# Why Den Chat Runs on Nostr — Freedom Comes With Responsibility
## The Core Trade-Off
> **Either we rent or self-host a Nostr/Blossom server, or our chatting
> history and/or other things (media, pins, packs, etc.) might randomly
> get wiped.**
This is why I made it so that people's events get published to multiple
public servers — and I've now increased the default from **3 to 6** —
as well as added more robust checking that those servers actually work,
plus periodic checks to inform you if something is wrong with one of
the public servers you might be using.
## The Residual Risk of Public Servers
However, the potential threat of public servers randomly deleting data,
or shutting down, is real — for whatever reason:
- The operator died
- They ran out of money
- They're deleting old data to keep the relay running for new data
- They might just be bad people
That's why this freedom system — the highest level of social online
freedom there is, as far as I'm aware (**Nostr**) — comes with a
**responsibility**: people must make sure their own stuff is properly
well-distributed and backed up (offline, for later re-distribution or
self-hosting).
## "Well, This Sucks" — You're Right, But It's Still the Best Freedom Option
Take any other Discord alternative out there, one that's open source,
with either a hosted option alongside self-hosting, or self-hosting only.
As a new user, how would their experience be?
### Option 1: The hosted "freedom" alternative
They join, make a community space on the company's servers, and land
right back into the same core issues with Discord:
- The host can **modify or delete** your account, messages, or community
spaces without your permission
- They can **spy on your conversations** (unless there's encryption AND
it's open source)
- They can **coerce you** into providing personal/legal information —
or anything else — under threat of restricting or suspending your account
- If they go **bankrupt or shut down**, everyone's accounts, spaces, and
chats go with them
### Option 2: The self-hosting route
The user must first figure out how to set everything up and spend time
doing it — **all before they can do anything** — and only then invite
friends and start chatting.
For people who just want to *join* spaces without creating one: they can
make an account on your self-host/site and join in. But:
- They're under **your centralized authority**, facing the same potential
core issues from Option 1
- Plus a new problem: they need to **register on another friend's
self-host/site** and log in — a constant, never-ending run of
registering and logging in/out just to talk with different
friends/communities
## Now Look at Den Chat
1. Click a button to make an account (installed version)
2. Click another button to make a hub
3. Invite friends — you're chatting within the first 5 minutes
(maybe less if someone wants to speedrun it)
- **No self-hosting required** to make a space/hub
- **One account everywhere** — anyone who makes a hub means you never
have to create a new account and log in/out repeatedly to talk with
different friends
- **No account deletion** — the creators of Den Chat, nor the owners of
self-hosted Nostr relays/Blossom servers, can delete people's accounts
- **No coercion** — nobody can force people to hand over private/legal
info under threat of account restriction or suspension
- **No eavesdropping** — nobody can listen in on private conversations,
because it's open source and encrypted
- **No kill switch** — if the creators of Den Chat shut down as a company
(hypothetically — there isn't one) or abandon the project and turn off
their own servers, people's accounts still exist: they can still post,
see their hubs and messages, and the app/client still works.
Everything remains operational
### The Only Downside
If a hub owner wants a **guarantee** that their hub's messages continue
to exist, then they — or even other members; it doesn't have to be the
creator/owner of the hub — need to guarantee that themselves by **running
their own Nostr relay/Blossom server** for their hubs.
---
**TL;DR:** This is the value of Den Chat that no other non-Nostr Discord
alternative provides (as far as I know) in the market right now.
source: degmods on web . denchat. top
https://image.nostr.build/6e7d3ce21cce59fa67ccc94ee2eca0e0aa0645380c495e62c671ab0a4ea9d75e.jpg