I have a question: Do you think we should be trying to compete for these users? In order to do that, wouldn’t this instance have to try to grow very large?

I don’t mean this instance or any single instance specifically. The idea of the ‘defederate Meta’ pact is to create a separate network of instances that have all blocked Meta services. That network of instances would have a tiny userbase compared to the network of instances that federated with Meta’s services. If a generic user is looking to create an account on an instance then they’d likely just default to the network that has 8 billion users rather than the one with 10 million.

I agree with the idea of smaller communities being more attractive but I think that a social network, like the Internet, works best when it is fully connected with as little friction as possible. Communities and instances can grow or limit themselves as much as they’d like but the entire network itself shouldn’t become fragmented.

I think Meta’s goal here isn’t to take over the Fediverse and own it like they own Facebook. They likely want to be like Google where they control none of the content (and all of the associated costs and legal issues) but provide the core services and ad networks that are so profitable. Google’s “content” is the entire web, they simply provide a useful service (search) and, because of that service, they have the ability to mine incredibly valuable data which they use to generate revenue through ad targeting. I think Meta is aiming for this kind of business model so that they can dump the headaches that come from hosting massive amounts of user data/content.

I’m imagining 10 years into the future where you would, instead of using Google’s Ad Sense, use Meta’s ad platform since it would provide more money from advertisements as the ad targeting is using information gathered from the ActivityPub extensions that Meta develops. Meta devotes tons developer hours to extending the social media protocols so that people use them and Meta profits from the data collection and other services (hosting instances, storing data, etc) that don’t require them to actually run a social media website directly. This makes Meta more like an aspiring symbiote rather than a hostile instance that wants to ‘take over’ the fediverse.

I think that, to combat this, people who are motiviated should be looking at ways to create a software ecosystem that counters Meta dominance. Instead people are looking at this like it’s just another instance that they don’t like. I think that’s a very short-sighted way of addressing the issue.

Let me know if I’ve misunderstood.

You did not misunderstand.

I don’t think this is the purpose of federation. Threads exists and has a huge amount of users.

Meta will ensure that it grows rapidly and defederating them ensures that users looking to join the largest ActivityPub-based social media network will likely go in the direction of Meta’s services.

The way that instances win this battle is to offer better services and a better experience than Threads. We simply don’t have the userbase to kill Threads by defederating with them. When given a choice the average user will default to using Meta’s services… it will take time and interaction with them to convince them to leave.

Great post, one of my few saved posts

You use a local DNS resolver that can handle encrypted DNS and also does ad blocking. pihole-ftl is what I’ve been using. Then you just set your DHCP server (your router usually) to provide the pihole server as the DNS server.

It caches entries so things you access often will resolve faster than anything you can get online, it supports all of the privacy options you could want and it also has ad blocking lists so you can block ads and trackers at the DNS level.

I use non-FOSS for work, but I have a work PC where someone else pays for all of them.

FOSS and buy games.

I used to pirate games because I was a high school/college student but buying them from Steam is just more convenient.

I pirate media though, I used streaming services when Netflix was basically the only game in town but now that there are 25 different platforms all wanting $10/mo, f that. I can setup Sonarr and Radarr on a seedbox for cheaper and it provides more flexibility of use, no limitations on sharing (seedbox provider aside) and no annoying DRM or unexpectedly getting a 720p stream instead of a 4k HDR stream because I didn’t install the latest firmware on my TV.

I’m paying for music streaming because Spotify is basically music Netflix but I’m experimenting using scrobbling/Lidarr/Airsonic.

When your community wants to de-federate everything:

Just use KeePass and Syncthing. Then you don’t have to rely on any cloud services.

TL;DR?

I played through without issue my first play through. I did notice that the police spawn-in system was funky and I discovered how to get rich by crafting cans into things so I was really rich. I had maybe a few weird physics bugs but overall the experience was great. I had a pretty high-end PC at the time so that likely helped.

A friend of mine played through it on the PS4 and he had a lot more bugs and performance issues but he liked the game overall.

I didn’t watch all of the hype leading up to it, or all of the videos that they released promising features and so I can understand how people would feel let down. I went into it 100% blind, I saw the release advertisements, I love the Cyberpunk genre and the reviews were not terrible (bugs, performance issues, etc). So I played it exactly as it was, and it wasn’t bad.

I am super excited for Phantom Liberty. The updated systems all sound really fun and I have a machine that can pull off ray tracing at decent framerates so I’m going to try a playthrough like that.

I would not at all be surprised if the GDPR dictates a set time period to respond backed up by fines.

Big ‘Ancient Aliens’ Energy

Serious question: What is the alternative to open registration? Invite-only? What is the expectation?

Seems a bit kneejerk to defederate, that’s employing the nuclear option as the first step. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for dialog.