As @cel pointed out further down the tree [1] that's not entirely correct any longer. Especially the "100% tied to node.js" part has not been for a while. There

As @cel pointed out further down the tree [1] that's not entirely correct any longer. Especially the "100% tied to node.js" part has not been for a while. There are now alternative implementations for Rust and Go. Now, the feed format is indeed a practical problem if you try to make a client from scratch and it is annoying. Luckily, using one of the already existing libraries will handle this for you. Changing that feed format for everyone is not possible, simply because there's already an existing social network built on the old ones that we very much want to preserve since we actually... well... hang out there. Changing feed format thus involves adding a new feed format and making sure other clients can handle and link together both. At the benefit of abstracting away the feed format, and being able to iterate on them. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22912075 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22912075