121 lines
6.9 KiB
Markdown
121 lines
6.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "decentralised microblogging: thoughts on fedi"
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published: 2019-11-07
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---
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when talking to people about the fediverse who don't know anything about it,
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it's depressing how little there is in terms of introductory articles and
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references i can link to so i don't have to stumble through explaining it
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myself which doesn't end up explaining much and probably scares people away
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more than anything. so this is my attempt at providing some cursory information
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about the fediverse is, what it isn't, what misconceptions about it exist, the
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problems that exist with it as it currently is, whether you should consider
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joining the fediverse (and if so, on which server?), and why despite its
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shortcomings it is still better than most social media available (especially
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twitter). wow; ok this might end up being a multi-parter. that's a lot to
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cover.
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<div class="bleft">
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## what the fediverse `isn't`
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### the fediverse:
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- is **not** mastodon
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- is **not** a "nazi-free" twitter alternative
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- is **not** a moderation-free "free speech" twitter alternative
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- is **not** the same on one server as it is on another
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- is **not** a privacy-centred twitter alternative
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- is **not** finished. it's a living and evolving thing
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- is **not** a single piece of software and cannot be judged fairly by looking at one implementation of it
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</div>
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ok. let me elaborate.
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> **why is it the first thing i say is that it isn't mastodon?**
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sometimes the easiest way to introduce someone to something is by using videos
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from youtube/invideo.us/peertube that spell things out in a simple way and
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pretty pictures, animations, and voice-overs. when talking about the fediverse,
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there is an overwhelming amount of content regarding one piece of software that
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runs on the fediverse called **mastodon** and it's almost always written as if
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it **is** the fediverse (or worse, they don't mention the fediverse at all and
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call it the **mastodon network**). this is ***bad***. because there is so much
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more to the fediverse than just mastodon.
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let me make something clear here. i *like* mastodon, overall. i think it's a
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good piece of software. my first identity in the fediverse was on a
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mastodon-run instance. but the problem with the mastodon hype reminds me of my
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introduction to the world of free software and gnu, linux, open source, the
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osi, the fsf, and that whole fiasco i had to navigate before i had my initial
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opinions changing the more i learned. and i know most people don't dig as deep
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as i do into these sorts of things and stick to their initial beliefs,
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regardless of how accurate they are. that's the problem. the way this stuff is
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presented and the way i found out about it, i used to think open source was the
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sensible mindset, that linus torvalds created the whole os, and i had no idea
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how far back the history really went. i went from a osi fanboy, to a fsf/gnu
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zealot, to where i am now which is my own opinion and still changing as time
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goes on (as opinions should). i'm closer to the free software view in their
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philosophy but am not in agreement with them in all they have to say and have
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done by a long shot. oops; tangent.
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> **ok, what's all this about nazis, free speech, moderation, privacy, and what happened to the kiss principles??**
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yah i know that's a lot to cover, and i doubt i'll get through it all in this
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post. but with something as old as the fediverse, you can't really use design
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principles like "`keep it simple, stupid`" (aka `kiss`) when discussing the
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state of different protocols over time and software built on top of those
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protocols and all the hard to find history involved that led to things being
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the way they are. but i'm going to try to avoid the history and politics as
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much as i can and just spell it out how it is, in reality, at this moment.
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because a lot of people in the fediverse are suffering from the mistake of
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thinking the way things were on twitter or tumblr or wherever they came from
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apply to the fediverse as well. because they don't. and i don't know close to
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everything there is to know in order to give an accurate **state of the
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fediverse** address anyway, so i'll try and limit myself to things i am fairly
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confident of. i will correct any mistakes i make in any part of this blog post
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in a way appropriate to the error made. i want this to remain as relevant as
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possible for a long time.
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i did not come from twitter. i did not come from tumblr. i don't know much
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about those places. i only know when i've tried browsing through things there
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or even a couple times starting a twitter account, i couldn't stand it and had
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no idea what to do. so most of what i know about these places is hearsay. but
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apparently, people often come to fedi looking for something either more
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moderated or less moderated, with less nazis or with more free speech. now, all
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of these things can be found in different places in the fediverse. but the way
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things are handled is more tuned to small, reasonably sized communities and
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individuals. the wrong way of implementing a decision based on making an
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instance `comfy` and `free of spam`, `unwanted content`, `hellthreads`, and `hatespeech`
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is when the instance (a server running software that connects to a protocol like
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`activitypub` or `ostatus` and part of the `fediverse`) `blocks` *any and all
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interaction with another instance*. there are exceptions, but this is almost
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always the case. when choosing an instance (sometimes called a **dimension**, by
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a cute few ^^), check to see what instances it blocks and to what extent.
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ok i'm getting way ahead of myself here. i'm going to end this post here, try
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and organise my thoughts, and hopefully part two will actually get into *the
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things one should know*, *the counter-arguments to the ones i give for certain
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stances i take* (**because all sides deserve a voice, and my opinions are no less
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flawed than anyone else's**), and *hopefully some examples of moeverse dimensions*
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(the best parts of the fediverse for comf as well as freedom in the hands of
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the user) and *what instances to avoid joining because of overzealous blocking,
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or that are fine overall but might not be for you*.
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and that's still just the tip of the iceberg here. if you have anything you
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want me to include, or corrections, or things i should have mentioned but was
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too lazy to find sources for and couldn't remember off the top of my head, or
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if you want to tell me how this is coming along so far (pls no bulli), and so
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on, i am on the fediverse with the handle
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@[murabito@lets.bemoe.online](https://lets.bemoe.online/murabito) or you may
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[email](mailto:alt@bemoe.online) me if you wish.
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i know this part one is far from being what i imagined going in but in
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subsequent posts i hope to get all i have to say down, and when all that's
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done, i think i will write a separate introduction to the fediverse that will
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not be a blog post but a permanent page on bemoe.online somewhere with all the
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fluff removed and references included. `#futuregoals`
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until next time, my succulent readers, please:
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**stay tasty o/**
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