I’m hearing murmurs of YouTube blocking browsers that support ad blockers.
You know where you don’t have to worry about such things? Host your videos on a #PeerTube instance and use #Owncast for your live video streaming needs.
I was going to wait to talk about this until I could actually release it, but it’s becoming unlikely that will happen.
A few months ago I built an #iOS and #tvOS app for watching #Owncast streams natively on your phone and tv. You could browse the directory, or add your own private servers that aren’t listed publicly. It would send you push notifications when your favorite streams went live and it all worked pretty well.
Apple has been unable to understand how the “rights” work in this case. I can’t get them to understand that people opt into the directory, and the Owncast project owns and runs the directory. Instead they see it as me “using content without rights” and “accessing a catalog without proper rights”. They asked me to provide the paperwork detailing the agreement I have with every Owncast server. Clearly that’s impossible. The number of servers that want to be public on the directory change every day, I couldn’t send them new documentation every day. I tried to explain that the directory is kind of like a search engine and the application is like a browser. A browser doesn’t have explicit rights to every webpage ever made, as that would be ridiculous. I also tried to compare it to a podcast client. A podcast client can play back any podcast without asking for permission, and there are tons of podcast directories.
They’ll approve the application if I don’t use the directory and don’t have any Owncast servers directly available from the application, however. But I’m not willing to do that as that kind of defeats the point of the convenience.
I contacted a handful of attorneys, and I was willing to fight this. I hoped if I could get an attorney to draft a document that explains, in legal terms, something that Apple’s legal team would understand it could be cleared up. But I haven’t been able to have a meaningful conversation with any of them, as none of them understand what I’m doing or aren’t interested in working with a non-corporate entity.
So I think this is dead, killed by Apple. I tried to build something cool for you all, as a side project, to make viewing Owncast streams more convenient. It’s just not going to happen and I feel bad about it.
Because it's part of the Fediverse, you can follow OwnCast accounts from Mastodon etc, and when they go live you will see a post in your timeline to let you know.
For example, the RetroStrangeTV livestream can be viewed at:
The NYD 24 Global Stream Parade officially kicks off in les than an hour at 0100 UTC.
This will be our thread for announcing upcoming stops on the parade route which can be seen at: https://radiofreefedi.net/nyd24
We and the broadcasters will use #NYD24Parade if you want to keep an eye out, or mute for the day. Boost the participants and let's celebrate discovering some of your fedi streaming friends.
Hallo Fediverse! Bitte um Rückmeldung + Ergänzungen: Übersichts-Tabelle mit Fediverse-Diensten, Vergleichsdiensten und Funktionen
Ich schreibe einen Artikel über den #FediverseFachtag und in dem Rahmen natürlich auch über das #Fediverse . Zielgruppe sind Leute, die wahrscheinlich zum Großteil noch gar nix vom Fediverse gehört haben.
Dazu bin ich dabei, eine Tabelle zu erstellen, in der einige Fedi-Dienste sowie deren Haupt-/ besondere Funktionen aufgeführt werden sollen.
Das ist der derzeitige Entwurf:
"ähnlich wie..."
Ein Vergleich mit kommerziellen Plattformen ist natürlich immer nur zum Teil passend. Ich kenne auch keinen der kommerziellen Dienste aus eigener Erfahrung, aber für die avisierte Zielgruppe kann so ein Vergleich vielleicht trotzdem eine hilfreiche Orientierung sein. Vielleicht gibt es da aber auch Vergleiche, die passender sind. Einige Dienste (bspw. Medium, Podigee) kannte ich auch noch nicht mal vom Namen her, sondern habe das nur aus ähnlichen Vergleichstabellen übernommen.
Zu den "besonderen Funktionen":
Insbesondere Friendica, Firefish und v.a. Hubzilla haben so viele Funktionen, dass diese im Rahmen der Tabelle nur exemplarisch aufgeführt werden können und die Auswahl ist subjektiv. Hier wäre die Frage, ob das eine passende Auswahl ist, ob besonders wichtige fehlen oder ob andere Funktionen wichtiger oder besonderer sind.
Wenn Ihr also Anregungen oder Ergänzungen habt, gerne her damit! Danke!
@errhead & @agates - I know you both do things with @peertube … what do you think about @owncast? I frequently see #PeerTube listed as a YouTube alternative and #Owncast as a Twitch alternative. The latter is frequently mentioned as the best live streaming option that’s hooked into the #Fediverse but I see you all using PeerTube for this instead… thus my curiosity.
Hello again #Fediverse, I may need your #fedihelp. So, here's a list of the Fediverse software I'm about to make temporary accounts for to test all the features and differences:
So, did I miss anything noteworthy? Does anyone have any tips or recommendations before I choose a server for any one of these? I'll probably be going for the most popular server on each for improved federation and maintenance.
Note: I'm using #Sharkey right now and Misskey forks are already overrepresented, so that's why it's not included.
I’m writing a brief guide for how to set up OBS to livestream with #Owncast and #PeerTube. What questions do y’all have? What do you want to know about?
C'est l'heure du goûter ! Mais ne serait-ce pas aussi le bon moment pour regarder le replay (remonté et amélioré) du stream sur Mastodon, Misskey, Bluesky et tout ce qui gravite autour ?
J'explique et surtout... je montre les trucs et astuces 👀
Even though the shift is small, it's big enough. It's incredible watching the Fediverse grow; first with the Birdsite flocking to #Mastodon, and now with #Lemmy and #Kbin growing in popularity (I only recently learned about Kbin)... this type of growth is enough to kickstart more people coming over here.
I'm looking forward to #Tumblr maybe joining sometime soon (oh, the memes you can see!), maybe some prominent Twitch people will try out #Owncast, maybe I can get some of my family over here...
Not once did I say that running Owncast is expensive. The server software itself isn’t costly to run, and doesn’t require much in the way of hardware specs.
I said that video is expensive. Which it typically is, especially compared to text, photos, audio, etc.
Now if @owncast knows of ways to save on the cost of video, I’m sure everyone would like to learn how. Because it’s not just me who’s concerned about the cost of video. It’s a whole lot of people who would be running an Owncast server but haven’t yet.
So tell me how to do it. If I’m streaming all my video games, I’d rather use #Owncast than #Twitch.
A number of people have asked recently if there is livestreaming on the Fediverse.
Yes, there is!
The Fediverse has a dedicated livestreaming platform called @owncast. You can follow #OwnCast accounts from Mastodon etc and you will see posts from the accounts in your timeline when they start streaming.
Owncast has a built-in Twitch-style chat system which you can use either anonymously without logging in, or with an account from Mastodon etc.
Twitch has officially announced that streamers on Twitch are now allowed to simultanously stream (simulcasting) to all other live platforms. They state that ‘We believe that you should have the freedom to decide which services you want to live stream on.’ The new policy comes with a few restrictions, such as making sure that the quality of the stream on Twitch is not lesser than on other platforms, and they are not allowed to advertise the other platforms on Twitch. Still, these changes will significantly increase options for streamers to experiment with other platforms such as YouTube.
Allowing simulcasting will likely also benefit open source fediverse streaming platform Owncast. Owncast allows you to completely self-host your streams, and connect them with the fediverse for easier social connections. The software itself is pretty great, but the platform does feature a lack of streamers actually using it. Most times when browsing the directory, the only streams listed are 24/7 music live streams. Allowing Twitch streamers to simulcast to Owncast is a first step, and it seems likely that a few more dedicated fediverse fans will use this opportunity. It is still a very long way away of mainstream appeal, but this new policy change does provide Owncast with an opportunity to get at least a few more streamers on board.
#OwnCast experts I'm having a difficult time finding information about how to host @owncast locally (as in do all the stream encoding) but serve it through a cheap VPS, so that I'm not exposing my residential IP address. Is that possible? I would appreciate any tips or links to resources.
I'm using a digital ocean droplet with the Owncast referral code but I won't be using it enough to justify ~$20/mo after the promotional credit runs out.
Last month @gabek spoke to the attendees of @ubuntu Summit in Riga, Latvia, about Owncast and how live video streaming works.
I can’t promise it’s the most entertaining thing you’ll watch all day, but if you’re into #Owncast, or even streaming video in general, you might get something from it.
Introducing Fediverse 201, a new series in which I take a deeper dive in all the other cool products and services on the fediverse that go beyond microblogging, and talk to the creators about their product.
In this first edition: Owncast!
#owncast is a free and open source live video streaming server, that can also connect to the rest of the #fediverse in a variety of ways.
The thing that frightens me about the #fediverse is there is nothing stopping me from getting drunk one night and setting up an #owncast or #peertube and pretending to be Joe Rogan or Alex Jones and make a podcast. Like an immature 12 year old boy which I know I still am sometimes 🤣 #joke#humor
One of the most amazing things about the Fediverse is that you can run your own services and set your own rules, building something that represents what is important to you.
If you chose not to run your own software and services, and instead utilize services somebody else runs, it's unlikely you'll be 100% aligned with those who you rely on to run them for you. People are unique, and companies are... companies. It's impossible to be completely on the same page for everything. Therefore, you shouldn't be surprised when they decide not to offer you those services any longer for any reason they choose. Their house, their rules. They owe you nothing.
I've relied on botsin.space to host the @owncast account for a while, but I only recently noticed it's been reduced to a restricted account. Their house, their rules.
So my options are to run my own microblogging service for this single account, or take that functionality offline. If I run it, my service, my rules. But like anybody else, I have to weigh the pros and cons of running yet another service I need to maintain, and this time it's not personally worth it.
Hopefully, this bot has been helpful in sharing live streams to those who wouldn't have normally seen them.
While every #owncast server doesn't choose to be on the Fediverse, hopefully those who want to be shared with others decide to be. And if so, this bot isn't needed anymore, anyway.
Thank you for making Owncast a success in 2023 (gabekangas.com)
You can define success any way you like. But I'm happy with the direction of the project, and I'm thankful for everyone who has helped make it happen.