The arrival of Deno, an alternative to the Node.js JavaScript runtime, has inspired open source developers to create Nest.land, a decentralized module registry for Deno that uses blockchain technology to store modules permanently.
With Nest.land, a distributed blockchain infrastructure is used to store the data, which is replicated “forever” via Arweave. Free to use, Nest.land has been production-ready for about two months.
The developers behind Nest.land list the following benefits of the technology:
- Permanent and immutable
- Globally accessible
- Free
- Secure
- Works without Git
- Decentralized
Nest.land avoids issues where malicious code could be added to packages, providing permanent storage for and references to specific versions of modules. Nest.land modules are published to the Arweave Permaweb, a data storage service that backs data with sustainable, perpetual endowments. This avoids problems that have persisted with the Node.js NPM package system, in which packages have gone missing or been modified or replaced, sometimes wreaking havoc.
As of late August, Nest.land had about 10 percent of the market share in Deno modules, with the standard Deno package registry containing the rest. To get started, users can visit the project website. They will need an API key to access the Nest.land CLI. Nest.land also can be found on GitHub, offered under the MIT license.
Right now, the core Nest.land team is focused on gaining adoption in the Deno ecosystem. Packages now being stored via Nest.land cover capabilities such as GUI packages and a BitTorrent client. Deno 1.0 arrived in May 2020, having been built by Node.js founder Ryan Dahl in response to what he saw as Node.js shortcomings in areas such as security and a poorly designed module system.
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