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{{Short description|Decentralized personal server platform}} {{Short description|Decentralized personal server platform}}


{{Infobox software
'''Urbit''' is a ] ]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story|last=Wolfe|first=Alexandra|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2017|isbn=9781476778945|location=|pages=219-222}}</ref> aiming to "reboot computing"<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://reason.com/2016/06/21/can-urbit-transform-the-internet/|title=Can Urbit Reboot Computing?|last=O'Sullivan|first=Andrea|date=2016-06-21|website=Reason.com|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=2019-06-14}}</ref> and "build a new ] on top of the old internet."<ref name=":2" /> By addressing macro-level problems inherent in ] and ] family of computers, and instead networking personal servers that communicate with each other, replacing the ] relationship with a "digital land" model, the platform seeks to distributes the client-server relationship across all computers on the network.{{cn|date=June 2019}}
| title = Urbit
| name = Urbit
| logo = File:Urbit Logo.svg
| logo caption = Urbit tilde logo
| logo alt =
| logo size = 150px
| collapsible = <!-- Any text here will collapse the screenshot. -->
| screenshot = <!-- File name without 'File:' -->
| screenshot size =
| screenshot alt =
| caption =
| other_names =
| author = ], Tlon Corporation<ref>{{cite web |url=https://media.urbit.org/whitepaper.pdf |title=Urbit: A Solid-State Interpreter |website=urbit.org |access-date=October 22, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531172816/https://media.urbit.org/whitepaper.pdf |archive-date=May 31, 2022}}</ref>
| developer = Tlon Corporation
| released = 2013<ref name="2013launch">{{cite web |url=https://urbit.org/overview/people-history |title=Urbit.org Overview |website=urbit.org |access-date=September 13, 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220805161014/https://urbit.org/overview/people-history |archive-date=August 5, 2022}}</ref>
| ver layout = <!-- simple (default) or stacked -->
| discontinued = <!-- Set to yes, if software is discontinued, otherwise omit. -->
| latest release version = 1.10
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2022|07|28|df=yes}}
| latest preview version =
| latest preview date = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|df=yes/no}} -->
| repo = {{URL|https://github.com/urbit/urbit}}
| qid =
| programming language = Hoon, Nock, ], JavaScript
| middleware =
| engine = <!-- or |engines= -->
| operating system = ], ], ]
| platform =
| included with =
| replaces =
<!-- depending on what is meant by replaces (whether what matters is the intent or what has been borne out in practice) you could put a variety of things here. Urbit has aspirations of replacing vast swaths of the computing stack, and putting that in the infobox could make that clear. -->
| replaced_by =
| service_name =
| size = <!-- this is probably important information, but I'd need to find a good RS on it -->
| standard =
| language =
| language count = <!-- Number only -->
| language footnote =
| genre = ] ].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story|last=Wolfe|first=Alexandra|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2017|isbn=9781476778945|pages=219–222}}</ref>
<!-- the 'genre' question is difficult, but this seems reasonably accurate -->
| license = ]
| website = {{URL|www.urbit.org}}
| AsOf =
}}


'''Urbit''' is a ] ]<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story|last=Wolfe|first=Alexandra|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2017|isbn=9781476778945|pages=219–222}}</ref> based on ]<ref name=":2" /> in a ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pogue |first=James |date=2023-02-21 |title=Inside the New Right’s Next Frontier: The American West |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/02/new-right-civil-war |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}</ref>
⚫ The Urbit ] consists of a set of ] ("Hoon," a high-level ] language, and "Nock," its low-level compiled language); a single-function ] built on those languages ("Arvo"); a personal address space, built on the ] ], for each instance of the operating system to participate in a decentralized network ("Azimuth"); and the decentralized network itself, an encrypted, ] ] running on top of the ].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://media.urbit.org/whitepaper.pdf|title=Urbit: A Solid-State Interpreter|last=Yarvin|first=Curtis|last2=Philip|first2=Monk|date=May 26, 2016|website=Tlon Corporation|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=June 13, 2019|last3=Dyudin|first3=Anton|last4=Pasco|first4=Raymond}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=June 2019}}
The Urbit platform was created by ] political blogger ].<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/21/14671978/alt-right-mencius-moldbug-urbit-curtis-yarvin-tlon|title=Alt-right darling Mencius Moldbug wanted to destroy democracy. Now he wants to sell you web services|last=Lecher|first=Colin|date=2017-02-21|website=The Verge|access-date=2019-06-14}}</ref> The first code release was in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Yarvin |first1=Curtis |date=13 January 2010 |title=Urbit: functional programming from scratch |url=http://moronlab.blogspot.com/2010/01/urbit-functional-programming-from.html |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=moronlab}}</ref> The Urbit network was launched in 2013.<ref name="2013launch"/> The first user version (called OS1) was launched in April 2020.


In 2022, the main software in an Urbit installation was a "bare-bones" text-based message board.<ref name=":4" />
The Urbit platform was conceived and first developed in 2002 by ].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/21/14671978/alt-right-mencius-moldbug-urbit-curtis-yarvin-tlon|title=Alt-right darling Mencius Moldbug wanted to destroy democracy. Now he wants to sell you web services|last=Lecher|first=Colin|date=2017-02-21|website=The Verge|access-date=2019-06-14}}</ref> It is currently developed by its parent company, the ''Tlon Corporation'', which Yarvin founded with John Burnham, a ], in 2013, though Burnham would later depart in 2014.<ref name=":0" /> The company has received ] funding from various investors since its inception, most notably ], whose ], with ] firm ] invested $1.1 million in 2013.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Live Work Work Work Die: A Journey into the Savage Heart of Silicon Valley|last=Pein|first=Corey|publisher=Metropolitan Books|year=2018|isbn=9781627794862|location=New York|pages=|chapter=Poor Winners}}</ref>


==Functionality==
The platform is known for being complicated and obscure<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />, as a consequence of its approaches. It is also mired in controversy due to the opinions of its creator, Curtis Yarvin, and his association with the ].<ref name=":2" />

The Point described Urbit OS1 as a "bare-bones messaging server" and compared it to 1990s era ].<ref name=":4" />

Tlon, the company founded by Yarvin to build Urbit, named after the short story ] by ],<ref name=":4" /> has received ] funding from various investors since its inception, most notably ], whose ], with ] firm ] invested $1.1 million.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pein |first=Corey |title=Live Work Work Work Die: A Journey into the Savage Heart of Silicon Valley |publisher=Metropolitan Books |year=2018 |isbn=9781627794862 |location=New York |chapter=Poor Winners}}</ref> The Urbit community talks up its association with and funding from Thiel, who has also backed Urbit public events.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Duesterberg |first=James |date=2022-09-09 |title=Among the Reality Entrepreneurs |url=https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/among-the-reality-entrepreneurs/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=The Point Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

] estimated Urbit's active user base as of September 2022 at "a few thousand."<ref name=":4" />

==Technical details==

⚫ The Urbit ] consists of a set of ]s ("Hoon," a high-level ] language, and "Nock," its low-level compiled language); a single-function ] built on those languages ("Arvo"); a runtime implementation of that operating system ("Vere"), public key infrastructure, built on the ] ] ("Azimuth"), for each Urbit instance to participate in a decentralized network; and the decentralized network itself, an encrypted, peer-to-peer ].<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://media.urbit.org/whitepaper.pdf|title=Urbit: A Solid-State Interpreter|last1=Yarvin|first1=Curtis|last2=Philip|first2=Monk|date=May 26, 2016|website=Tlon Corporation|access-date=June 13, 2019|last3=Dyudin|first3=Anton|last4=Pasco|first4=Raymond}}</ref>{{primary source inline|date=May 2020}}

The 128-bit Urbit identity space consists of 256 "galaxies", 65,280 "stars" (255 for each galaxy), and 4,294,901,760 "planets" (65,535 for each star) and comets under those.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Sutton |first=Ruby |date=2022-10-13 |title=My Weekend With the Martians |url=https://astra-mag.com/articles/my-weekend-with-the-martians/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=Astra |language=en-US}}</ref>

Yarvin called Urbit "functional programming from scratch" in 2010.<ref name=":2" /> ] described Urbit as having "reinvented some very ]-like technology."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Proven |first=Liam |title=The weird world of non-C operating systems |url=https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/29/non_c_operating_systems/ |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=The Register |language=en}}</ref> ] described Urbit as "complicated for even the most seasoned of functional programmers".<ref name="reason">{{cite web |author=Andrea O'Sullivan |date=2016-06-21 |title=Can Urbit Reboot Computing? – |url=https://reason.com/2016/06/21/can-urbit-transform-the-internet/ |accessdate=2020-05-06 |publisher=Reason.com}}</ref>


== Politics and controversy == == Politics and controversy ==
⚫ Yarvin's reputation has resulted in Urbit's considerable controversy at public events and conferences, most notably at LambdaConf 2016, when Yarvin's inclusion at the event resulted in five speakers and three sponsors withdrawing their participation in response.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/tess-townsend/why-it-matters-that-an-obscure-programming-conference-is-hosting-mencius-moldbug.html|title=Controversy Rages Over 'Pro-Slavery' Tech Speaker Curtis Yarvin|last=Townsend|first=Tess|date=2016-03-31|website=Inc.com|access-date=2019-06-14}}</ref> Yarvin had previously had his invitation to the 2015 Strange Loop conference rescinded, with the conference's organizer noting that "his mere inclusion and/or presence would overshadow the content of his talk".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/technology/2015/06/curtis-yarvin-booted-from-strange-loop-its-a-big-big-problem.html|title=When All It Takes to Be Booted From a Tech Conference Is Being a “Distraction,” We Have a Problem|last=Auerbach|first=David|date=2015-06-10|website=Slate Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-06-14}}</ref>


⚫ In 2015, Yarvin's invitation to discuss Urbit at the Strange Loop programming conference was rescinded; the conference organizer said Yarvin's "mere inclusion and/or presence would overshadow the content of his talk."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://slate.com/technology/2015/06/curtis-yarvin-booted-from-strange-loop-its-a-big-big-problem.html|title=When All It Takes to Be Booted From a Tech Conference Is Being a "Distraction," We Have a Problem|last=Auerbach|first=David|author-link=David Auerbach|date=2015-06-10|website=Slate Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-06-14}}</ref>
The source code and design sketches for the project have made various allusions that correspond to Yarvin's views, including initially classifying users as "lords," "dukes," and "earls." Yarvin and Tlon reject any ideological associations for the project, with Tlon CEO Galen Wolfe-Pauly responding that "the principles of Urbit are very palatable ... we're interested in giving people their freedom."<ref name=":2" /> Andrea O'Sullivan of ] commented that "when you parse through the underlying values that guide the system, a rather ] ethos begins to emerge."<ref name=":3" />


In 2016, after Yarvin was invited to the functional programming conference LambdaConf to discuss Urbit, five speakers and three sponsors withdrew their participation. Their stated reason was Yarvin's claims that white people have higher IQs than black people and his support of slavery.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/tess-townsend/why-it-matters-that-an-obscure-programming-conference-is-hosting-mencius-moldbug.html|title=Controversy Rages Over 'Pro-Slavery' Tech Speaker Curtis Yarvin|last=Townsend|first=Tess|date=2016-03-31|website=Inc.com|access-date=2019-06-14}}</ref>
After seventeen years of working on the Urbit project, Yarvin departed Tlon in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://urbit.org/posts/a-founders-farewell/|title=A Founder's Farewell|last=|first=|date=January 14, 2019|website=Urbit.org|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|access-date=June 13, 2019|note=}}</ref>

The source code and design sketches for the project alluded to some of Yarvin's views, including initially classifying users as "lords," "dukes," and "earls." Yarvin described this structure of Urbit in 2010 as "digital ]."<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Yarvin |first=Curtis |date=2010-01-12 |title=Urbit namespace |url=https://github.com/cgyarvin/urbit/blob/6ac688960687aa9c89d4da6fff49a3125c10aca1/Spec/urbit/3-intro.txt |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210905001458/https://github.com/cgyarvin/urbit/blob/6ac688960687aa9c89d4da6fff49a3125c10aca1/Spec/urbit/3-intro.txt |archive-date=2021-09-05 |access-date=2023-07-20 |website=GitHub |language=en}}</ref>

In a 2019 blog post, Yarvin said Urbit "is not designed as a political structure".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://urbit.org/blog/a-founders-farewell/|title=A Founder's Farewell|date=January 14, 2019|website=Urbit.org|access-date=June 13, 2019}}</ref> Josh Lehman, Executive Director of the Urbit Foundation, denied in 2022 that Urbit was "digital feudalism."<ref name=":3" />

Andrea O'Sullivan of ] magazine '']'' described Urbit in 2016 as having a "libertarian vision".<ref name=reason />

Yarvin departed Tlon in 2019. Lehman said that the "hardest part" of his work at Tlon had been to distance Urbit from Yarvin.<ref name=":3" /> Yarvin returned to Urbit in 2024.<ref>https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/j-d-vance-dimes-square-the-art-world-new-right-conservatism-1234716130/</ref>


== References == == References ==
{{reflist}}
<references />


== External links == == External links ==


* https://urbit.org * {{official website|https://urbit.org}}
* https://tlon.io * - Corporate website



] ]
] ]
⚫ ]


{{Software-stub}}
⚫ ]

Latest revision as of 23:07, 2 January 2025

Decentralized personal server platform
Urbit
Urbit tilde logo
Original author(s)Curtis Yarvin, Tlon Corporation
Developer(s)Tlon Corporation
Initial release2013
Stable release1.10 / 28 July 2022; 2 years ago (2022-07-28)
Repositorygithub.com/urbit/urbit
Written inHoon, Nock, C, JavaScript
Operating systemLinux, macOS, Windows
TypeDecentralized personal server platform.
LicenseMIT License
Websitewww.urbit.org

Urbit is a decentralized personal server platform based on functional programming in a peer-to-peer network. The Urbit platform was created by neoreactionary political blogger Curtis Yarvin. The first code release was in 2010. The Urbit network was launched in 2013. The first user version (called OS1) was launched in April 2020.

In 2022, the main software in an Urbit installation was a "bare-bones" text-based message board.

Functionality

The Point described Urbit OS1 as a "bare-bones messaging server" and compared it to 1990s era Usenet.

Tlon, the company founded by Yarvin to build Urbit, named after the short story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius by Jorge Luis Borges, has received seed funding from various investors since its inception, most notably Peter Thiel, whose Founders Fund, with venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz invested $1.1 million. The Urbit community talks up its association with and funding from Thiel, who has also backed Urbit public events.

The Point estimated Urbit's active user base as of September 2022 at "a few thousand."

Technical details

The Urbit software stack consists of a set of programming languages ("Hoon," a high-level functional programming language, and "Nock," its low-level compiled language); a single-function operating system built on those languages ("Arvo"); a runtime implementation of that operating system ("Vere"), public key infrastructure, built on the Ethereum blockchain ("Azimuth"), for each Urbit instance to participate in a decentralized network; and the decentralized network itself, an encrypted, peer-to-peer protocol.

The 128-bit Urbit identity space consists of 256 "galaxies", 65,280 "stars" (255 for each galaxy), and 4,294,901,760 "planets" (65,535 for each star) and comets under those.

Yarvin called Urbit "functional programming from scratch" in 2010. The Register described Urbit as having "reinvented some very Lisp-like technology." Reason described Urbit as "complicated for even the most seasoned of functional programmers".

Politics and controversy

In 2015, Yarvin's invitation to discuss Urbit at the Strange Loop programming conference was rescinded; the conference organizer said Yarvin's "mere inclusion and/or presence would overshadow the content of his talk."

In 2016, after Yarvin was invited to the functional programming conference LambdaConf to discuss Urbit, five speakers and three sponsors withdrew their participation. Their stated reason was Yarvin's claims that white people have higher IQs than black people and his support of slavery.

The source code and design sketches for the project alluded to some of Yarvin's views, including initially classifying users as "lords," "dukes," and "earls." Yarvin described this structure of Urbit in 2010 as "digital feudalism."

In a 2019 blog post, Yarvin said Urbit "is not designed as a political structure". Josh Lehman, Executive Director of the Urbit Foundation, denied in 2022 that Urbit was "digital feudalism."

Andrea O'Sullivan of libertarian magazine Reason described Urbit in 2016 as having a "libertarian vision".

Yarvin departed Tlon in 2019. Lehman said that the "hardest part" of his work at Tlon had been to distance Urbit from Yarvin. Yarvin returned to Urbit in 2024.

References

  1. "Urbit: A Solid-State Interpreter" (PDF). urbit.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  2. ^ "Urbit.org Overview". urbit.org. Archived from the original on August 5, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
  3. ^ Wolfe, Alexandra (2017). Valley of the Gods: A Silicon Valley Story. Simon and Schuster. pp. 219–222. ISBN 9781476778945.
  4. ^ Lecher, Colin (2017-02-21). "Alt-right darling Mencius Moldbug wanted to destroy democracy. Now he wants to sell you web services". The Verge. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  5. Pogue, James (2023-02-21). "Inside the New Right's Next Frontier: The American West". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  6. Yarvin, Curtis (13 January 2010). "Urbit: functional programming from scratch". moronlab. Retrieved 8 February 2023.
  7. ^ Duesterberg, James (2022-09-09). "Among the Reality Entrepreneurs". The Point Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  8. Pein, Corey (2018). "Poor Winners". Live Work Work Work Die: A Journey into the Savage Heart of Silicon Valley. New York: Metropolitan Books. ISBN 9781627794862.
  9. ^ Sutton, Ruby (2022-10-13). "My Weekend With the Martians". Astra. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  10. Yarvin, Curtis; Philip, Monk; Dyudin, Anton; Pasco, Raymond (May 26, 2016). "Urbit: A Solid-State Interpreter" (PDF). Tlon Corporation. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  11. Proven, Liam. "The weird world of non-C operating systems". The Register. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  12. ^ Andrea O'Sullivan (2016-06-21). "Can Urbit Reboot Computing? –". Reason.com. Retrieved 2020-05-06.
  13. Auerbach, David (2015-06-10). "When All It Takes to Be Booted From a Tech Conference Is Being a "Distraction," We Have a Problem". Slate Magazine. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  14. Townsend, Tess (2016-03-31). "Controversy Rages Over 'Pro-Slavery' Tech Speaker Curtis Yarvin". Inc.com. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  15. Yarvin, Curtis (2010-01-12). "Urbit namespace". GitHub. Archived from the original on 2021-09-05. Retrieved 2023-07-20.
  16. "A Founder's Farewell". Urbit.org. January 14, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019.
  17. https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/j-d-vance-dimes-square-the-art-world-new-right-conservatism-1234716130/

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