Snarkee DesadeNov 23, 2022
FediTips has moved!

If you're just getting started on here, you may be wondering why this place has so many servers and apps. Why make it so complicated?

Click here to find out why:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/mastodon-and-the-fediverse-beginners-start-here/#whyisthefediverseonsomanyseparateservers

Twitter is all on one server (twitter.com). This made it VERY easy for Musk to buy it. Any centralised network can be bought out just like this.

The Fediverse is different: as long as we stay spread out on many servers, no one will ever be able to buy this network, not even the richest person in the world.

Mastodon and the Fediverse: Beginners Start Here | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

Nov 22, 2022 at 7:35pmWeb
Show threadMister Prickles 🦔Nov 22, 2022

@feditips

Fellow n00bs: read this stuff if you're #NewHere, part of the #twittermigration

Show threaddmtNov 22, 2022
@feditips thank you for these posts and the tutorial on the website. i'm still settling in and trying to find out if this whole thing is for me, but you've helped me a lot ❤️ 
Show threaddr 🛠️🛰️📡🎧Nov 22, 2022

@feditips I appreciate the efforts and I'll enjoy it while I can, but....am I the only person who remembers "embrace and extend"?

News like "tumblr is going to use ActivityPub" is not necessarily a good thing...

Show threadBiggus Dickus the Roman 🐐 Nov 23, 2022
@davidr @feditips i don't think there's anything tumblr could do with activitypub to damage the rest of the fediverse
Show threaddr 🛠️🛰️📡🎧Nov 23, 2022

@nddragoon @feditips In other words, you don't remember "embrace and extend".

The way this works is that $EVILCORP adopts a standard. Great, no harm there, right? Then they add some extensions to the side of it. The userbase grows and begins to require the extensions. $EVILCORP is the only supplier of the extension.

Now $EVILCORP owns the standard.

"Well just don't..." you begin to splutter. Nope, it won't work like that. In general, people want features, not freedom.

Show threadukaunzNov 22, 2022
@feditips is there something wrong with #Metatext? For the past 7 hours it’s just been a blank screen for me.
Show threadEvelynNov 23, 2022
@ukaunz I was having the same problem. I tried deleting & reinstalling #metatext , & it seems to be working okay for me now.
Show threadukaunzNov 23, 2022
@gorfram there was an update about to come out apparently, it’s working much better now 👍
Show threadEvelynNov 23, 2022
@ukaunz thanks
Show threadCorb_The_LesserNov 22, 2022
@feditips In the long run, Mastodon really needs (1) A front end that enables new users to identify interests then signs them up to the relevant server behind the scenes; (2) Replace developer-centric "Home", "Local", "Federated" with labels that are clear to users; (3) mandate warning time before a server is taken down and provide one-click way to migrate to new server.
Show threadPaul H (he/him)Nov 22, 2022
@Corb_The_Lesser @feditips the issue is that there is no central authority figure to push any of this really. No one controls who can start a server or what warnings they need to abide by. And there's no real central authority to determine who's server you go to. That lack of centralization has 'drawbacks' but I think the trade-off is worth it.
Show threadSibachianNov 22, 2022
@Corb_The_Lesser @feditips seeing as the basis for the fediverse and mastodon as a whole is essentially the same as email. multiple providers all communicating within the same protocol, there really doesn't need to be an "easy to identify server of interest", since none of us are a sole niche, having a niche centric server is counter-intuitive, and in the end, it doesn't even matter.
home, local, federated is pretty obvious isn't it? it's the same as twitter with one service channel
Show threadBiggus Dickus the Roman 🐐 Nov 23, 2022
@Corb_The_Lesser @feditips there's no authority that could mandate an advance warning. And there are plenty of things that could bring an instance offline without warning like the owner dying and their server crashing without someone to maintain it, a datacenter catching fire, etc
Show threadT E MooreNov 22, 2022
@feditips I loved finding out that Truth Social is on Mastodon software but has elected not to federate with the rest of us. Can we make that permanent?
Show threadJudith Lewis MernitNov 22, 2022
@feditips I get it now. I like it.
Show threadTracy HallNov 22, 2022

@feditips

well, no, it most certainly is not. I can unequivocally say it is spread across HUNDREDS, if not THOUSANDS of actual servers, managed by a load-balancing service. But it is under centralized control and ownership.

It's the federation protocols, not the multiple servers

Show threadPaul H (he/him)Nov 22, 2022
@video_manager @feditips eh, I think we're getting hung up on the meaning of "server." There's "server" as in "server/client". Twitter has one server in that sense. Yes, it runs on multiple machine servers, but I don't think that's important to the concept. Fediverse literally has multiple servers in both the physical sense and the relationship paradigm.
Show threadTracy HallNov 23, 2022

@pjhenry1216 @feditips

Hence the last line "It's the federation protocols, not the multiple servers".

This isn't twitter it helps to read the full post.

Show threadPaul H (he/him)Nov 23, 2022
@video_manager @feditips no. It's not just protocols. It's literally that there's multiple servers. That's the most important part. Protocols just communicate between two points.
Show threadPaul H (he/him)Nov 23, 2022
@video_manager @feditips I don't want to get into an argument, but protocols only do so much. The data needs to live somewhere. It either lives under one jurisdiction or multiple. Federation is an architecture. Protocols are only part of that. Twitter, you have one source *serving* data. Federated has multiple sources *serving* data. Your posts get sent to a different server than mine.
Show threadJenniferNov 23, 2022
@video_manager @pjhenry1216 @feditips
Show threadkkellerNov 22, 2022

@video_manager @feditips how would federated instances communicate without an agreed-upon protocol?

ActivityPub is a standard managed by W3C, but anyone can build their own server that implements it. Without a federation protocol, you don't have any federation at all.

Show threadTracy HallNov 23, 2022

@kkeller @feditips

Hence the last line "it's the federation protocols, not the multiple servers"

Show threadkkellerNov 23, 2022
@video_manager @feditips ...so, do you have a better idea for federated servers without an agreed upon protocol?
Show threadTracy HallNov 23, 2022

@kkeller @feditips

What a ridiculous Bad Faith Troll. Did you just come over from the birdsite?

Show threadkkellerNov 23, 2022
@video_manager @feditips if you don't like what I have to say, feel free to block me instead of being needlessly argumentative.
Show threadSomeoneOnlyWeKnowNov 23, 2022
@video_manager @feditips Yeah that's what I don't get by this. There's many different servers and stuff, but mastodon itself is still owned by someone and that could be bought by some really rich person, surely?
Show threadtnypxlNov 22, 2022

@feditips @stux Twitter being on "one" server has no bearing on how easily it can be purchased.

It had more to do with their obligations to investors as a publicly traded company.

Mastodon being open-source is a bigger hedge against centralized control than the actual platform itself being federated.

Show threadWalkerNov 22, 2022
@feditips This is very helpful to this newly active Mastodon user. Thank you for this a please keep it up for all the Twitter refugees seeking asylum and a better online life here.
Show threadJulianNov 22, 2022
@feditips
Cool. I love it here.
Still got my training wheels on, but I'm sure I'll get better at finding my way around. It's fun learning 😊
Show threadEvilCheezGraterNov 22, 2022
@feditips There’s not any problem with the concept! There is, however a lot of room for improvement when it comes to initial user experience - that becomes incredibly clear when you keep hearing from people who felt too ‘lost’ or ‘confused’ to continue. Many will initially come looking for a general server. I scrolled for ages through server names that held no obvious relevance. It was only when I heard of ‘Universeodon’ (clever yet non-obvious name) that I felt I knew where to go.
Show threadKathrynNov 22, 2022
@feditips
Each time I see this, I wonder whether people and corporations will be able to purchase servers and or instances. (Still trying to figure out what an instance is.)
Show threadRoz DerorsNov 23, 2022
@Kathryn @feditips yes what is it?
Show threadVicTheMacNov 23, 2022
@Kathryn It's just the name given to a server on Mastodon :)
Show threadKathrynNov 29, 2022
@VicTheMac thank you. So server=instance and those terms are used interchangeably?
Show threadVicTheMacNov 29, 2022
@Kathryn Yep!
Show threadminecraftchest1Nov 23, 2022
@Kathryn
An instance is simply an install (or a group/cluster of installs working together) of mastodon or similar platforms operating under one domain name. For instance, home.social is an instance, mstdn.social is an instance, and social.opendesktop is an instance.
@feditips
Show threadKathrynNov 29, 2022
@minecraftchest1 @feditips thank you. What is an install and how is it different from an instance?
Show threadminecraftchest1Dec 3, 2022
@Kathryn @feditips
Sorry for the late reply. An install is a single installation of Mastodon (like when you install a copy of Chrome, Firefox, or some other app on your phone or desktop) on a single server (could also be in a container, but that is getting deep into specifics, look up containers if you are interested). As I mentioned before, a Instance is a group of one or more installs working together under one domain name.
Show threadKathrynDec 24, 2022
@minecraftchest1 @feditips now it is my turn to apologize for delayed response. Thank you! I hope, after the holidays, to become more familiar with all this new-to-me terminology so I can be more useful on Mastadon. Thank you again.
Show threadOrcmidNov 22, 2022
@feditips mmm, well... Twitter is on one domain but that doesn't necessitate one server/instance. There are some giant Internet systems and they can be distributed and redundant under the covers. It's certainly true that the owner of the domain has considerable power with regard to the services offered and control of who can play among them and how. That's the "centralization," seems to me. I don't want to think of the ways that the fediverse can be disrupted, including from within.
Show threadFayeSNov 23, 2022

@feditips

Thanks for your tips I couldn’t figure out how to get a banner and now I know! Thanks 🙏
#mastodontips

Show threadAuthor J. R. DamonNov 23, 2022
@feditips what if musk purchases cloudflare or the actual ISP?
Show threadminecraftchest1Nov 23, 2022
@technoshaman001
Not all instances use cloudflare, and there are several ISP's. And if he blocked mastodon secific traffic (which https, dot, and doh make hard), he would be asking for legeal action against it (breaking the first U.S. amendment), and people would find ways to work around it.
@feditips
Show threadDesi FirangiNov 23, 2022
@feditips I for one am grateful that! Thanks to all the individual server admin peeps who keep things running!
Show threadHappy Nana! 🇨🇦Nov 23, 2022
@feditips @feditips thank you for sharing your info about #mastondon #bcpoli.
Show threadwmpottsjrNov 23, 2022
@feditips
Show threadKevin SchwarzNov 23, 2022
@feditips very interesting
Show threadAwwGeezRiickNov 23, 2022
@feditips yes thank you I felt like a noob. Looks so much better than the other censorship kid sniffing modernized North Korea platforms
Show threadJohnNov 23, 2022
@feditips this is like email. It seems Google will want in.
Show threadPerpetual Mystic Nov 23, 2022
@feditips That's all music to my ears, truly. Very happy to be here, and getting more and more comfortable each day 😊
Show threadLizÖNov 23, 2022
@feditips People, including me, are confused by the results when we search for someone on Twitter who may not have supplied a complete enough address. We are seeing instances like @twtr.plus, beta.mstdn.cf, birdsite.wilde.cloude, birdsite.thorlaksson.com, etc and assuming they represent stolen identities, esp. of more well-known people. I'm guessing they aren't, but not sure where to go for an explanation. It's causing some to avoid creating Mastodon accounts.
Show threadRobin Fritche [ɹʷɑbɪn fɹɪtʃi]Nov 23, 2022
@feditips I just posted this on my birdsite as well. I didn't know that the Fediverse included other types of servers! I'm interested in trying out WriteFreely when I have more time to write... 😁
Show threadJuliefaithmcmurrayartNov 23, 2022
@feditips thanks for the tips. X
Show threadminecraftchest1Nov 23, 2022
@feditips
Although it talks about #matrix specifically, this video by @matrix sums it up real good. https://youtu.be/jr2mXSKq3B4
What is Matrix?

YouTube
Show threadyosi galoNov 23, 2022
@feditips I liked your sentence, even the man in the world couldn't buy the entire network, a very strong sentence, well done.