Update on my search for an alternative long-text #fediverse software:
Misskey
I stopped using my #Misskey account first, mainly because #Calckey was the better option between the two which are otherwise rather similar. Misskey also offers only rudimentary account transfer functionality, i.e. import / export data but no account transfer.
From my point of view, at least some account transfer functionality is absolutely essential in the spirit of the Fediverse and I don’t want to be locked into a particular instance, even if it is a reliable one, as I may want to switch to self-hosting at some point.
If you like Misskey, I can recommend misskey.de, maintained by #libranet.de grand master @alfred.
Calckey
Calckey is interesting and quirky, and it has implemented suitable account transfer functionality. The team even work on cross-platform post/toot import which is great. In a somewhat strange move this was deployed into production today, largely untested and broke the calckey.social experience for quite a few users.
The developers are generally very enthusiastic, committed and present in the community which is a great thing.
One other issue, at least in my considerations, was the emoji and #mfm (Misskey Flavoured Markdown) overload - it’s just a little too much if you’re beyond 40, it’s blinking and jumping and rotating and 90ies animated gif-ing everywhere. This functionionality is really being used extensively and whilst you can switch it off in your settings, so the interface will be much quieter, it feels like you shouldn’t, as it is a major part of the Calckey community DNA and people actually want this…
I also noted that the software is a bit beta, updated often, and the deploy method into production seems very progressive (post import function, looking at you…). So if you need a stable, reliable and distraction-free environment for (semi-)professional use or long-form debate, Calckey is probably not the first choice.
I did like the #antennas function, however, which was more usable for me than following single hashtags on #Mastodon or save searches on #Friendica. It is possible to save thematic antennas with multiple keywords and read those as a separate consolidated antenna feed which is convenient and a good way to discover content and users.
I may keep my account for a while to follow the Calckey journey and for the days where I feel like I need more rotating emojis, but won’t use it extensively.
I am on the flagship instance calckey.social and I want to shout out to @atomicpoet who is ever present and the greatest advocate for Calckey.
Friendica
So after testing extensively over the long weekend, I like Friendica the most, although its plethora of functions can be bit of a usability challenge, but it is very powerful and usable for my specific purposes.
I keep discovering functionality which makes this platform the best for my use case. And don’t get me even started on the thread view - this is by far the best, most readable and well rendered implementation of threads I have seen across the #Fediverse applications I have tested, ideal for long-form debate.
There’s also a mobile app in development, shout-out to @hankg to put me on the TestFlight. This looks very promising and will be key to bring more users to Friendica - and also keep them there, using it with a well-designed, simplified interface. So far, and for me, the web browser on a PC or a tablet seems to be the best option if you want the full Friendica experience.
So, I will stay on here for long-form writing, groups, debates and keep my #Mastodon account in parallel. I may consider self hosting Friendica and #Pixelfed at some point in the future but this remains to be decided.
With my Friendica account, I am on venera.social, a reliable server run by @alfred as well.
Feel free to connect on Friendica or Mastodon, if you wish.
Thanks for reading!
PS: Please note - no character limit and basic markdown formatting, that’s what I am here for. 😀
https://mastodon.social being down, presumably because they're testing some of their latest features they're working on, and in the process kicking 1 million out of the 11.8 million people* (thanks @nemobis for the correction) from the fediverse is a good reminder to check out other Mastodon instances, or even other fediverse services and platforms.
@stefan
> from the fediverse is a good reminder to check out other Mastodon instances, or even other fediverse networks.
There are noch "other fediverse networks". The only network is the #Fediverse with a lot of different services and platforms - Mastodon is one of all them.
And yes - if you will stay on a Mastodon implementation you can search for an other server - there are out many of them. And if you whan to go further you can choose a platform wiht #Plermoma, #Friendcia, #Hubzilla, #Misskey, #Calckey and others only for Microblogging. For other services you find more.
Ist das tatsächlich so?
Ich habe mich mal interessehalber für #Bluesky auf die Warteliste setzen lassen, aber seitdem (vor ein paar Wochen) nichts mehr gehört. Außerdem halte ich das ganze Vorhaben von Jack #Dorsey ehrlich gesagt für egoistisch, vielleicht sogar für egomanisch. Er wusste sehr wohl, dass es das #Fediverse bereits gab, und hätte etwas entwickeln (lassen) können, das zumindest #ActivityPub beherrscht. Spricht ja nichts dagegen, wenn es mit eigenen Protokollstandards noch darüber hinaus geht. Das tut beispielsweise auch #Hubzilla. Aber wer nicht bereit ist, existierende #W3C Standards einzuhalten (ActivityPub ist ein W3C-Standard, so wie HTML oder CSS), bastelt letztlich nur ein neues AOL.
All these talk about #BlueSky and complaints about #Mastodon this, #ActivityPub that, #Fediverse this, and #Decentralisation that, are mostly questionable(?) since many haven't seriously looked around the fediverse. It's like saying burgers are bad because you've tasted McDonald's yet there are better burgers from #Jollibee.
The problem stems from the fediverse ending up unofficially represented by a very limited-feature software and most are not willing to do their due diligence (one would think they'll check out the forks at least). Before championing about the new kid on the block, before claiming that the fediverse is this and that, look around first.
What you've known as the fediverse, so far, is only based on what happens to be the software with the least feature set. Mainline Mastodon will get better, but it is what it is currently, as far as comparison with similar fediverse projects.
No one is saying you are not allowed to complain, just look around first before you make claims about the fediverse.
Also, no one is saying #ATP shouldn't exist. By all means develop it! Innovation and improvements come from seeing ideas come to fruition instead of staying as theories. Having different branches of development is better than getting stuck in one particular way of doing things, or line of thinking. It's all good and I think anyone will agree it is much welcomed.
Here's a #challenge: Since you have time to research a non-fediverse network, why don't you explore what the fediverse really has to offer, with the same effort and enthusiasm? Mastodon is not the fediverse, so you can not judge the fediverse based on it. That's like saying China is Asia, and you judge Asians because of mainland China.
Take the challenge, then publish the results of your journey. Good evening, and Shalom!
The one thing I do think the AT Protocol is better at than #ActivityPub is data portability. Being built-in at the protocol layer so that you don’t have to do the migration shit (which doesn’t bring your posts) is better. It just is. I think ActivityPub has more potential overall for the social web beyond just Twitter clones, but that part of #ARProtocol is better.
@hub would really like to host my own #Hubzilla instance again, but I moved away from cPanel hosting and now use a VPS with everything in docker containers. Is there any Docker image yet for Hubzilla that is supported? The last ones I found a year or so ago were all very out of date and did not seem to be updated.
Hier im Podcasts ab ca. Min. 15 werden auch noch mal von @Lioh einige Hintergründe zum Fediverse berichtet, an dem sie auch selbst aktiv mitentwickelt hat (auch sehr aufschlussreich in Bezug auf die aktuellen Zentralisierungs-Tendenzen im Fediverse)
Für alle Themen und Projekte gilt aber: gnulinux.ch ist ein Community-Projekt, an dem alle eingeladen und aufgerufen sind, mitzuwirken und selbst zu schreiben: gnulinux.ch/mitschreiben
Je mehr Perspektiven hier eingebracht werden, desto besser! @Kaiteki@caos
The next version of #Share2Fedi will add support for other Fediverse projects. I need to test it, but I don’t have any accounts to do it with. That’s where you come in:
I'm pretty sure that the #Fediverse is one of the first social networks I've been on that didn't ever ask me to betray any of the people in my address book.
Okay, I tried again to follow myself from #hubzilla... This time, after creating the connection, I got this message:
...
This connection's primary address is 'shirasade@fandom.ink'
Available locations: shirasade@fandom.ink
This connection may be unreachable from other channel locations.
Location independence is not supported by their network.
Last update: never
...
So, does that mean, there's something in the settings of fandom.ink?