FAIR Knowledge Base

Frequently Asked Questions

We’re gathering focused answers to the most common questions about the FAIR project, its governance, security, and technical operations in the Technical Steering Committee repository on GitHub:

Go to the FAIR project Frequently Asked Questions (GitHub).

If you have a question not covered here, please open an issue or pull request, or post in the ideas forum (GitHub).

Glossary

Aggregator

Any server which aggregates or collects package data. This can be done from Repositories and/or other Aggregators.

API Replacement

For specific features, FAIR provides replacement implementations of currently centralized vendor-specific services. Examples are update checks, browser version checks, event and news feeds.

AT Protocol

ATProto is a standard for sharing social networking services. It is developed by Bluesky Social PBC, and is used by FAIR as the basis for the package distribution protocol. Learn more about the AT Protocol.

DID

Decentralized Identifier; a universally-unique identifier specified by the W3C specification. Decentralized identifier article at Wikipedia.

Example of a DID in action: Git Updater

DID registered via […]

In the Git Updater plugin header:

/**
 * Plugin Name:       Git Updater
 * Plugin ID:         did:plc:afjf7gsjzsqmgc7dlhb553mv
 * ...

https://plc.directory/did:plc:afjf7gsjzsqmgc7dlhb553mv points to the full package information at https://fair.git-updater.com/wp-json/minifair/v1/packages/did:plc:afjf7gsjzsqmgc7dlhb553mv

FAIR

FAIR is an acronym and stands for Federated And Independent Repositories.

FAIR Core

The core FAIR protocol specification

FAIR Distro

A full WordPress distribution with FAIR preinstalled. Ideal for provisioning workflows. Available in the release assets associated with FAIR Plugin releases.

FAIR Package Manager Project

The overarching project creating a distributed system for software package releases.

FAIR Plugin

A plugin that configures your site to use FAIR implementations of the key services that are currently centralized on WordPress.org. Installable on any individual WordPress site, no configuration needed.

FAIR can be installed manually by downloading the latest zip from releases and installing it via your WordPress admin dashboard.

• FAIR Releases
• How To Manually Install a Plugin

FAIR Protocol

The FAIR Package Management Protocol is a system for distributing installable software, the protocol outlines the core FAIR protocol specification (“FAIR Core”).

• Specification
• Documentation

The FAIR Web Foundation

A Linux Foundation directed fund, intended to provide funding for the Fair Package Manager. Formation still in process.

Mini-FAIR Repo

A WordPress plugin that transforms your site into a FAIR Repository, allowing you to serve packages directly from your own infrastructure into the FAIR system.

Node

Sometimes used to refer to a Repository, a “node” is better understood as anything connected to the FAIR network, be it an Aggregator, a Repository, or a Client/Installer like the FAIR Plugin.

Package

A package is an installable piece of software. Specifically in WordPress and in the current phase of the FAIR Package Manager Project, a package will most often be a plugin or a theme.

Package binary

An asset such as a zip file containing the binary executable code of a package.

Planet

The FAIR’s Planet instance (Venus) which houses the [News/Event] feed displayed in the WordPress Dashboard to FAIR plugin users by default.

Repository

A server that hosts one or more packages and their DIDs. You can set up a repository with the Mini-FAIR Repo plugin.

TSC (Technical Steering Committee)

The Technical Steering Committee is the organization responsible for determining the technical requirements and implementation for the FAIR package manager.