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Interesting. So I swear this is not on purpose, but I went to try to see what thing I would be interested in. I searched "Mastodon Technology" and it leads me

by robswc 4y ago

Interesting. So I swear this is not on purpose, but I went to try to see what thing I would be interested in. I searched "Mastodon Technology" and it leads me here: https://mastodon.technology/about https://mastodon.technology/about It says it's shutting down though? So they can just shut down and if you don't migrate your account in time, you're SoL ? I do understand a bit more now. I remember being interested in it around 2019 and it was a bit confusing then. Your comment clears it up quite a bit.

rolenthedeep 4y ago
Yes, but if Twitter shut down, you wouldn't have any more options. That server got too big for its admin team to handle. The general sentiment around mastodon is that it's sad, but it isn't a bad thing. The admins did their best, but it's in everyone's best interest to shut it down gracefully rather than let it fester. All the users will migrate to new communities and continue on. Mastodon has a problem with scaling individual instances. It works best when there are a lot of relatively small instances. Once you get too many users, server resources get tight FAST. My instance has gone down three times for upgrades this week, and the admin has had to suspend new user registration because the server just can't keep up.
- robswc 4y ago
  >Yes, but if Twitter shut down, you wouldn't have any more options That's totally fair. You're also SoL if you don't agree with their policies, etc. So I'm definitely not a fan of the way that works. >Mastodon has a problem with scaling individual instances That's unfortunate to hear. Seems like a "core" issue though... I mean, if it approaches anywhere near the number of DAU twitter has... no idea how that would work, logistically. Seems it would have to come full-circle where hosters have incentive beyond "hobby" and "clout" reasons.
  - rolenthedeep 4y ago
    There are a lot of things to complain about in the core of mastodon as a piece of software. That's a big part of why there are so many alternatives built on the same protocol. The idea is that by spreading the users amongst many smaller servers, everyone has a pretty responsive experience while still being able to (hypothetically) interact with as many users as on Twitter.
- appletrotter 4y ago
  > The general sentiment is… it isn't a bad thing The general tone has seemed very defensive
  - rolenthedeep 4y ago
    The discussion I've seen frames it something like this: Servers rise and fall, it's part of the life cycle here. The admins couldn't handle the size of the server, and it was causing a rapidly degrading experience for everyone. Shutting down the server was mostly in the best personal interests of the admin, but people seem to be respecting them for that. They did the responsible thing by shutting down new registration, making very loud announcements, and giving everyone as much time as possible to migrate their accounts. In other words, any instance will shut down sooner or later, and the way the admin handled this particular case is the most respectful way to treat the users. Sad that it happened, but much respect for handling it as gracefully as possible.
    - appletrotter 4y ago
      > any instance will shut down sooner or later Just another thing for users to be worried about.
      - easrng 4y ago
        I've moved twice so far (didn't like the (lack of) moderation on the first instance I was on, the second one is shutting down in a bit and they gave everyone advance notice so we all moved off) and it's very painless, not worrying at all.
      - rolenthedeep 4y ago
        No, not any more than you worry about Twitter shutting down. And when Twitter does eventually shut down, all of those users will lose their accounts and followers forever with no recourse. When a mastodon server shuts down, you click the 'migrate account' button and continue like nothing happened.

by robswc 4y ago

rolenthedeep 4y ago

Yes, but if Twitter shut down, you wouldn't have any more options. That server got too big for its admin team to handle. The general sentiment around mastodon is that it's sad, but it isn't a bad thing. The admins did their best, but it's in everyone's best interest to shut it down gracefully rather than let it fester. All the users will migrate to new communities and continue on. Mastodon has a problem with scaling individual instances. It works best when there are a lot of relatively small instances. Once you get too many users, server resources get tight FAST. My instance has gone down three times for upgrades this week, and the admin has had to suspend new user registration because the server just can't keep up.

robswc 4y ago
>Yes, but if Twitter shut down, you wouldn't have any more options That's totally fair. You're also SoL if you don't agree with their policies, etc. So I'm definitely not a fan of the way that works. >Mastodon has a problem with scaling individual instances That's unfortunate to hear. Seems like a "core" issue though... I mean, if it approaches anywhere near the number of DAU twitter has... no idea how that would work, logistically. Seems it would have to come full-circle where hosters have incentive beyond "hobby" and "clout" reasons.
- rolenthedeep 4y ago
  There are a lot of things to complain about in the core of mastodon as a piece of software. That's a big part of why there are so many alternatives built on the same protocol. The idea is that by spreading the users amongst many smaller servers, everyone has a pretty responsive experience while still being able to (hypothetically) interact with as many users as on Twitter.
appletrotter 4y ago
> The general sentiment is… it isn't a bad thing The general tone has seemed very defensive
- rolenthedeep 4y ago
  The discussion I've seen frames it something like this: Servers rise and fall, it's part of the life cycle here. The admins couldn't handle the size of the server, and it was causing a rapidly degrading experience for everyone. Shutting down the server was mostly in the best personal interests of the admin, but people seem to be respecting them for that. They did the responsible thing by shutting down new registration, making very loud announcements, and giving everyone as much time as possible to migrate their accounts. In other words, any instance will shut down sooner or later, and the way the admin handled this particular case is the most respectful way to treat the users. Sad that it happened, but much respect for handling it as gracefully as possible.
  - appletrotter 4y ago
    > any instance will shut down sooner or later Just another thing for users to be worried about.
    - easrng 4y ago
      I've moved twice so far (didn't like the (lack of) moderation on the first instance I was on, the second one is shutting down in a bit and they gave everyone advance notice so we all moved off) and it's very painless, not worrying at all.
    - rolenthedeep 4y ago
      No, not any more than you worry about Twitter shutting down. And when Twitter does eventually shut down, all of those users will lose their accounts and followers forever with no recourse. When a mastodon server shuts down, you click the 'migrate account' button and continue like nothing happened.