4 ms·

Fediverse: a bunch of software waiting idle in the hope that a hero will arrive to make significant and lasting changes to copyright and fair use in order for a

Fediverse: a bunch of software waiting idle in the hope that a hero will arrive to make significant and lasting changes to copyright and fair use in order for any of it to be useful. Ooh, this decentralized beebob could be a great place to discover and distribute Scihub content. Ooh, I can sure imagine myself watching a sci-fi movie that's old enough to vote and buy alcohol on "Framatube." Ooh, a filesystem suitable for multiple planets, IFF planet #2 is filled only with Pirate Party members with their force shields turned on and on constant watch for slow blades. Ooh, a user-writable international encyclopedia that isn't... oh yeah, that actually exists because you can't copyright fucking facts. At least there's that, twenty-first century! Edit: clarification to make exclamation even sadder

PaulHoule 5y ago
I think when people hear "*-verse" there are two common hot takes: (1) this is something that doesn't include me, and (2) move on folks, nothing more to see here.
msla 5y ago
Federated protocols have been used for email and message boards. Multiple times, in fact, counting FIDO and Usenet and Bitnet as separate developments. So it isn't like this is a new idea, or like it's impossible to do with current copyright law.
- jefurii 5y ago
  Also the phone system, per the video. That's run by large corporations, often with monopolies, but at least they interoperate.
  - riffic 5y ago
    it's amazing the international telephone system even worked at all. ma bell was quite centralized but there were many attempts to get them to interoperate both domestically and internationally, even to the point of having a very rigorous regulation regime (nationalization too.)
    - strogonoff 5y ago
      If we required all big social to interoperate (open complete APIs, etc.) it would solve a lot of woes.
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  In fact Usenet is still very much alive for the purpose of evading said copyright laws Sadly it's no longer alive for its original purpose :(
shadowgovt 5y ago
And Wikipedia isn't even a fediverse... It's a central wiki run by a good, benevolent dictatorship. If it went down tomorrow, it would certainly be mirrored and re-upped almost immediately, but it's not "federated" in the same sense as e.g. a Mastodon, IRC, email, or USENET.
- M2Ys4U 5y ago
  Wikipedia is somewhat federated, just not in the same way that the fediverse is. Each language edition of Wikipedia is its own little island that connects with the others. Then there's Wiktionary, Commons, Wikisource, Wikibooks, Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikivoyage and Wikidata. They all have their own policy, moderation, culture etc. but they all connect with each other. They all link a bit more like how IRC servers come together to form a network - it's a closed system of federation rather than it being open to the world - and the Wikimedia Foundation does sit on top providing a level of governance and technical support.
  - jdporter 5y ago
    I don't think they're federated. They don't transparently share data using a common protocol under the hood. They simply link to each other. They're a web.
  - Nasreddin_Hodja 5y ago
    Wikipedia is just someone's server. Owner may turn it down without asking authors of its content. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/wikipedia-goes-dark-but-is-the-site-still-relevant/2010/12/20/gIQArWym7P_blog.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/wikipe...
    - M2Ys4U 5y ago
      The English edition of Wikipedia blacked out, but IIRC other language editions did not. Plus there was a huge community discussion - and vote - that was held in the days before the blackout. It wasn't the WMF making a unilateral decision to do anything.
Kye 5y ago
I can't figure out what any of this has to do with the fediverse. It sounds like you're complaining about the web3 grift. They have absolutely nothing to do with each other.
prvc 5y ago
IPFS has nothing to do with the "fediverse" (although I'm not sure what the latter is exactly), apart from being distributed in some sense.
throwanem 5y ago
The point of saying "fediverse" at all is to foreground interop via the ActivityPub protocol, rather than Mastodon which happens to be by some measures (ie "the most populous one or two instances run vanilla") currently the most popular user agent. You might as well argue that, because not every browser ever written has an active userbase, HTTP is pointless.

PaulHoule 5y ago

I think when people hear "*-verse" there are two common hot takes: (1) this is something that doesn't include me, and (2) move on folks, nothing more to see here.

msla 5y ago

Federated protocols have been used for email and message boards. Multiple times, in fact, counting FIDO and Usenet and Bitnet as separate developments. So it isn't like this is a new idea, or like it's impossible to do with current copyright law.

jefurii 5y ago
Also the phone system, per the video. That's run by large corporations, often with monopolies, but at least they interoperate.
- riffic 5y ago
  it's amazing the international telephone system even worked at all. ma bell was quite centralized but there were many attempts to get them to interoperate both domestically and internationally, even to the point of having a very rigorous regulation regime (nationalization too.)
  - strogonoff 5y ago
    If we required all big social to interoperate (open complete APIs, etc.) it would solve a lot of woes.
GekkePrutser 5y ago
In fact Usenet is still very much alive for the purpose of evading said copyright laws Sadly it's no longer alive for its original purpose :(

shadowgovt 5y ago

And Wikipedia isn't even a fediverse... It's a central wiki run by a good, benevolent dictatorship. If it went down tomorrow, it would certainly be mirrored and re-upped almost immediately, but it's not "federated" in the same sense as e.g. a Mastodon, IRC, email, or USENET.

M2Ys4U 5y ago
Wikipedia is somewhat federated, just not in the same way that the fediverse is. Each language edition of Wikipedia is its own little island that connects with the others. Then there's Wiktionary, Commons, Wikisource, Wikibooks, Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikivoyage and Wikidata. They all have their own policy, moderation, culture etc. but they all connect with each other. They all link a bit more like how IRC servers come together to form a network - it's a closed system of federation rather than it being open to the world - and the Wikimedia Foundation does sit on top providing a level of governance and technical support.
- jdporter 5y ago
  I don't think they're federated. They don't transparently share data using a common protocol under the hood. They simply link to each other. They're a web.
- Nasreddin_Hodja 5y ago
  Wikipedia is just someone's server. Owner may turn it down without asking authors of its content. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/wikipedia-goes-dark-but-is-the-site-still-relevant/2010/12/20/gIQArWym7P_blog.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/wikipe...
  - M2Ys4U 5y ago
    The English edition of Wikipedia blacked out, but IIRC other language editions did not. Plus there was a huge community discussion - and vote - that was held in the days before the blackout. It wasn't the WMF making a unilateral decision to do anything.

Kye 5y ago

I can't figure out what any of this has to do with the fediverse. It sounds like you're complaining about the web3 grift. They have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

prvc 5y ago

IPFS has nothing to do with the "fediverse" (although I'm not sure what the latter is exactly), apart from being distributed in some sense.

throwanem 5y ago

The point of saying "fediverse" at all is to foreground interop via the ActivityPub protocol, rather than Mastodon which happens to be by some measures (ie "the most populous one or two instances run vanilla") currently the most popular user agent. You might as well argue that, because not every browser ever written has an active userbase, HTTP is pointless.