NielloHow to Kill a Decentralised Network (such as the Fediverse)
A warning and a perspective from an insider who has been through this before.
https://ploum.net/2023-06-23-how-to-kill-decentralised-networks.html
DM_GoldGreat fucking article. Nice look into the history of proprietary software. This part stuck out to me:
But there’s one thing my own experience with XMPP and OOXML taught me: if Meta joins the Fediverse, Meta will be the only one winning. In fact, reactions show that they are already winning: the Fediverse is split between blocking Meta or not. If that happens, this would mean a fragmented, frustrating two-tier fediverse with little appeal for newcomers.
We need to convince instance owners not to federate with Meta. History tends to repeat itself and I'd rather not see this nice little corner of the internet die.
Charlie RI think we also need to convince instance owners not to de-federate from other instance owners who do decide to federate with Meta. It would be best if no one federated with Meta, but it's bound to happen with some instances. And those instances will definitely be popular with new users. Once instances de-federate from each other over the issue, the fediverse as a whole will be fragmented and Meta will have already won. They're counting on it.