IPFS is a distributed file system that seeks to connect all computing devices with the same system of files. In some ways, this is similar to the original aims of the Web, but IPFS is actually more similar to a single bittorrent swarm exchanging git objects.
IPFS could become a new major subsystem of the internet. If built right, it could complement or replace HTTP. It could complement or replace even more. It sounds crazy. It _is_ crazy.
Please note that IPFS is a work in progress. It is an ambitious plan to make the internet more free, open, secure, and high performance. It builds on the good ideas of numerous battle-tested distributed systems.
Lost? Searching for something? Need to submit an issue? Want to contribute? Take a peek at [project-directory.md](project-directory.md) which maps out all the repositories for the ipfs project on Github.
If you would like to start one, please post an issue in this repository so I can help you. There is at present no "perfect spec" and many protocol details are still to be decided upon.
Feel free to submit more questions as issues or via my email.
#### What is the goal of IPFS?
To evolve infrastructure of the internet and the web, with many things we've learned from successful systems, like [Git](http://git-scm.com/), [BitTorrent](http://bittorrent.org/), [Kademlia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kademlia), [Bitcoin](http://bitcoin.org), and many more.
This is the sort of thing that would have come out of ARPA/DARPA/IETF/BellLabs in another age. In this age, these things "come out of the woodwork", which is coming to mean "from the internet", despite wood being a subpar computer construction material.
#### Is this open-source?
Yes! 100% raw, unadulterated, Free Open Source Software.
Please read [CONTRIBUTE.md](CONTRIBUTE.md). Help with the design. Write or contribute to an implementation or application.
#### How is this different from X?
There is probably a specific discussion about that in the issues. If not, start it.
#### Who designed it?
IPFS is the brainchild of [Juan Benet](http://juan.benet.ai).
But IPFS has been designed by the internet at large. The ideas behind IPFS have been around for many years, in the form of excellent open source systems and research. If it gets far at all, IPFS will be standing on the wigs of giants.
And, there are [many people](contributors.md) whose papers, conversations, or work have directly contributed to its design and implementation.
#### What is the relation to [Filecoin](http://filecoin.io)?
Filecoin is the sister protocol of IPFS. While neither protocol depends on each other, they are perfectly complementary. IPFS handles high performance distribution of objects; Filecoin handles incentivizing the world to backup/seed objects.
The original name was GFS, which stood for the Global File System and seemed more accurate than GitFS. But that exact name was already [taken](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GFS2). So I switched Global for Galactic, in an homage to Licklider's [Intergalactic Computer Network](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergalactic_Computer_Network), and because peer-to-peer systems look like galaxies to me. But GFS caused confusion with yet another [GFS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_File_System), even though that one is not even open source.
By popular demand (there were votes and a pronouncement of "GFS is dead. Long live IPFS!" and everything), I switched it to IPFS - InterPlanetary File System, which has several nice properties:
