Mastodawn

S 🌱 L V I Λ

By popular demand, a single post to boost global switch day across multiple platforms on February 1st 2025. 

For those who can no longer get behind Musk or Meta's new policies and feel like switching (e.g. from #Whatsapp to #Signal, from #Instagram to #Pixelfed or from #X to #Mastodon) I made you some graphics to use freely in communicating with your contacts.

Let’s lead by example 🙂

Heidi 🇳🇱🇪🇺Jan 21

@sylv_a Had een opsteker. Krijg met regelmaat een bezorger aan de deur met diepvriesproducten. Ben vanzelfsprekend niet altijd thuis en stuurde dan, om hem niet voor niets te laten komen, een W appje. Was er vanochtend wel en zeg hem dat ik dat niet op die manier meer zal doen. Zegt hij spontaan “ja, dat snap ik wel!” De volgende keer begin ik over Signal! ✊🏻😁

caravantravellers 🌈Jan 21

@heideroosje @sylv_a

Dat was een goed idee!

william.maggos Jan 21

id rather everybody use matrix instead of signal

neocat_flag_trans

@wjmaggos @sylv_a @rolle

as much as I like Matrix, it is not always reliable enough in daily use yet and has weaker metadata protection.

in the face of increased surveillance, especially that second part is important

(and now no one tell me about simplex.chat, I know.)

BuZZ-dEE ☮️ 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇩🇪Jan 21

@cyrus @wjmaggos @sylv_a @rolle https://www.messenger-matrix.de/messenger-matrix-en.html

Messenger-Matrix • Kuketz IT-Security Blog

Messenger: Comparison of security- and data protection-relevant features of messengers

neocat_flag_trans

@buzzdee @wjmaggos @sylv_a @rolle

Die Seite kenne ich auch schon.

Vivian "Bigou"Jan 21

@wjmaggos @sylv_a @rolle Personally, I'm more team #XMPP than Matrix.

Emil Jacobs - Collectifission Jan 21

@Bigou @rolle @wjmaggos @sylv_a

And this is where the bickering begins 😂

william.maggos Jan 21

@collectifission @Bigou @rolle @sylv_a

I think I started it. sorry.

Andreas Fornberg 👑Jan 21

@Bigou @rolle @wjmaggos @sylv_a I have both here but mostly using Matrix.

nounoursfaisdeschoses Jan 21

@Bigou @rolle @wjmaggos @sylv_a finaly i found one that prefer xmpp over signal on mastodon. Like xmpp decentralized but everyone and their dog recommend the other app which is not

Andreas Fornberg 👑Jan 21

@wjmaggos @sylv_a @rolle Same here

🏳️‍🌈🎃🇧🇷Luana🇧🇷🎃🏳️‍🌈Jan 23

@wjmaggos @rolle @sylv_a Hot take: they both suck

nikolar 🏕Jan 21

@sylv_a what about Android phones, windows PCs and apple products?

@nikolar @sylv_a

Linux, Linux, Linux

nikolar 🏕Jan 21

@frog_reborn @sylv_a
For sure, ubports/sailfishOS are both stable os for phones. But haven't gotten any upswing and the ubports gang seems to lack steam.

Linux for PCs however may finally get some good trajaction... especially now when steamOS 3.0 is coming out and the gamers can finally use their hardware.

Damn, did I write that 2025 is the year of Linux 🥳

@nikolar @sylv_a For PCs Linux, for mobile the best alternative OS is probably /e/OS https://e.foundation/e-os/

/e/OS - e Foundation - deGoogled unGoogled smartphone operating systems and online services - your data is your data

ECOSYSTEMKEY FEATURESGET /E/OSNEED HELP /e/OS is a complete, fully “deGoogled”, mobile ecosystem /e/OS is an open-source mobile operating system paired with carefully selected applications. They form a privacy-enabled internal system for your smartphone. And it’s not just claims: open-source means auditable privacy. /e/OS has received academic recognition from researchers at…

@sylv_a Ik vind het een heel aansprekend ontwerp!

Robin Adams Jan 21

@sylv_a While I love the sentiment, would everyone switching on the same day be a problem for Mastodon and Pixelfed servers?

caravantravellers 🌈Jan 21

@robinadams @sylv_a

Weak argument. Reminds me of those saying: "But wait. If everyone was homosexual, mankind would die out soon."

These things don't happen.

@caravantraveller @robinadams @sylv_a the graphic says 1st February is global switching day. Which I expect is why someone is asking if everyone switching on the same day would be a problem.

Maybe it should be a week.

verified_dragon

@sylv_a @robinadams depends on which servers people join, and whether the apps are designed to diffuse the "first choice" pick among many good and resilient options. Pixelfed does offer a dozen or so options to create an account on when you first launch the app, but I feel like it should shuffle their order before presenting them.

@robinadams @sylv_a highly likely.

With any degree of traction this ‘movement’ is indistinguishable from a DDoS, with the fun twist that the traffic is actually all genuine, probably leaving those very same users with a not great first impression…

@sylv_a What about Facebook, by its sheer size, it seems irreplaceable for a lot of people.

KnittingMittens (She/Her)Jan 21

@Ghurir @sylv_a I think it'll need multiple replacements. I'm switching to the Buy Nothing App for my Buy Nothing Group. Nextdoor for community discussions/announcements and marketplace. I don't use Facebook for social uses, but I've heard Friendica is good for that.

D1re_W0lf Jan 21

@KnittingMittens @Ghurir @sylv_a Unfortunatlly Friendica / Streams don't have neither Android nor iOS apps and for must people, specially if the idea is to do a transition, that's a big no.

The Gym Nerd Jan 21

@d1re_w0lf @KnittingMittens @Ghurir @sylv_a the cool thing is... It doesn't really matter that much if someone uses #friendica or #mastodon or #misskey or #Pixelfed or #PeerTube or what ever platform that is built around #activitypub

The same principal that enables different mastodon instances to speak with each other also allow instances of other types to speak with each other.

It's all just more a question of UX and what type of content is preferred. #fediverse

D1re_W0lf Jan 21

@TheGymNerd @KnittingMittens @Ghurir @sylv_a ActivityPub is a full dictionary and most, if not all, software only implements a part of it. Not even considering that mastodon throws it own MastoAPI to the party.

In this case, Friendica / Streams uses, among other things, circles and groups that, for instance, Mastodon doesn't "understand" (Bonfire is adding something similar but still not quite ready yet).
So, AFAIK there's no mobile app that can fully interoperate with Friendica or Streams.

Jupiter Rowland Jan 22

@D1re_W0lf So, AFAIK there's no mobile app that can fully interoperate with Friendica or Streams.
There are multiple dedicated Android apps for Friendica. First and foremost, there is RaccoonForFriendica, but there are also DiCa and Friendiqa. I can't say how much of Friendica's functionality either of them covers; I left Friendica many years ago.

There is also Relatica for both Android and iOS, but it's a closed beta, you have to apply for testing it, and it may be buggy.

As for (streams), no, there isn't any mobile app for it. And it's highly unlikely that there will ever be one. After all, the goal for such an app should be to be a full replacement for the Web interface. Just look around Mastodon; there are plenty of users who have been around since October/November, 2022, or longer, and who have never even seen the Web interface. So even a mobile app for (streams) with a native mobile UI that only covers what users are likely to need sooner or later would be more complex than FairEmail, and FairEmail is a monster.

Also, (streams) tends to change quickly and without notice. (streams) isn't a project that ceremoniously rolls out new releases like Mastodon, Friendica or Hubzilla, and Fediverse Report has something to cover in its news. Instead, even if the main dev has declared himself retired from Fediverse development, (streams) rolls out new versions every couple days without telling anyone. And a native mobile (streams) app would always have to catch up with these changes.

By the way, there has been one attempt at building an Android app for Hubzilla. It is named Nomad, it's still available on F-Droid, but it hasn't been updated in over five years. Most of it is not native, though; it mostly displays the Web interface. Granted, Hubzilla actually manages to be even more complex than its own descendant (streams).

@KnittingMittens (She/Her) Friendica was made to replace all important functionality of Facebook from the get-go, and not just yesterday, but in 2010, over five years before Mastodon was made. The only Facebook features "missing" from Friendica are Facebook's games, data mining and half the population of the planet having an account on the same website.

If Facebook has it (on its Web interface anyway), and it's actually needed for social networking (FarmVille isn't, for example), then Friendica has had it readily available for almost a decade and a half.

(streams) is from Friendica's own creator and down a long path of forks of which Hubzilla was the first. It still carries Friendica's DNA (minus Friendica's many connection and federation options), but it's technologically more advanced and more geared towards privacy, security and resilience which also gives it a bit more of a learning curve.

Also, both do have groups built-in. Friendica can optionally have private groups, and (streams) can have public groups on three security levels plus private groups, all with some extra permissions configurable.

Here are some comparison tables with Mastodon, Friendica, Hubzilla and (streams) which I've made this week; they should clear a few things up.

CC: @The Gym Nerd @Ghurir @S 🌱 L V I Λ

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Facebook #FacebookReplacement #FacebookGroups #Fediverse #FediverseGroups #Friendica #Hubzilla #Streams #(streams)

Mastodon vs Facebook alternatives

Comparison between Mastodon, Friendica, Hubzilla and (streams)

The Gym Nerd Jan 22

@jupiter_rowland @KnittingMittens @Ghurir @sylv_a

I'm not sure but I think what @d1re_w0lf meant is, that there isn't a single mastodon client, that fully understand all the content coming from a friendica instance... Which I believe is true.

ActivityPup doesn't automatically mean everyone can do all the stuff the same way as a completely unrelated other platform does.

Jupiter Rowland Jan 22

@The Gym Nerd There is no Mastodon that covers Friendica's entire functionality, yes. That's because Mastodon apps generally only cover Mastodon's functionality. Only Fedilab goes further, but even FediLab isn't a full-blown Friendica app.

Dedicated Friendica apps like RaccoonForFriendica, Friendiqa, DiCa and Relatica should cover a great deal more of Friendica's functionality. I'm not quite sure if either of them cover everything, e.g. if you can use them to manage the files in the file storage or integrate a Tumblr account.

ActivityPup doesn't automatically mean everyone can do all the stuff the same way as a completely unrelated other platform does.
I don't think there's a single mobile app that uses the ActivityPub C2S API. All Mastodon apps are built against the Mastodon C2S API, and the Mastodon C2S API doesn't cover anything that Mastodon can't do either.

Friendica has its own client API which dedicated Friendica apps make use of.

A hypothetical universal Fediverse app that covers everything of everything would also have to use all Fediverse client APIs out there.

CC: @KnittingMittens (She/Her) @Ghurir @S 🌱 L V I Λ

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Facebook #FacebookReplacement #FacebookGroups #Friendica #MastodonApps #RaccoonForFriendica #Friendiqa #DiCa #Relatica #FediLab

Netzgemeinde/Hubzilla

Jan 'Maub' Kap. 🦄🥔Jan 21

@sylv_a we could use a reddit > lemmy in addition to those.

Karmalakas Jan 21

@sylv_a I wish #Signal was working properly. Lots of people (I'm one of them) complain about not getting any notifications for messages or even calls. It's been happening for years and Signal devs don't really care it seems 😞

bojkotiMalbona Jan 21

@karmalakas @sylv_a #Signal not working is a blessing in disguise. Ppl should be avoiding Signal:

https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io/issues/779

https://gist.github.com/hackermondev/45a3cdfa52246f1d1201c1e8cdef6117

❌ Software Removal | Signal · Issue #779 · privacytools/privacytools.io

Problem with Signal Signal has copious privacy issues making it unfit for privacytools.io endorsement. Users are forced to supply a phone number to Signal (https://github.com/privacytoolsIO/privacy...

GitHub

Karmalakas Jan 21

@bojkotiMalbona @sylv_a what are the alternatives so it would be easy to use and reliable? My parents are too old to learn new stuff

bojkotiMalbona Jan 21

@karmalakas @sylv_a I’ve put the old folks I need to reach on #Snikket. It uses decentralised open standards ( #XMPP #omemo).

Many xmpp apps are glitchy but Snikket is functional enough. I think one of my contacts has problems getting notifications on their iPhone w/Snikket. But it’s tolerable.

Karmalakas Jan 21

@bojkotiMalbona @sylv_a need to see if I'll manage to host it myself 🤔

bojkotiMalbona Jan 21

@karmalakas
That’s certainly an option. You can run your own xmpp server or use an existing one.

There is also a ½-way option: Snikket provides managed hosts. You get a dashboard on a v/m and give out invites and manage the users, but Snikket manages the software. That was gratis when Snikket first started, but they might be charging for that now.

Karmalakas Jan 21

@bojkotiMalbona @sylv_a it says something like $6/mo - didn't dig in too deep for now

@bojkotiMalbona @karmalakas @sylv_a your friend should try #Monal. Notifications work like a charm just the way you'd want them to (even for groups/channels not hosted on your snikket server).

@karmalakas What do you want to "learn" about a messenger? You basically need one button to send the message. Maybe two for sending pictures. It's not that complicated.

Karmalakas Jan 22

@chebra when you're 70, even that might be complicated. Especially sending pictures or videos. I really don't want to explain here how everyone is different with different experiences 🤷‍♂️

@karmalakas but it's the same like on facebook, so how do they do that?

Karmalakas Jan 22

@chebra they don't. They use Signal now. Messenger is too complicated (and dangerous, especially with scams and ads)

@karmalakas I switched my technically challenged mom to Matrix and Jitsi about one year ago, no problems.

contrapunctus ✊🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️Jan 24

@karmalakas @bojkotiMalbona @sylv_a

https://quicksy.im/ (available on both Android and iOS) if you want phone number based registration and contact discovery (like #Signal #Telegram and #WhatsApp). Gratis. My go-to for onboarding people to #XMPP.

https://snikket.org/ if you can self-host (or pay for hosting) a private server with invitation-based onboarding and clients on all major platforms.

For more options see https://contrapunctus.codeberg.page/the-quick-and-easy-guide-to-xmpp.html

Quicksy

A spin-off of the popular Jabber/XMPP client Conversations with automatic contact discovery. Sign up with your phone number and Quicksy will automatically—based on the phone numbers in your address book—suggest possible contacts to you.

Quicksy

bojkotiMalbona Jan 24

@contrapunctus @karmalakas
It’s worth noting that the Snikket app can apparently be used with any XMPP account. I’ve not tested that but it looks like it should work.
@sylv_a

@bojkotiMalbona @karmalakas @sylv_a That Gist affects signal just as it does every other application using CF as a CDN (lots of fediverse servers do!) stop fearmongering. it's gross. The linked GH issue is pretty bad too but lays out some semblance of argument at least. Think about what you post.

bojkotiMalbona Jan 22

@amy
It’s disgusting to hear someone in the fedi say that #Cloudflare is okay for every application to use. Fedi folks should know better. Please inform yourself about what CF is and the harms of it. Start here:
* https://git.disroot.org/cyberMonk/liberethos_paradigm/src/branch/master/rap_sheets/cloudflare.md
* https://thefreeworld.noblogs.org/post/2024/03/20/comparison-of-the-human-disempowerment-severity-of-3-walled-gardens-facebook-google-and-cloudflare/
* https://thefreeworld.noblogs.org/post/2024/03/18/cloudflare-has-created-the-largest-most-rigidly-exclusive-walled-garden-in-the-world/

Signal’s use of Cloudflare is a reckless move even before the revelations of the recent GH single issue. CF sees around 50% of everyone’s web traffic. Not just metadata. Payloads, like banking transactions. It is absolutely reckless to endorse the idea of a secure comms app using CF for anything, not even taking into account the philosophical contradiction of walled gardens and the decentralised free world.

(edit) ah, I see you are a CF user -- who taints the fedi with that centralised walled garden. Please try to grasp the contradiction.

@karmalakas @sylv_a

liberethos_paradigm/rap_sheets/cloudflare.md at master

liberethos_paradigm - Information and tools to facilitate ethical consumption of goods and services.

Disroot Forgejo: Brace yourself, merge conflicts ahead.

@bojkotiMalbona @karmalakas @sylv_a I’d rather not be doxxed and ddosed 👍

Let me know when there’s a FOSS alternative to their products and I might consider it

Slightly ironic how in your “CF bad and everyone who uses it bad” idea, you ignore that Signal is still significantly better than e.g WhatsApp

People don’t need the perfect solution, they need the best solution for them. Signal is that.

bojkotiMalbona Jan 22

@amy
Signal is not that. Signal is exclusive garbage, limited to people willing to subscribe to mobile phone service & then register their national ID to a mobile phone number (depending on country), then to register that number to an account held by a centralized custodian. To speak of “perfection” is to not grasp the long list of issues many of which are deeply rooted in an absence of fundamental digital rights & sovereignty principles. These are not minor flaws/oversights. It was created w/zero contempt for fiefdoms of US tech giants and designed w/out a basic view of the mass surveillance infrastructure. It’s no different than saying “Whatsapp is a bit imperfect”. We are so far from perfect when speaking of whatsapp/signal¹ that it make no sense to even bring up /perfection/.

¹FYI, Facebook hired OpenWhisperSystems to design whatsapp to have the same implementation as Signal.

Dr. Heather Etchevers Jan 25

@bojkotiMalbona @amy @karmalakas Would you tell me more? If the options are (a) keep using the WhatsApp groups and discussions, aware that it's owned by Meta, or (b) convince members of some of them to change to Signal, because the change will be easy for them and it doesn't belong to Meta, why not push for the latter?

bojkotiMalbona Jan 26

@Etche_homo
They’re both garbage. And both exclusive. Switch them to #Snikket.
@amy @karmalakas

Grüne Otzberg Jan 21

@sylv_a
Would it be possible to get an additional one Facebook-> Friendica or Facebook -> Hubzilla ?

@Otzberg @sylv_a I made this, if it looks alright to you, feel free to use

Grüne Otzberg Jan 22

@fa @sylv_a thank you very much

Thanks!

The reason I'm here is because I was looking for non-US products, especially european based. Funnily enough your post showed up first

Recently_Coco Jan 21

@sylv_a This Imbolc, remember to do your ritual cleaning! A good way to clean is to clear out the digital trash that might be lingering in your phone and computer.

Delete accounts, delete apps, move to open, locally-hosted alternatives.

A clean, new start!

Nicolas Fournier Jan 21

@sylv_a and much more...

https://european-alternatives.eu/alternatives-to

European alternatives for popular services | European Alternatives

We help you find European alternatives for digital service and products, like cloud services and SaaS products.

European Alternatives

@sylv_a I'd extend it to all big tech bros , looking at your #meta #google #amazon and #apple (I know, Tim Cook didn't attend, but he bought his $1M inauguration ticket all right, no?).