@@ -8,27 +8,33 @@ image = "https://media.urbit.org/site/understanding-urbit/project-history/projec
88
99So who builds this thing? Where does it come from? What’s the history?
1010
11−Today, Urbit is built and maintained by three organizations, a community of contributors and core developers, infrastructure (star) operators, and governance (galaxy) node owners.
11+Urbit is an open-source project that anyone can work on. The Urbit Foundation, a non-profit organization, is charged with shepherding the network toward a successful future. [Tlon](https://tlon.io/) was the first private company founded for the purposes of working on Urbit, back in 2013. Now there are several more.
12+
13+These include [Uqbar](https://uqbar.network/), [Holium](https://www.holium.com/), [Tirrel](https://tirrel.io/), [Native Planet](https://nativeplanet.io/), and others. Beyond that, an ecosystem has sprung up around Urbit that includes [funds](https://assembly.capital/), [DAOs](https://labyrinthdao.io/), and [publications](https://marsreview.org/). And of course there are many community contributors, many of whom have received [grants](https://urbit.org/grants) from the Urbit Foundation.
1214
1315Let’s talk first about these individual groups within the Urbit community, then about the history of the project and how it came to be.
1416
1517Organizations {% .font-bold .subpixel-antialiased .pt-8 %}
1618
17−There are currently three principal organizations involved in Urbit’s development and maintenance: Tlon, Urbit.live and the Urbit Foundation.
19+The Urbit Foundation was formally established in 2021 when it split off from Tlon. The Foundation runs the grants program, maintains [urbit.org](https://urbit.org/), the [network explorer](https://network.urbit.org/), [education](https://developers.urbit.org/courses/hsl), and it organizes Urbit events like [Assembly](https://assembly.urbit.org/). Recently, the Urbit Foundation has also taken the lead on Urbit's [core development](https://roadmap.urbit.org/).
20+
21+[Tlon Corporation](https://tlon.io/) was founded in 2013 to bootstrap Urbit. Currently it is building a hosting service and a suite of Urbit applications, including [Groups](/applications/~sogryp-dister-dozzod-dozzod/groups), [Talk](/applications/~sogryp-dister-dozzod-dozzod/talk), and Small Talk.
22+
23+[Tirrel Corporation](https://tirrel.io/) was founded in 2021, it creates tools for creators to build their communities, share content, and make money. most notably the subscription application [Studio](https://urbit.studio/). They also produce the Urbit desktop environment Scene.
1824
19−Tlon has been around since 2013 or so, and is primarily focussed on the development of Urbit OS and its user experience. Urbit.live was started in 2018 to make the on ramp into Urbit as easy as possible. Both companies contribute regularly to the code base.
25+[Uqbar](http://uqbar.network), founded in 2022, is working on an L2 blockchain on Urbit. Uqbar uses Urbit’s native language, Hoon, for its smart contracts, enabling developers to write smart contracts and decentralized off-chain applications that utilize them all in one language and stack. They have also produced the Urbit apps Pongo, Pokur, and [Blog](/applications/~hanrut-sillet-dachus-tiprel/blog).
2026
21−Tlon was originally granted about half of the Urbit ID address space, and has used that to fund its operations so far. Over time, Tlon plans to offer hosting and services to make using Urbit as easy as possible.
27+[Holium](http://holium.com), founded in 2022, builds Realm. An Urbit-backed desktop (and soon mobile) environment focused on collaborative computing. Realm allows you to create Spaces in which a group of people interact with the same applications, e.g. shared dictionary, meme library, group chat, voice chats, shared cursors, code editors, web browser.
2228
23−Urbit.live started selling Urbit IDs very early once that became possible, and also plans to offer services within the Urbit ecosystem.
29+[Quartus](http://quartus.co/), founded in 2022, provides custom tooling stacks for Urbit companies. They produce applications such as [Keep](/applications/~dister-dozzod-dalten/keep), a recovery tool for Urbit computers and Urdl, an Urbit version of the popular Wordl game.
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25−The Urbit Foundation was formally established in 2021. The Foundation runs the grants program, maintains urbit.org, the network explorer, and organizes Urbit events like Assembly.
31+[Zorp](http://zorp.io), founded in 2022, works on Zero Knowledge proofs of Nock.
2632
27−The community of contributors and core developers has been steadily contributing to the code base since before Tlon existed, and they’re still going strong. They can primarily be found on Urbit itself, in the Urbit Community ([~bitbet-bolbel/urbit-community](/groups/~bitbet-bolbel/urbit-community)), the urbit-dev mailing list and on GitHub.
33+The community of contributors and core developers has been steadily contributing to the code base since before the Urbit Foundation existed, and they're still going strong. They can primarily be found on Urbit itself, in the Urbit Community group [~bitbet-bolbel/urbit-community](/groups/~bitbet-bolbel/urbit-community), the [urbit-dev](https://groups.google.com/a/urbit.org/g/dev?pli=1) mailing list and on [GitHub](https://github.com/urbit). See also The Urbit Foundation's public group at [~halbex-palheb/uf-public](/groups/~halbex-palheb/uf-public).
2834
2935Timeline {% .font-bold .subpixel-antialiased .pt-8 %}
3036
31−At the beginning, Urbit was just a few people with the right combination of imagination and discipline to try to rebuild computing.
37+In the beginning, Urbit was just a few people with the right combination of imagination and discipline to try to rebuild computing.
3238
3339**2002**
3440Urbit starts as an open-ended personal project. An “independent study PhD” to reinvent computing for a network-centric world.
@@ -52,12 +58,10 @@ Urbit has its first web interface and serves its own website.
5258The first sale of Urbit address space sells out in four hours.
5359
5460**2017**
55−Our test network runs for ten months without a reboot.
56−
57−Our private sale, shared only with our mailing list, sells out in six hours — limit two per person.
61+Urbit’s test network runs for ten months without a reboot. Tlon's private sale of address space, shared only with its mailing list, sells out in six hours — limit two per person.
5862
5963**2018**
60−Tlon sells about 8% of its stake in the network to accelerate Urbit development. urbit.live gets going and starts selling Urbit IDs to the public.
64+Tlon sells about 8% of its stake in the network to accelerate Urbit development.
6165
6266**2019**
6367Tlon spends the year stabilizing Arvo and building Landscape.
@@ -65,4 +69,8 @@ Tlon spends the year stabilizing Arvo and building Landscape.
6569**2021**
6670Tlon hosts the first Urbit Assembly and the Urbit Foundation is formally organized.
6771
68−Building Urbit is about building a future where technology doesn’t control us. Instead, we look forward to a future where technology is simpler, more reliable and less invasive.
72+**2022**
73+The Urbit Foundation's split from Tlon becomes complete, and the Foundation organizes [Urbit NYC](https://urbit.org/groups/~ladtem-filmyr/urbit-ny-week) and [Assembly 2022](https://assembly.urbit.org/) in Miami while launching a highly successful education project, new developer documentation and many other things. Read the Foundation's full annual report [here](https://wolref-podlex.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wolref-podlex/2022.12.02..16.23.30-_2023%20Retrospective%20%26%20Plan%20PUBLIC.pdf). New Urbit companies Uqbar, Holium, Quartus, and Zorp are formed.
74+
75+**The Future**
76+There’s a lot to be excited about. Scheduled improvements to Nock, Urbit’s base layer VM, should allow Urbit to become faster and more robust. Free hosting at a larger scale will allow larger quantities of users to join the network. A slew of new Urbit companies are working on everything from credit card payment rails to Urbit-native tokens to social graphs. And all the while, enthusiasm among the community remains high.