public key authentication:
the user identifier is the public key.
unlike other federated networks like email or Xmpp
users can change to a different server
without changing their identifier
boadb provides the means to store and retrieve data (which can be public or encrypted) several web apps can provide different interfaces to the same data
make the server software and the network protocol trivial with the main database functionality client side as Javascript library, ideally being able to run a server on just a webspace
if a new network/system comes up that is better then boadb, the community can transition smoothly: just need to write a converter for the data, and reconnect to your friends via public keys