Friends, using any centralized "platform" or "service" is a bad idea. It's the antithesis of the P2P (peer to peer) architecture the internet was designed to deliver.
Please stop using reddit, .win, google, gdrive, cloudflare, free email services, and other platforms and services.
There is an alternative and it is the budding "fediverse." All the fediverse needs to succeed is people to start using it and participate in the projects by testing and giving use reports on what they use. That's how software gets better unless it is funded by mega corporations, and we know where that leads.
At least start! Find an XMPP server, an ActivityPup server (ex: Nextcloud, Mastodon) to use, or pay a nerd to build one for your community.
Decentralized is the only thing that can't be shut down in an internet outage.
End-to-end encryption (which is different from a service that has the word "Encrypted!" on its website) is the only way to keep messages private.
Start learning! If we don't improve out technical knowledge, we will be completely overrun - soon!
Why call it Fediverse, sounds like a Federal government initiative
Why call it Fediverse,
Why ask me instead of searching for the answer? Anyway it's because the services federate.
No, that's called Google.
I got banned from one of the servers. Turns out he nutjob that runs it won't allow anyone with an ad-blocker to be on it. That should not even be possible, IMHO.
It's not possible, on your server that you control. The point is to stop thinking about this as a provider/customer relationship and take control of your tech.
Build a node yourself, work with friends to build one, or find a provider that does things the way you want and give him free hand jobs.
And who should be able to stop it? If someone can stop it, someone has central control.
Links to this stuff?
Yes, there are many many links. Lucky for you I said enough so you can search for those links with the internet.
Even the fediverse can go bad eventually. We need to work on metrics and standards. Work in the abstract so they can't attack: https://github.com/austincap/FreeSpeechShield
Even the fediverse can go bad eventually.
That's the most specific statement every. Helpful.
That's exactly what the fediverse is.
That tool seems useful for evaluating if a server is a good platform to use. But no platform is good to use. That's the point. We must build our own infrastructure. Your node, your rules, open standards of federation.
ActivityPub*
I agree with you and am on both mastodon/pleroma and matrix.
I'm not sure what needs to be done as far as development is concerned or how to help?
Then I suggest going to the homepages of the projects that you like and use, and reading their list of ways you can help them.
It's easy.
Love this. CrazyRussian can we be friends?
100% of my contacts are on Signal atm
100% not decentralized, granted
I will put up my own Matrix homeserver
More like: 100% centralized, non-federated. It's a platform/service that asks you to trust it even though there are many reasons not to.
Does matrix run on ActivityPup? I think you would do better with Mastodon or Friendi.ca if not as AP seems to be the converging standard.
IMO what we need are private servers to keep our data on, that we can selectively drip out what we want to FB and other accounts
Is there something like that built?
I don't know what you're talking about but you seem to be hoping that there is a product or service that fits your needs and that is exactly the opposite of what we need to do so I have nothing to offer you.
We need decentralization.
Okay I'm feeling generous. Maybe look into FreedomBox?
You could find a tons of howtos about how to setup simple HTTP server on your computer. Once you have HTTP server up and running, there is only matter of copying files and texts to DocumentRoot directory.
You could do it on your own PC or rent a VPS for cheap anywhere. Also it will be wise to start an i2p node and bring your server to i2p network too.
Agreed. CR, what do you think about .onion nodes for hosting from own laptop/router?
Also, it's good to publish IP addresses of servers in case of domain name problems. i2p is ideal though.
And ipfs for files you don't want to lose or to be edited maliciously. But let's start with getting everyone on XMPP and OTR.
.onion could be added too. Just a matter of running tor node.
Along publishing IP addresses it is also possible to use OpenNIC domains. It is alternative DNS system. Also, IIRC, there are some projects of DHT based DNS systems, but I don't know their current state and are they useable already.
XMPP is good, but Tox is also a good option. It does not need server to work. However, Tox is not very suitable for use on smartphones, due to low but permanent traffic of DHT exchages.
Also don't forget about maillists, IRC and NNTP with your own servers. That oldies are really nice and instant too.