We have now opened registrations at https://catodon.social - you can now have your own catodon.social account and use a fully functional pre-release version of Catodon!
Please keep in mind that this is still beta, you will notice some changes compared to #Firefish but more things will change! This isn't even our final form 😼
Also please be patient if there are delays due to increased traffic. There shouldn't be, but if there are, we'll sort them out.
This means that our repo on #codeberg is also now public!
Learn all about #Catodon, the ideas behind this new #fediverse project, our mewssion, and the first changes we're doing in our first blog post:
Ugh, I really tried to stay out of #fediverse drama but I guess I have to say a few things. Most of you know me as a #firefish core team member, so I think I owe it to the admins of almost 500 firefish servers out there and to the almost 5000 members of firefish.social.
So, yeah, if you haven't noticed, things aren't looking good for firefish. Its owner, Kainoa, has practically abandoned the project, which had its last stable release out on July. My last message to them was a week ago, and I haven't heard back since. Firefish.social, besides the other severe technical problems it's had due to mismanagement in the last few months, now also has serious federation issues. I hope Kainoa is well irl, but this is irresponsible and unacceptable.
I hear some of you saying "but you're in the core team too, don't try to put the blame elsewhere!". So I have to explain what being a core team member in firefish meant. Kainoa invited me, Namekuji and a few others to be part of the "core team", but kept all decisions and responsibilities. We didn't co-own this. We never shared donations. We were just volunteers, who were honestly trying to make it a great project. This didn't work well due to concentration of power to one person, who didn't keep their promises. I don't mean to be harsh to Kainoa, I mean we knew they were only 19 when they started the project. Still, it's a bummer to anyone who chose to trust and support Firefish. This includes myself.
I don't know if it's early to consider firefish a dead project, but it sure seems like that for a few months now. Maybe it can be resurrected, idk. It's all up to Kainoa.
In the meantime, Namekuji and I are starting #Catodon, which will have some differences with Firefish, and will include many changes I had discussed with Kainoa but were never implemented. If you decide to stick with us, we promise to be serious about this. I strongly believe in the fediverse and its potential, and I want to build a great platform for it. This was my goal when I chose to be involved in Calckey/Firefish. It's still my goal with Catodon, only this time I can stand behind it 100%, as the project will be co-managed by Namekuji and me. If Firefish left you with a bitter aftertaste, we hope we can build a better relationship and prove ourselves worthy of your trust. Catodon will go public in a matter of days, possibly even hours. We'll have more to say about its direction then.
In the meantime, I just wanted to share my apologies for any inconvenience regarding Firefish, as I'm still technically a core team member, whatever that means. But frankly, I tried so hard to make things go differently - but there's only so much you can do when it's someone else's project. I'm really sorry for how things went.
But this is not the end of the fedi journey for me. I'm super excited about the chance to do some things right this time with Catodon. Life goes on, I guess! Hope to see you soon on our #codeberg repo, so we can start a new creative adventure together =)
@grischa Hi! Not sure about #Catalon, but I can make some clarifications about #Catodon =)
It will be released in the near future, and what I have said is that we're not making a dramatic exit from the #firefish core team to start catodon. Doubt we'll actually continue working on ff, since not much seems to be currently moving there anyway. Our focus is absolutely on Catodon. @blingbling@FirefishTalk@catodon@Sharkey@memo
Hah, this is priceless, we haven't added any custom emoji on catodon.social yet, and I was thinking that we need to make a catodon emoji as well - but it seems that @AntoineD beat us to it! So here it is, a #catodon emoji, imported from kwak.cab! Cheers for that!
Hello there! While we're still preparing things for opening registrations in catodon.social and making our repo public (which will be any day now), here's a sneak peek of what #Catodon looks like! You'll see some different terminology and some different icons compared to #firefish. Also, the server's logo is visible again under the menu, allowing each server to add more of its personal touch to its home page!
These are not the only changes we've made - but more on that really soon! xx
I know that people who run #firefish servers are probably somewhat frustrated right now, since the project's last stable release was back in July. I do hope Kainoa gets more active and things start rolling again, however I checked the closest alternatives/firefish forks. Another thing that makes open source software great: you never run out of options!
So, #Iceshrimp still pretty much looks and feels like firefish, but they've added some nice (performance, mostly) improvements and also have better #mastodon api support. They also plan to do a full rewrite, which is quite an ambitious project. It's certainly a project worth watching.
#Sharkey on the other hand started as a firefish fork (from what I understood) but rebased to #Misskey v13 (Firefish had cut ties with upstream misskey on v12) and is building on top of that. This is also a great option if you like Misskey's direction but want improvements like post editing.
And finally with #Catodon, which is in the making and will soon be another option, we're taking a different approach. We'll implement some improvements from Iceshrimp, like the great work they've done on mastodon api support, but in general we won't exactly be taking the "improved misskey" direction. Instead, we'll be using Misskey/Firefish as our starting point, but we also want to simplify some things - as well as build extra functionality on top of the essentials. So some of the less important and useful features will be removed in order to offer a more consistent and user-friendly experience.
More on specific changes we're doing in a few days!
Happy holidays, everyone! @namekuji is making some progress on #Catodon and it's shaping up nicely. We have now set up LibreTranslate on catodon.social and we should be a few days away from opening registrations! We'll also make our repo on #codeberg public, although our first stable release won't arrive before mid-January.
The number of Misskey forks continues to expand. How do we mention them collectively? I'm veering toward Forkeys, as in "Catodon is the latest Forkey to enter the stage." or "The Forkeys have one thing in common - emoji reactions."
I suggest checking them all out - each has their own strengths. :blobcatstrong:
Hi all, I've been absent last week because I was arrested, beaten and falsely accused by the greek police in Athens this Saturday, during a peaceful demo supporting a resquatted space. I was released on Monday (have a trial on February), I'm getting better now health-wise and I'm ready to get back to work on #Catodon.
Alright, since some people have been asking, better to clear this out from the start and not feed any rumours. Yes, @namekuji and I are #firefish core team members, and yes, we are starting #catodon which is a new project based on firefish. But we're not looking to create any sort of #fediverse drama - I think we've had enough of those! So we're not doing a dramatic exit, not storming out, not accusing anyone. I'm not even leaving firefish, I'll try to be around, I love the project - we're basing Catodon on that, after all, and that says something. But at the end of the day, Firefish is @kainoa 's project and I respect that. There are some things I would really like to do differently, and I can't wait to have this rolling - I think that with time it will become obvious that Catodon will try to do its own thing, which is not necessarily better or worse than Firefish, but it might suit some people's needs better. I should also probably clarify here that all of my involvement in firefish has been as a volunteer, I've had no financial affiliation with the project. Hope this clears everything out and I don't have to return to this subject. We just want to start our own thing, and we hope we'll be making something worth your attention - and to build a nice community around it on #codeberg, once our repo goes public. Firefish is also great and I still hope it thrives. Catodon will be another option, which can't be that bad! "Free as in freedom", eh? 🙂
Delayed #caturday surprise! Meet Catodon, an upcoming #fediverse platform, based on #firefish - but trying to make things a little simpler and a little more focused on online communities. Catodon.social is not open to registrations just yet, but will be soon enough. Follow this account for more info, when we're ready!
The cat's out of the bag.
(sorry about that - we had to! 😺) #catodon
@chuls There was an account on twitter that I really miss, called The Cat Reviewer. People posted reviews of random cats they encountered and gave them up to 10 stars. A cat that was unwilling to be petted might lose points, or a very fluffy coat could score extra points.
It was so funny and lovely. If the account doesn't come to Mastodon I may have to start one here myself.
I often hear that #cats unlike dogs or farm animals domesticated themselves. Whether true or not, I like to imagine one day a caveman sat down for..I dunno, mammoth steak, and a cat just jumps up on his lap like "you feed me now. I will accept chin scritches and pets, and you will provide me with a steady stream of fish and meats!" And that has been the arrangement ever since.