Roni Rolle LaukkarinenAug 5, 2023

During my one year activity on the #Fediverse I've now seen at least four instance admins quitting from being an admin or shutting down their server. Half of these cases were admins being dickheads and the rest of them were mostly about users being dickheads leading admin getting burned out.

Both outcomes are unfortunate, but the latter makes me sad. Why do we have to harass and doxx an admin here for such pseudetical reasons like extensive open text search feature? I don't get humans sometimes.

I repeat: We are not free from toxicity on the Fediverse. Be kind. Make a chance.

#MastoAdmin #Fediverse #SocialMedia

Show threadBen PtacekAug 5, 2023
@rolle I am a sysadmin too, but there is a reason I choose to NOT run my own #mastodon instance vs join (and pay). I see too often where people think smaller instances equal better quality on here. There is the "hit by a bus" risk of solo host. Those don't have a great support staff so you rely on the "I am human" approach. In terms of "service", this is not a good enough reason in my opinion, for a solo instance. You want to run an instance? Cool. But adding users? You become a service.
Show threadRoni Rolle Laukkarinen

@bennysp For me it's not that black and white. I also run other servers. I also provide them for my customers.

You can read about my server in the About section: https://mementomori.social/about

Memento mori

Mementomori.social is a social media for mortals. We connect with the Fediverse, used by millions. This instance is backed by a Finnish company, digital web agency Digitoimisto Dude Oy.

Mastodon hosted on mementomori.social
Aug 5, 2023 at 2:47pmWeb
Show threadBen PtacekAug 5, 2023
@rolle I looked it over, but my points are still relevant. "Servers" are a service when there are users present and running an instance solo, is not a good practice for a service. I am not saying to not run servers/instances, I am just saying to not run them solo OR invest/join hosting other instances, in general.
Show threadRoni Rolle LaukkarinenAug 5, 2023

@bennysp Servers are a service. But why should it change anything? I take comfort in the fact my company is financially backing this instance. We are a team of 11 people. They don't currently take part in any other way than to be there.

It's not the best practice, but it can work when you have a passionate and committed person as admin. I even know a single person hosting companies who have been fine for decades. In the overall picture it is not very wise, but it can work if the contingency plan is in place.

We have a two person system administration in our company and large corporates trust with us their servers. We do have a team working for us in the data center though, but only two people are the main responsible ones. It's been all fine for 10 years now.

Show threadBen PtacekAug 5, 2023

@rolle Two people are better than one, so that is good, of course.

Sysadmins know all about how well single points of failure work in the long run and it is no different with the human resource aspect too. I am not talking about finances, scale or passion here. I am talking about when life happens and there is no human backup that has SOP and is ingrained in the setup/support actively.

Show threadRoni Rolle LaukkarinenAug 5, 2023
@bennysp There are always options. Most of the things can be automated. Servers are usually running without a human. I don't take that gloomy approach. If I was to die, there is not much I can do about it.