@bitnik @jupiter_rowland @valhalla @jakob @cstross

>> For the ActivityPub network to be a better alternative to social networks, or even to WWW, the ActivityPub standard should specify a *message* format -- such as HTML 3.0 -- that is rich enough for modern expectations (embedded images and hyperlinks, tables, etc.), but that every compliant implementation is required to handle and display properly, on any minimally powerful platform.

#Fediverse #ActivityPub
#FediverseFragmentation

@bitnik @jupiter_rowland @valhalla @jakob @cstross

Yes, but that is still not good. Within ActivityPub, one cannot write a *message* that, a priori, is known to be correctly readable by any of the intended recipients -- unless it is a short (< 500 bytes) text in plain ascii, with no italics, boldface, or other markup, and no embedded images... >>

#Fediverse #ActivityPub #FediverseFragmentation

@lispi314 @cstross @jupiter_rowland

I was referring to email before the internet went public (first used it in 1979). But even after that, the basic message format and the MIME extensions were tightly defined by half a dozen RFC documents published between 1992 and 2008. >>

#Fediverse #FediverseFragmentation

@jupiter_rowland

But that is BAD, VERY BAD! So the Fediverse is split into a myriad platforms -- and hence communities -- with incompatible features.

That may be great for the computer nerds who will join a dozen platforms just to revel in the features. It is terrible for those who only want a platform to communicate with other people...

#Fediverse #FediverseFragmentation