It is doable to install an OS onto a flash drive or external drive, but from my experience it was really slow. Just need to make sure to then boot the machine to the USB device. Some machines you might find it difficult to change that in the BIOS.
But you shouldnt have to browse kbin.social then copy that link to a url formatted for you instance.
On your kbin.cafe you could try /d/kbin.social to try and do a link too. Might just need to follow the /m/ on other instances to see the posts from other kbin and lemmy instances.
You and others on kbin.cafe will have to subscribe to the same magazine on other instances. You would interact with it just like you are now with this post on kbin.social. There is a possibility the same post could appear in the general / all feed of federated posts too.
You are viewing a post that is originating on kbin social. It is then federating to your instance in kbin.cafe. So your instance is receiving a copy in a way to view and interact with the post. Your instance then can send a copy of the replies and comments to the originating instance so they can all work together.
The settings and federation panel are on the right sidebar by default. On mobile they are set to float and follow the main content then hide the panel so you see the federation icon and settings panel. After the settings is the magazine info and the user who posted the thread info.
I agree these should be a tad easier to find or added to the user profile as well.
I’ve used some of them and the web and mobile interface of kbin is still easier to use than the beta apps of lemmy and web interface. Not sure why so many went the lemmy route other than the rexxit and lemmy was slightly easier at the time to spin up new instances.
Things can all be related, and also federated between platforms. should still let individuals build the community where they see fit. there will still be people going to both.
I also think some of the growth of Lemmy is the ability to get the project to a functioning stance. The start of Kbin still seems a little rocky, but getting better.