henryJun 9, 2023

Lemmy.ml and beehaw.org getting hammered with traffic because of spez ama

https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/75773

Lemmy.ml and beehaw.org getting hammered with traffic because of spez ama - Blåhaj Lemmy

Both were down for me before, they seem to be up right now but just made this account on Lemmy.blahaj.zone (Henry is the name of my actual blahaj lol). It’s probably because of the traffic influx from reddit refugees from the absolutely disastrous spez ama (where he doubles down on everything and doesn’t apologize at all). Allegedly they’re trying to suppress Lemmy mentions but I guess it’s not working well enough lol A good problem to have although long term we’re going to have to figure out how to deal with these spikes in traffic.

Show threadanjiJun 9, 2023
I haven't noticed at all, because I follow communities on lemmy.ml and beehaw.org from my own instance. I had this experience when Mastodon.social kept going down during major Twitter exodus phases. Federation is awesome.
Show threadSeeleLoweJun 9, 2023
Can you tell me more about the pros and cons of running your own instance? Why did you choose to do that? I'm new at this so I'm very intrigued.
Show threadanji

Of course. Here's a quick one:

Pros:

  • You don't depend on anyone else's funds or time
  • Always available and snappy no matter how busy some parts of the Fediverse get
  • You choose who to federate with. Want to talk to both puppy-lovers and puppy-haters? No problem.
  • It's a social media account you really, in every sense of the word, own. Nobody can take it away from you. The lemmy.ml admins could accept the billions* they're surely being offered right now for their instance, but my account is still mine.

Cons:

  • Hosting costs some money, knowledge, and time.
  • Unless you subscribe to specific communities (or people, in the cast of Mastodon) those posts will never reach your server. So you don't really have a "Federated" timeline

*I'm joking about the billions. Probably.

Jun 10, 2023 at 12:02amWeb
Show threadSeeleLoweJun 10, 2023
Thanks for that response. Is there an easy way to start an instance?
Show threadMarxineJun 10, 2023
Is it in the ballpark of "easy if you're a techie and experienced with Linux" to use an old PC as a server instead of paying to host it?
Show threadEnglishMobsterJun 10, 2023

The short answer: yes.

The long answer: Yes, but...

If this is your home network, you're providing attackers with an entry point into your network. You're also giving yourself an avenue to get DDOS'd etc. You'd have to open ports and get that set up - or deal with a reverse proxy or whatever.

But generally it's as easy as running a Docker container and pointing a domain at your IP.

Show threadCarlos SolísJun 10, 2023
And, of course, ensuring that your IP provider doesn’t run behind a Client-Grade Network Address Translator (CG-NAT). Otherwise, you’re better off renting a Virtual Private Server (VPS) or if you’re particularly strapped of money and have a lot of patience, you can bridge it with your home server using a Virtual Private Network (VPS) and a good amount of scripting to remap the ports accordingly.
Show threadMarxineJun 10, 2023
Might be my vacation project then. But I probably won't use it seriously if I'm not sure I can keep it decently secured.
Show threadargv_minus_oneJun 10, 2023

Unless you subscribe to specific communities (or people, in the cast of Mastodon) those posts will never reach your server. So you don’t really have a “Federated” timeline

This seems like a pretty serious flaw in the federation protocol. Hope it's fixed at some point.

Show threadanjiJun 10, 2023
The "subscribe & push" model is practically fundamental to ActivityPub. There's pros and cons to this design, but ultimately I think it's confusing and cumbersome for users..
Show threadSeraph089Jun 11, 2023

While true, this only affects people who are hosting and running their own instance. And if they're doing that, it isn't that big of a deal.

Users that might struggle with the concepts are probably joining larger instances that are already federated, so the problem is solved as soon as they find the "All" button.