@marathon@qoto.org, you can think of it as an alternative protocol to HTTP. Some static sites (or static mirrors) start to be hosted on IPFS natively, in addition to stuff run by Protocol Labs. By accessing IPFS natively, one may skip the gateway which defeats the InterPlanetary purpose of IPFS (e,g, if content is at a close point you can get it from there directly instead of proxy it through one of the few public gate ways).

In shorts, go to ipfs.io and notice the netloc (-;