Video
→ This video is a conensed version of the full long format interview you can find on our patreon!
Modern magic
Pennarun’s favorite quote from a customer:
“Tailscale makes the internet work, like you thought the internet worked, until you learned how the internet worked”
This “just a connectivity layer” software is revolutionary and actually required quite a bit of engineering to achieve. Rivaling the best cloud experiences you’ve ever had, for FREE and LOCALLY, Talescale is a gem not talked about enough in the tech-youtube-world. In the video above, @wendell gets to talk with the CEO and Co-Creator of Tailscale, and unearths some of the mysteries behind this amazing software.
Tailscale in a nutshell
As touched on above, Talescale is a connectivity layer for connecting your PCs in a local network. It eliminates the need for a cloud-based networking setup filled with dubious activities large companies get up to. As Wendell said in the video:
Oh I’ve stored all of my data in Google, are they mining all of that data? Oh this file matches the forbidden MD5sum, you shant access it.
In addition to having the convenience of the cloud, without the drawbacks, Talescale is versatile enough for both individual consumers and commercial settings alike.
The problem with modern networking
“Tailscale creates direct connections to devices anywhere in the world.”
The foundation of the internet was based on the idea that data and information needed to be sent directly to another piece if equipment. The birth of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) in the 70s was based on this concept.
As Pennarun explained in his interview, (as the years and technology has advanced) the best way to get something from a phone to a laptop, for instance, would be to send it up to the cloud and then back to the 2nd device (even more so if these devices are far away from each other.)
Being able to go from one piece of hardware to another without a middleman is rather unheard of in 2024:
“You can go straight from one place to another, very efficiently, without adding any latency, but also adding encryption.”
How Tailscale inspires change
Wendell references Netflix in the video, and draws the conclusion that you could share your media and data with other people.
“Hey I bought and now own this digital media, I want to store it locally on my own drive. I want to stream it from my computer to my phone whenever I want to.”
He then references how PlayStation shut down their store and just deleted consumer-purchased shows, Steam is just a license to play a game, and other nonsense of the modern internet.
Even if something is possible, companies will make the experience of trying to use a direct connection as difficult and unsupported as possible. Do you want to get files off of your iPhone to your PC? Welp, use Apple’s service and pay them when you run out of storage. Even if you DO achieve a direct connection, oh, its USB 2.0 speeds and a pain for the 50GB of video from my vacation to transfer to my PC.
Tailscale and mobile connectivity
from Tailscale Docs
Pennarun mentions how Tailscale for phones works as simply as the proprietary airdrop feature] Apple devices can use. If you’re not familiar with airdrop, any Apple devices can directly send pictures, videos, and other files to each other.
He saw this was a great concept and created Taildrop. As long as it is installed on both devices you have that same great utility not locked by proprietary nonsense. Apple to Android, Android to MAC, etc. all will work as long as Tailscale is installed. The best part? Anywhere. Literally. Miles apart, countries apart, you name it.
Comparing Tailscale to alternatives
Many people might download NextCloud and the like. Pennarun makes the point that, when you put your information online, it is susceptible to the small percentage of people who would take advantage and steal that. If you use Tailscale and keep your private information local, this naturally protects your information to be leaked online, and seen only by the people you give permission.
“We can create little safe worlds for ourselves, and connect our little safe worlds to others.”
Why Tailscale is safe
In addition to what we have said about this being a local connection rather than public, Pennarun explains that Tailscale changes the equation when it comes to your firewall. If someone breaks into your system, the Tailscale network is still private and communicates through its own avenues.
You can also set custom and very advanced ACLs (Access Controls Lists) to lock down everything even further, or restrict specific users.
Conslusion
Um, go download it? 
In all seriousness, we can’t recommend Tailscale enough. It is a beautiful homage to what the internet was intended to be, and fights “the good fight” to keep people independent from their cloud captors. If you have any questions or comments I’d love to read them below!
