Hyphanet Ecosystem 2.0: Chats, Blogs & Hidden Treasures

So you’ve got a Tor node, maybe you’ve read about Hyphanet’s origins and its geeky cousinship with Tor, but now you want the meat: *what can you actually do on Hyphanet today? There have been neat developments—so let’s suit up and dive into the ecosystem. Expect forums, files, blogs… and even IRC over the Dark!

FLIP: IRC over Hyphanet — Because Nothing Beats Live Chat

Ever missed the buzz of IRC, that retro chat ecosystem that teaches you patience in the form of lag, and nostalgia? Enter FLIP (Freenet Lightweight IRC Program). It’s now a first-class, democratizing addition to Hyphanet’s lineup.

• What it does: Installs as a plugin via a CHK link in the node’s web UI. Once it loads, port 6667 opens on localhost, letting any IRC client like HexChat connect directly.
• Why it matters: Real-time chat. Within Hyphanet. Inside your Tor setup. It’s not for everyone, but for those who miss #channel banter sans metadata collection, it’s a game changer.

Now you can whisper in real-time with fellow Hyphanet denizens, all without touching the clearnet or leaving your comfy anonymity. Just don’t expect blazing speed—packets take the scenic route, after all.

Frost & FMS, Forum Classics, But 2025 Edition

You’ve seen Frost mentioned elsewhere—it’s the OG Java-based BBS-style forum tool. It supports:

• Public threads
• Encrypted private messaging
• File attachments

It’s alphabetical hashing may be dead, but the official Frost code recently saw updates as of August 2024, proof that while vintage, it’s not entirely abandoned.

Next up, FMS (Freenet Message System) is its heavier C++ cousin:

• Newsgroup based on NNTP protocol.
• Spam-resistant via a Web‑of‑Trust rating system.
• Maybe more primed for serious discussions.

In short: Whether you’re team Frost or FMS these tools give you forums, file‑sharing threads, and encrypted convos. It’s like Doom multiplayer for text nerds.

Sone & Microblogging, Slow‑Feed Social Media

Feel the urge to microblog, but slow, storage‑layer style? Sone is your Hyphanet Mastodon-lite:

• It’s a distributed microblog platform.
• Posts propagate across nodes via the USK layer.
• No surveillance, or real-time feed.

Yes, your post might take hours or days to reach your contacts, but that delay is the point. As your pessimistic mask, you lean in to see it bubble up eventually.

Freemail, Encrypted Email Without SMTP

Remember how email was great until it wasn’t? Freemail brings it back, inside Hyphanet. No SMTP servers, no operators logging your IP.

• Send encrypted messages to pseudonymous handles.
• Retrieval is limited by network latency, but hey, anonymity is the trade-off.

Better for short notes than Gmail-length essays, but still: no one’s snooping.

jSite & Sharesite, Publish a Mini‑Web in Minutes

Want to “build a website” inside this off-grid internet? Plugins like jSite and the lightweight Sharesite let you:

• Upload HTML, CSS, and even memes.
• Get auto‑generated keys (CHK/SSK/USK) to share your site.
• Automatically, that’s right, *automatically, serve it via your node’s http://127.0.0.1:8888/... interface.

These tools streamline publishing content, without needing dozens of cryptic commands and bundle compressions.

Versions, Wikis & Feeds — Keeping Track of Content

Need to track blog updates? Or collaborate on documentation? Here are your tools:

• jFniki or Freekiwi – anonymous wikis inside Hyphanet.
• Infocalypse, a Mercurial plugin, enables version control nesting within the network. Great for decentralized coding.
• Freereader, an RSS-like plugin to distribute feed-style updates across Hyphanet. It uses the data store to keep posts alive.

Bots, CLI Tools & Custom Plugins, Bring On the Nerd Ops

For command line aficionados:

• pyFreenet – scripting tools to insert/fetch content, monitor nodes. A favorite on GitHub.
• The Infocalypse repo continues to evolve. Perfect for hackers building decentralized code archives.
• Plus hobbyist plugins: chess engines, crypto wallet UIs, RSS aggregators… if Java excites or terrifies you.

Under the Hood — The Baby Behind the Scenes

Hyphanet’s core remains Java-based. It supports multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, and even Android.

Development is active:

• Plugin ecosystem expanding
• Interest in porting to other languages or improving performance
• Issues and PRs flowing in via Hyphanet’s GitHub (1,000+ stars, 220 forks)

TL;DR — Ecosystem Map

Why This Matters to Tor Users

Tor gives you anonymous access. Hyphanet gives you anonymous persistence. Combine the two—for example, loading your Hyphanet admin console over Tor—and you get an underground network that stores what actually lives there.

• Tor enables access; Hyphanet retains content.
• Tor is ephemeral; Hyphanet is dinosaur‑resistant.
• Tor is mostly about access controls; Hyphanet is about censorship-resistant storage.

If you’ve ever wished your Tor hidden service didn’t vanish when you rebooted, Hyphanet’s retro‑stack might feel… refreshing. And yes, it’s a bit like drinking coffee from a chipped mug—but for that, nostalgia counts.

Closing Thoughts (in 1337 Geek Style)

Hyphanet isn’t rip‑and‑replace modern. It’s more like duct‑taped reliability. But for anyone who yearns for:

• Anonymous publishing and persistence
• A DIY static site you control end-to-end
• Forum threads that survive beyond your session
• Real‑time IRC without centralized authority

Then Hyphanet’s ecosystem—with its forum tools, FLIP, microblogs, sneakernet, RSS wikis, feed bots, and audio streams—is as exhaustive as it gets.

Want a single-platform live VoIP? Not here. But if you want to build a digital Fort Knox of ideas, files, memes and conversations—with echoes that survive years—then Hyphanet quietly delivers. It’s slow—but in the right way: slow enough for you to savor that you’re genuinely free.

Next Steps

• Fire up Hyphanet (0.7.5 build 1503+).
• Install FLIP, Frost, jSite via the Plugins page.
• Spin up an IRC client, a microblog, or even your own freesite.
• Explore, contribute, and savor the perfect blend of off-grid nostalgia and data resistance.

Enjoy the crawl!