v1.1 is the second major update to our platform, and it marks a new level of maturity for the project as a whole. Incidentally, it coincides with the release of our road map which puts our activity in a 4 year perspective.

2018 is going to be huge for Blockchain, decentralised technologies and the web as a whole. With a surge of new startups, ICOs and awareness spreading world wide about encryption and the Crypto Economy, more people are involved than ever before. And for good reason. With the recent Spectre and Meltdown bugs, increased surveillance, social change and technologically disrupted financial markets, the world arguably has more need for new and safe internet based tech solutions than ever before. We need the users themselves to own the solutions. This is why we chose to go open source.

Friend tries to realize the implicit potential in Blockchain technologies for building permanent digital infrastructures that can be trusted. And we are building it for the broadest spectrum of users possible. We aim to seriously lower the bar of participation for everyone, making Blockchain and encryption as easy as point, click or touch.

Our platform offers developers a space where they can build any app or service, deploy it and distribute access to it on an open stage where anyone can participate equally. A place where anyone can start, and run a business, from wherever they chose.

With v1.1, we are finally at a point where the documentation, the vision and the tool-chain used to build and deploy the platform is available to anyone. Our GUI has become easy enough to understand for the average users so that they can navigate through our basic functionality. We are now ready to go to the next step.

Our release strategy is as follows; even numbered versions are stable, odd numbers introduce new features. Which isn’t to say that this release is only for the adventurous. Far from it. It means that Friend is now put into a logical and predictable release cycle. It means that when we have gone through the next few months of patching based on user and developer feedback, we should have a truly safe solution for anyone to deploy and use.

Friend aims to transform how we use computing environments. We want to help diminish our dependence on hardware devices and move towards a non physical computing experience. With Friend version 1.1, we have taken a firm and fundamental step. Now let us take the next step together.