The Linux Foundation has introduced the FAIR (Federated and Independent Repositories) project, providing a decentralized alternative to the plugin and theme distribution ecosystem for WordPress. FAIR enables the creation of personal repositories and mirrors on its own servers for delivering plugins, independent of centralized WordPress hosting.org. The code is written in PHP and is distributed under the GPLv2+ license.
The platform consists of the following components:
- A plugin for the WordPress content management system that replaces requests to WordPress.org, WordPress.com, Gravatar.com, and other servers from Automattic used for checking updates and sending notifications, with alternative handlers that use the FAIR protocol.
- A server to support the repository, which uses a decentralized package management model for distributing WordPress plugins and themes. Developers are given the opportunity to deploy mirrors of existing repositories (e.g., WordPress.org) or create their own servers for distributing WordPress extensions. The servers are logically combined into a unified federated catalog.
- The Mini FAIR Repo plugin for transforming your site into a FAIR repository. This component allows plugin and theme creators to distribute WordPress extensions directly from their own servers using familiar tools. Mini FAIR Repo offers a streamlined implementation embedded in WordPress for distributing several packages, not designed for mass hosting.
FAIR can be delivered either as a standalone plugin or as the FAIR Distro package, which includes WordPress with pre-installed FAIR components. Utilizing FAIR allows for the creation of independent infrastructures that are not subject to potential blocks and are protected from package substitution in a centralized catalog. The need for an independent addition delivery tool arose after an incident in which the owner of the official WordPress.org plugin catalog replaced the ACF plugin with their own fork and blocked access to the addition catalog for WP Engine and anyone discussing the creation of a WordPress fork.
Advantages of FAIR:
- Using a federated ecosystem instead of relying on a single source for updates, plugins, themes, and translations.
- Enhancing privacy and security by reducing automatic data and telemetry submission to commercial companies.
- Unifying a fragmented ecosystem by enabling the retrieval of plugins from any source.
- Strengthening the protection of the plugin supply chain and employing cryptographic methods for authentication.
The development of FAIR is conducted on a neutral platform under the auspices of the Linux Foundation. Management is handled by a governing technical committee and working groups that make decisions based on consensus, taking into account the interests and needs of the community. All decisions are made publicly using transparent processes. The governing committee includes Carrie Dils (who has created courses and guides for web developers), Mika Epstein (formerly responsible for the plugin repository), and Ryan McCue (one of the creators of the WordPress REST API).
Source: opennet.ru
