Chris TrottierJan 31, 2023

So mastodon.social was under a DDoS attack.

@Gargron confirms this.

Someone out there doesn't like the Fediverse.

But also, if they thought that taking down mastodon.social would take down the Fediverse, then they were incredibly foolish!

The Fediverse is built on redundancies.

This isn't like Twitter where a Fail Whale would bring down the entire social network.

https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/109781490892884305

Show threadSamir (moved)Jan 31, 2023

@atomicpoet
to be honest, a lot of these things can be solved with changes to infrastructure and architecture.

I tried to offer @Gargron help few times but got no response, I think he is just bombarded with notifications so he misses a lot of offers for help

Show threadChris TrottierJan 31, 2023

@albattran @Gargron It's pretty apparent that mastodon.social and mastodon.online have had it rough over the past 3 months.

Either way, we need to build scale horizontally, and that's why I'm investing in managed hosting solutions.

Show threadSamir (moved)Jan 31, 2023

@atomicpoet @Gargron
Actually at tweepsmap, we are all moving to our own instance shortly
I see Mastodon more like an email server, I think all companies will head that way.

Perhaps a managed hosting solution will be more mature and do multi-tenant setups, so companies can have turnkey installs like Google Apps, or Office 365, but for now we will stick with managing our own

Show threadChris TrottierJan 31, 2023

@albattran @Gargron Yeah, managing your own instance is the best step if you have the means and knowledge to do it.

Honestly, I think putting Pleroma or Mastodon on a Raspberry Pi is pretty kickass.

I also really like Cloudron for its turnkey operation.

But even 1-click installs and automated updates is too much for some people.

Just got to get people over the hump!

Show thread[email protected]Jan 31, 2023
@atomicpoet @albattran @Gargron While managing a tiny instance is quite simple from a technical perspective, kickstarting a meaningful (for regular people) federated feed without enough relays is not.
I appreciate turnkey hosting as a service, but it’s a kind of centralization.
Show threadChris Trottier
@chris @atomicpoet @albattran @Gargron Sorry, how is managed hosting “centralization”?
Jan 31, 2023 at 8:56amIceCubesApp
Show thread[email protected]Jan 31, 2023
@atomicpoet @albattran @Gargron
I‘d expect architecture and technical platform to be similar or identical for one provider.
There‘s nothing wrong with setting up a company that provides turn-key instances somewhere in the cloud, I guess it‘s a necessary development, but these companys will be a kind of centralization.
(And the nerd in me would love to have many tiny instances on home-DSL, too, so people have a visible representation of self-hosting; but that‘s more philosophical.)
Show threadChris TrottierJan 31, 2023

@chris @atomicpoet @albattran @Gargron How is managed hosting a form of centralization when services like Digital Ocean already offer 1-click installs?

Further, how is it centralization when it removes a big barrier to entry for people to start their own instances?

The bulk of people use big instances like mastodon.social in part because they feel it’s too hard to set up a droplet.

More instances many less centralization.

Show thread[email protected]Jan 31, 2023
@atomicpoet @albattran @Gargron
It‘s eg. centralized on DO‘s infrastructure. We are already experiencing the impact of downtimes of centralized infrastructure on the general Web and will do here, too.
I think it is inevitable/fine, yet it will centralize a service from a technical perspective that currently (as seen from my bubble) is not so much centralized regarding hosting but regarding instances (too-big-to-defederate problem).
Show thread[email protected]Jan 31, 2023
@atomicpoet @albattran @Gargron
As said, nothing of this is meant to be against any of these aspects.
I am watching in awe and with lots of pleasure how Mastodon/Fediverse/us are optimizing in the space defined by these constraints.
I didn‘t have as much fun on the nets for more than a decade.
Show threadChris TrottierJan 31, 2023

@chris @atomicpoet @albattran @Gargron DO’s infrastructure is a separate matter from fully managed hosting.

What I’m concerned about is making it possible for more people to run their own instance. And doing it as easily and painlessly as possible.

The majority of people aren’t going to set one up with a Raspberry Pi.

Show thread[email protected]Jan 31, 2023
@atomicpoet @albattran @Gargron
I appreciate your effort. It will be good for Mastodon/the Fediverse to have more instances handled by people inclined to work on the social / organizational aspects.
I was only referring to centralization on provider level and the world will not end if some cloud provider / a bunch of instances have a hick-up for a few hours or is blocked.
I‘d still love a wall-wart like appliance for non techies, though :-)
Show threadGareth KitchenJan 31, 2023
@atomicpoet Actually, isn't that a thing! A portable instance. Something like a Pi, the size of a box of matches. Something that you can just plug into a spare port on your broadband router.