: he has the full control of the content he + wants to display on his instance. It's up to him to choose the policy regarding this kind of videos. He can decide to: +
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- Display them +
- Blur the title and thumbnail +
- Hide them +
By default, this configuration is set to "Hide them". If some administrators decide to display them with a blur filter + for example, it's their choice.
+Finally, any user can override this configuration, and decides if he want to display, blur or hide these videos for + himself.
+PeerTube is just a software: it's not Framasoft (non-profit that develops PeerTube) that's responsible for the content + published on some instances.
+It's up to everyone to be responsible: parents, visitors, uploaders, PeerTube administrators to respect the law and avoid any + problematic situations.
+The installation guide is + here + (only in English).
+We recommend not to install PeerTube on low-end hardware or behind a weak connection (for example, on a RaspberryPi with an + ADSL connection): this could slow down all federations.
++ Don't bother the developer to help you install your instance: we have a + support forum for that. +
++ "It's outrageous and unconscious: you're releasing PeerTube's version 1 when it doesn't contain the necessary tools + to effectively manage videos claimed by rights holders, or to effectively manage the issue of online harassment in comments, + or to effectively manage monetization through advertising, or to (insert here your request to PeerTube). It will never work! + What do you intend to do about it?" ++ +
You're right. PeerTube 1.0 is not the perfect tool, far from it. And we never promised that this version 1.0 would be a + tool that would include all the features corresponding to all cases.
+PeerTube 1.0 is the realization of the commitment we made in October 2017 to take PeerTube from an alpha version (personal + project and proof of concept that a federated video platform could work) to a 1.0 version in October 2018 (which does not mean + "final version", but "version considered stable and distributable").
+Remember that PeerTube has only one (almost) full time developer and a small handful of very involved volunteers. It is not a + product developed by a start-up with a full time team (dev, design, UX, marketing, support, etc.) and significant financial + support. It is a Community free software, the development of which will continue over the months and, we hope, in the years to + come.
+We are well aware of the shortcomings of PeerTube 1.0, especially in the moderation tools area (videos, comments, etc.). And + we intend to work on these weaknesses.
+We have chosen to do so as follows: on the one hand we will work primarily in the coming months to improve these tools within + PeerTube itself (in the core of the software). On the other hand, we will also focus, in parallel, a large part of + PeerTube's development effort during 2019 on the integration of a plugin system, which can be developed by the communities. +
+Indeed, we do not claim to have the science behind it and know how best to manage each of the tools according to each of the + needs. For example: with regard to the question of DMCA requests, cases vary according to geographical jurisdictions (European + law is different from French law, itself different from Canadian law, itself different from American law, etc.). Concerning + the tools for moderating comments, here again, we cannot decree ourselves experts of the subject, because this is simply not + the case.
+By acting both on the core, but also by allowing the development of plugins, we believe that PeerTube will, in the + long term, be able to respond much better to these issues and allow different communities to adapt PeerTube to their needs. +
+We are working as quickly as possible to improve PeerTube, but we are doing so with the resources we have, which means + very limited.
+In the meantime, as an user if you feel that PeerTube 1.0 does not currently meet your needs, it's simple: don't use it right + now :) (we remind you that we don't make money developing PeerTube, and that if we obviously hope for its success, the + survival of our association doesn't depend on it).
+As an administrator, if you are afraid of DMCA requests, there is an option to limit the opening of registrations to people + you know. You will then be able to reopen registrations without verification once these verification tools have been + integrated, or you have developed them.
++ The Git repository of PeerTube is + here. +
+ ++ You can create an issue, + contribute to it, or even start contributing by choosing the + + easy problems for those who begin + . + See contributing guide + for more information. +
+ ++ If you want to help out in another way, or if you want to request a feature, come discuss it on our + contribution forum. +
+PeerTube uses ActivityPub because this federation protocol is recommended by the W3C and is already used by the federated + social network Mastodon.
+ +IPFS is a great technology, but it still seems very (too!) young for large scale streaming of large files.
+ +After discussing it on our forum, we feel that d.tube is not free or open source, because publishing only compiled code + hinders freedom of modification.
+ +PeerTube is free, decentralized, distributed, and does not impose any remuneration model. This is the choice we have made, + which is debatable, and others (like d.tube) have made other choices, which have their advantages. So it’s up to you to see + what suits you.
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