eqdw

Hypothetically, let's say I spun up my own Mastodon instance, and then I registered my own account on it, and then I froze registrations at just me. This way, I'd be hosting my own account but nobody elses'

Is this a really stupid idea? Does it break a bunch of mastodon features? Would it be a giant pain in the ass to run?

Apr 7, 2017 at 4:50pmWeb
Show thread74810b012346c9a6_oldApr 7, 2017
@eqdw Don't know how much work it is to maintain one, I'm interested too. There are certainly some one-person, closed instances so I doubt it breaks anything: https://instances.mastodon.xyz/
Show threadMost Johnly of HenriesApr 7, 2017
@eqdw No, I think that's the ideal of how federation is supposed to work. Just that you have to maintain everything.
Show threadLes OrchardApr 7, 2017
@eqdw FWIW, I'm doing that right now. The only thing is to follow a decent number of other folks so that your federated timeline fills up with more stuff. It's been fairly easy to run so far
Show threadStyApr 7, 2017
@eqdw it would just be very stupid of you
Show threadDJ SundogApr 7, 2017
@eqdw Not a stupid idea, public home timeline becomes your personal posts feed, and it's no harder to administer than any other bleeding edge open source federated server software ;)
Show threadSamuel Hodgkins (samis) 🍄Apr 7, 2017
@eqdw I believe this is known by the software as 'single user mode' and it starts out being a pain in the ass because your federated timeline is entirely dependent on who your instance follows. In a single user instance, that's you alone (maybe or maybe not with a followbot.)
Show threadExa Apr 7, 2017
@eqdw This is what I do. I'm not connected to all instances so my federated timeline isn't really big, but it looks ok. More I follow people, more it will grow.
Show threadExa Apr 7, 2017
@eqdw the more*
Show threadseachangedApr 7, 2017
@eqdw
Not hypothetical. I saw one of these last night.
Show threadChris has moved instances 🚫Apr 7, 2017
@eqdw my guess is that the main downside is that your toots will only be seen on instances where someone chooses to follow you. That might be the point of your choice, but it does mean that your reach will be smaller. You don't automatically get federated to the bigger instances.
Show threadeqdwApr 7, 2017

@offby1 Hypothetical question.

Let's say Alice follows me, and Bob follows Alice. When I toot, only Alice will see it (because she follows me). However, if she retoots my post, Bob _will_ see it. Correct?

Show threadChris has moved instances 🚫Apr 8, 2017
@eqdw Dunno; build an instance or two and hook 'em up and test :)
Show threadCasey KolderupApr 7, 2017
@eqdw that's what I'm doing. I know a couple other people who do it too. It's a little complicated to set up, but the only "feature" you really lose is that the federated timeline mostly mirrors your home timeline.
Show threadcleeApr 7, 2017
@eqdw Not stupid at all. I'm doing this (limited signups to only people with email at my own domain) and it's working great. Updating to newer Mastodon code is super easy. All features appear to work.
Show threadFrankie SaxxApr 9, 2017
@eqdw I've seen single user instances. If you just want to host yourself and no one else, go for it. :)
Show threadElleApr 9, 2017
@frankiesaxx @eqdw Ooooh, I like the idea of having an instance all to myself :D
Show thread3230687a0d0aApr 9, 2017
@frankiesaxx @eqdw
If you do that. You will have to follow quite a few people to populate your federated TL. That is one of the reasons we are seeing so many follow bots.