[github/Chocobozzz/PeerTube.git] / FAQ.md

# FAQ

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- [I don't like the name "PeerTube"](#i-dont-like-the-name-peertube)
- [If nobody watches a video, is it seeded?](#if-nobody-watches-a-video-is-it-seeded)
- [What is WebSeed?](#what-is-webseed)
- [If a client requests each chunk of a video through HTTP, will the server be overloaded?](#if-a-client-requests-each-chunk-of-a-video-through-http-will-the-server-be-overloaded)
- [Will an index of all the videos of servers you follow be too large for small servers?](#will-an-index-of-all-the-videos-of-servers-you-follow-be-too-large-for-small-servers)
- [Which container formats can I use for the videos I want to upload?](#which-container-formats-can-i-use-for-the-videos-i-want-to-upload)
- [I want to change my domain name, how can I do that?](#i-want-to-change-my-domain-name-how-can-i-do-that)
- [Should I have a big server to run PeerTube?](#should-i-have-a-big-server-to-run-peertube)
- [Can I seed videos with my classic BitTorrent client (Transmission, rTorrent...)?](#can-i-seed-videos-with-my-classic-bittorrent-client-transmission-rtorrent)
- [Why host on GitHub and Framagit?](#why-host-on-github-and-framagit)
- [Are you going to use the Steem blockchain?](#are-you-going-to-use-the-steem-blockchain)
- [Are you going to support advertisements?](#are-you-going-to-support-advertisements)
- [What is "creation dynamic" and why not modify it?](#what-is-creation-dynamic-and-why-not-modify-it)

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## I don't like the name "PeerTube"

PeerTube is just the name of the software. You can install it on your
server, and choose a name you want. For example, [this instance](https://framatube.org/)
is named "Framatube".


## If nobody watches a video, is it seeded?

Yes, the origin server always seeds videos uploaded on it thanks to
[Webseed](http://www.bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0019.html).


## What is WebSeed?

It is a BitTorrent extension that allows a server to seed a file through HTTP.
It just needs to statically serve a file, then the clients will request chunks
with a `Content-Range` HTTP header.


## If a client requests each chunk of a video through HTTP, will the server be overloaded?

Not really. Reverse proxies like Nginx handle very well requests of static
files. In my tests, it can send chunks at 10MB/s without consuming more than 5%
of CPU on a very small VPS.


## Will an index of all the videos of servers you follow be too large for small servers?

In our benchmarks, 1,000,000 videos takes around 2GB of storage on PostgreSQL.
We think it is acceptable for a video platform.


## Which container formats can I use for the videos I want to upload?

WEBM, MP4 or OGV videos.


## I want to change my domain name, how can I do that?

You can't. You'll need to reinstall an instance and reupload your videos.


## Should I have a big server to run PeerTube?

Not really. For instance, the demonstration server [https://peertube.cpy.re](https://peertube.cpy.re) has 2 vCore and 2GB of RAM and consumes on average:
 * **CPU** -> nginx ~ 20%, peertube ~ 10%,   postgres ~ 1%, redis ~ 3%
 * **RAM** -> nginx ~ 6MB, peertube ~ 120MB, postgres ~ 10MB, redis ~ 5MB

So you would need:
 * **CPU** 1 core if you don't enable transcoding, 2 at least if you enable it
 * **RAM** 1GB
 * **Storage** Completely depends on how many videos your users will upload


## Can I seed videos with my classic BitTorrent client (Transmission, rTorrent...)?

Yes you can, but you won't be able to send data to users that watch the video in their web browser.
The reason is they connects to peers through WebRTC whereas your BitTorrent client uses classic TCP/UDP.
We hope to see compatibility with WebRTC in popular BitTorrent client in the future. See this issue for more information: https://github.com/webtorrent/webtorrent/issues/369


## Why host on GitHub and Framagit?

The project has initially been hosted on GitHub by Chocobozzz. A full migration to [Framagit](https://framagit.org/chocobozzz/PeerTube) would be ideal now that Framasoft supports PeerTube, but it would take a lot of time and is an ongoing effort.


## Are you going to use the Steem blockchain?

Short answer: no, since like most appchains/votechains, it modifies the dynamic of creation, and as such cannot be integrated into mainline PeerTube. Read more about that in [the dedicated section](#what-is-creation-dynamic-and-why-not-modify-it).

Long answer is that the Steem blockchain goes astray of its promises of fairness and decentralization: the deliberate relaunching of the currency to ensure centralization, and the stake-based voting power, makes manipulation by wealthy users inevitable ([source here](https://decentralize.today/the-ugly-truth-behind-steemit-1a525f5e156)).
Worse, money generated primarily goes to stakeholders ([source here](https://steemit.com/steemit/@orly/how-the-steem-pyramid-scheme-really-works) ).
For more information, read the complete whitepaper analysis done by [Tone Vays](https://twitter.com/ToneVays/status/761975587451928576).

## Are you going to support advertisements?

Short answer: no, we don't want advertisers to dictate which content should be financed.
That would modify the dynamic of creation; as such it cannot be integrated into mainline PeerTube.
Read more about that in [the dedicated section](#what-is-creation-dynamic-and-why-not-modify-it).

The long answer is probably more subtle. YouTube has shaped generations of video creators by making it easy to place ads;
but making big money with the platform can be a challenge.
A typical video ad runs between $.10 and $.30 per 1000 views (as of March 2018).
More than 70% of video creators use ads as the main way to make money on YouTube, yet less than 3% of video creators make a living out of their YouTube activity (with partnerships and commissions, otherwise counting only ad revenue it drops to 1%).
Read more about it in the 2018 study by Mathias Bärtl, [*YouTube channels, uploads and views: A statistical analysis of the past 10 years*](https://www.dropbox.com/s/0cq4wtxm83s95t2/10.1177%401354856517736979.pdf?dl=0).
To the best of our knowledge, small and medium-community creators are better off getting support from their community on platforms such as Liberapay, Tipeee or Patreon.
Moreover, don't forget that advertisers already pay considering YouTube's large user base; with PeerTube's way smaller user base and refusal of user profiling, a pay-per-view that's lower than YouTube's could only be expected.

## What is "creation dynamic" and why not modify it?

We define creation dynamic as the way any original content, regardless of its monetary value, is created and incentivized.
We want to stay neutral by limiting the influence of our platform on authors as much as possible. We are not curators, and want to limit the scope of PeerTube instance owners and administrators' responsibilities to moderation tasks only.

If you still want to use a functionality potentially altering that state of things, then you could interface with our upcoming plug-in system, which will be the place to integrate such features in the near future.

With that being said, know that we are not against these features *per se*.
We are always open to discussion about potential PRs bringing in features, even of that kind. But we certainly won't dedicate our limited resources to develop them ourselves when there is so much to be done elsewhere.
Commit	Line	Data
	1	# FAQ
	2
	3	<!-- Table of contents generated with DocToc: https://github.com/thlorenz/doctoc -->
	4	<!-- START doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update -->
	5	<!-- DON'T EDIT THIS SECTION, INSTEAD RE-RUN doctoc TO UPDATE -->
	6
	7
	8	- [I don't like the name "PeerTube"](#i-dont-like-the-name-peertube)
	9	- [If nobody watches a video, is it seeded?](#if-nobody-watches-a-video-is-it-seeded)
	10	- [What is WebSeed?](#what-is-webseed)
	11	- [If a client requests each chunk of a video through HTTP, will the server be overloaded?](#if-a-client-requests-each-chunk-of-a-video-through-http-will-the-server-be-overloaded)
	12	- [Will an index of all the videos of servers you follow be too large for small servers?](#will-an-index-of-all-the-videos-of-servers-you-follow-be-too-large-for-small-servers)
	13	- [Which container formats can I use for the videos I want to upload?](#which-container-formats-can-i-use-for-the-videos-i-want-to-upload)
	14	- [I want to change my domain name, how can I do that?](#i-want-to-change-my-domain-name-how-can-i-do-that)
	15	- [Should I have a big server to run PeerTube?](#should-i-have-a-big-server-to-run-peertube)
	16	- [Can I seed videos with my classic BitTorrent client (Transmission, rTorrent...)?](#can-i-seed-videos-with-my-classic-bittorrent-client-transmission-rtorrent)
	17	- [Why host on GitHub and Framagit?](#why-host-on-github-and-framagit)
	18	- [Are you going to use the Steem blockchain?](#are-you-going-to-use-the-steem-blockchain)
	19	- [Are you going to support advertisements?](#are-you-going-to-support-advertisements)
	20	- [What is "creation dynamic" and why not modify it?](#what-is-creation-dynamic-and-why-not-modify-it)
	21
	22	<!-- END doctoc generated TOC please keep comment here to allow auto update -->
	23
	24	## I don't like the name "PeerTube"
	25
	26	PeerTube is just the name of the software. You can install it on your
	27	server, and choose a name you want. For example, [this instance](https://framatube.org/)
	28	is named "Framatube".
	29
	30
	31	## If nobody watches a video, is it seeded?
	32
	33	Yes, the origin server always seeds videos uploaded on it thanks to
	34	[Webseed](http://www.bittorrent.org/beps/bep_0019.html).
	35
	36
	37	## What is WebSeed?
	38
	39	It is a BitTorrent extension that allows a server to seed a file through HTTP.
	40	It just needs to statically serve a file, then the clients will request chunks
	41	with a `Content-Range` HTTP header.
	42
	43
	44	## If a client requests each chunk of a video through HTTP, will the server be overloaded?
	45
	46	Not really. Reverse proxies like Nginx handle very well requests of static
	47	files. In my tests, it can send chunks at 10MB/s without consuming more than 5%
	48	of CPU on a very small VPS.
	49
	50
	51	## Will an index of all the videos of servers you follow be too large for small servers?
	52
	53	In our benchmarks, 1,000,000 videos takes around 2GB of storage on PostgreSQL.
	54	We think it is acceptable for a video platform.
	55
	56
	57	## Which container formats can I use for the videos I want to upload?
	58
	59	WEBM, MP4 or OGV videos.
	60
	61
	62	## I want to change my domain name, how can I do that?
	63
	64	You can't. You'll need to reinstall an instance and reupload your videos.
	65
	66
	67	## Should I have a big server to run PeerTube?
	68
	69	Not really. For instance, the demonstration server [https://peertube.cpy.re](https://peertube.cpy.re) has 2 vCore and 2GB of RAM and consumes on average:
	70	* CPU -> nginx ~ 20%, peertube ~ 10%, postgres ~ 1%, redis ~ 3%
	71	* RAM -> nginx ~ 6MB, peertube ~ 120MB, postgres ~ 10MB, redis ~ 5MB
	72
	73	So you would need:
	74	* CPU 1 core if you don't enable transcoding, 2 at least if you enable it
	75	* RAM 1GB
	76	* Storage Completely depends on how many videos your users will upload
	77
	78
	79	## Can I seed videos with my classic BitTorrent client (Transmission, rTorrent...)?
	80
	81	Yes you can, but you won't be able to send data to users that watch the video in their web browser.
	82	The reason is they connects to peers through WebRTC whereas your BitTorrent client uses classic TCP/UDP.
	83	We hope to see compatibility with WebRTC in popular BitTorrent client in the future. See this issue for more information: https://github.com/webtorrent/webtorrent/issues/369
	84
	85
	86	## Why host on GitHub and Framagit?
	87
	88	The project has initially been hosted on GitHub by Chocobozzz. A full migration to [Framagit](https://framagit.org/chocobozzz/PeerTube) would be ideal now that Framasoft supports PeerTube, but it would take a lot of time and is an ongoing effort.
	89
	90
	91	## Are you going to use the Steem blockchain?
	92
	93	Short answer: no, since like most appchains/votechains, it modifies the dynamic of creation, and as such cannot be integrated into mainline PeerTube. Read more about that in [the dedicated section](#what-is-creation-dynamic-and-why-not-modify-it).
	94
	95	Long answer is that the Steem blockchain goes astray of its promises of fairness and decentralization: the deliberate relaunching of the currency to ensure centralization, and the stake-based voting power, makes manipulation by wealthy users inevitable ([source here](https://decentralize.today/the-ugly-truth-behind-steemit-1a525f5e156)).
	96	Worse, money generated primarily goes to stakeholders ([source here](https://steemit.com/steemit/@orly/how-the-steem-pyramid-scheme-really-works) ).
	97	For more information, read the complete whitepaper analysis done by [Tone Vays](https://twitter.com/ToneVays/status/761975587451928576).
	98
	99	## Are you going to support advertisements?
	100
	101	Short answer: no, we don't want advertisers to dictate which content should be financed.
	102	That would modify the dynamic of creation; as such it cannot be integrated into mainline PeerTube.
	103	Read more about that in [the dedicated section](#what-is-creation-dynamic-and-why-not-modify-it).
	104
	105	The long answer is probably more subtle. YouTube has shaped generations of video creators by making it easy to place ads;
	106	but making big money with the platform can be a challenge.
	107	A typical video ad runs between $.10 and $.30 per 1000 views (as of March 2018).
	108	More than 70% of video creators use ads as the main way to make money on YouTube, yet less than 3% of video creators make a living out of their YouTube activity (with partnerships and commissions, otherwise counting only ad revenue it drops to 1%).
	109	Read more about it in the 2018 study by Mathias Bärtl, [YouTube channels, uploads and views: A statistical analysis of the past 10 years](https://www.dropbox.com/s/0cq4wtxm83s95t2/10.1177%401354856517736979.pdf?dl=0).
	110	To the best of our knowledge, small and medium-community creators are better off getting support from their community on platforms such as Liberapay, Tipeee or Patreon.
	111	Moreover, don't forget that advertisers already pay considering YouTube's large user base; with PeerTube's way smaller user base and refusal of user profiling, a pay-per-view that's lower than YouTube's could only be expected.
	112
	113	## What is "creation dynamic" and why not modify it?
	114
	115	We define creation dynamic as the way any original content, regardless of its monetary value, is created and incentivized.
	116	We want to stay neutral by limiting the influence of our platform on authors as much as possible. We are not curators, and want to limit the scope of PeerTube instance owners and administrators' responsibilities to moderation tasks only.
	117
	118	If you still want to use a functionality potentially altering that state of things, then you could interface with our upcoming plug-in system, which will be the place to integrate such features in the near future.
	119
	120	With that being said, know that we are not against these features per se.
	121	We are always open to discussion about potential PRs bringing in features, even of that kind. But we certainly won't dedicate our limited resources to develop them ourselves when there is so much to be done elsewhere.