6 ms·

Internet Archive launches Mastodon server at archive.org

178 points by riffic 4y ago

themodelplumber 4y ago
I signed up (who wouldn't, this internet institution is an institution) but then had another look at the rules and was wondering: Is this meant as an IA employee-only resource?
- CharlesW 4y ago
  textfiles (Jason Scott) hangs out here, so hopefully he'll comment! I signed up in case it's meant as a public resource.
  - sp332 4y ago
    Well he's already said it on twitter. https://mobile.twitter.com/textfiles/status/1591100036557197315 https://mobile.twitter.com/textfiles/status/1591100036557197...
- stonogo 4y ago
  Looks that way: "The mastodon will only have Internet Archive employees and role accounts" from https://mastodon.archive.org/@textfiles/109326946121755295 https://mastodon.archive.org/@textfiles/109326946121755295
textfiles 4y ago
Hi everyone. Glad word of this is getting around. It's only open for official Internet Archive role accounts and employees. We don't really have the time or resources to have a fully-running open-registration community from the server. But you can definitely visit it if you're on Mastodon to find official accounts and employees to connect with.
- eastghola 4y ago
  Why are you censoring the Internet Archive? This is supposed to be a library-like resource, not a opportunity to cover up the misdeeds of members of today's sacred caste.
  - harrisonpage 4y ago
    freemasons run the country!
    - chatterhead 4y ago
      Those who pretend conspiracy doesn't define the human experience actually do.
    - tjpnz 4y ago
      Freemasons are in the doxing and DIY HRT business now?
      - laura-media 4y ago
        god I wish
- bombcar 4y ago
  You might want to disable sign-ups or make them on approval only, as apparently two other people from HN have already signed up.
  - textfiles 4y ago
    We had signups for a couple days for some of our employees to have an easier time hopping on, but yeah, switched to invite-only.
- riffic 4y ago
  sorry (I'm the OP), I was enthusiastic about your instance and did not see you had open regs. I would have refrained from sharing if I had noticed until you had the opportunity to switch. You may also want to be on 3.5.3? https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/releases/tag/v3.5.3 https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/releases/tag/v3.5.3
veqq 4y ago
Adding "for internal use" to the end of the title could save confusion, considering the direction of the other comments here. I'm curious what the purpose/use in their workflows is for this though.
- riffic 4y ago
  didn't notice, oops! Speaking to purpose, this may be helpful: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33509613 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33509613
- jonny_eh 4y ago
  Everything about Mastodon is confusing.
  - VikingCoder 4y ago
    "I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. 3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things." ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
    - jonny_eh 4y ago
      Maybe, but I doubt the kids are gonna flock to Mastodon. I'm happy to be wrong though.
      - krapp 4y ago
        Enough of the kids have flocked to Mastodon that articles bemoaning the death of the platform and ruin of the culture have already been written, admins have closed instances to new members and an almost xenophobic hostility towards Twitter newcomers is becoming commonplace. If that's not a sign of some degree of success, I don't know what is.
rektide 4y ago
Would love a bot we can follow that will archive our feeds. This would be doable even without an Internet Archive server- anyone could write a bot to follow & submit content to Internet Archive- but it'd be cool to see it officially hosted at Internet Archive itself. Anyhow, cool to see!! Welcome to the fediverse Internet Archive, glad to have you here!
- dewey 4y ago
  Just asked the guy who runs a similar bot for Twitter and is also on Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@dewey/109327260799744348 https://mastodon.social/@dewey/109327260799744348
mdaniel 4y ago
Aww, I was going to suggest changing the submitted URL to be the "/public" of Mastodon instances which allows previewing who's there and what they're talking about, but it seems theirs has it switched off: https://mastodon.archive.org/public https://mastodon.archive.org/public is a 404
- riffic 4y ago
  it's generally a good idea to disable /public, for reasons. This endpoint shows those who choose to be listed in the directory: https://mastodon.archive.org/explore https://mastodon.archive.org/explore
  - yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
    > it's generally a good idea to disable /public, for reasons. Okay, I'll bite; what reasons?
    - jamjom 4y ago
    - riffic 4y ago
      You may inadvertently publish unsavory things. It's a risk and for that a reason the author gave admins the option to turn it off.
woah 4y ago
One question I have about these employer-run mastodon servers- what if you wanted to say something bad about your employer? Seems like that wouldn’t really work out well.
- egypturnash 4y ago
  What do you do if you have a work email account, and want to say something bad about your employer? You use your personal account.
- INTPenis 4y ago
  Some people have three different fediverse accounts just for fun, so I'm sure employees can keep two accounts on two different instances straight.
Markoff 4y ago
Does anyone remember that audio chat thingy which was next big thing and I can't even remember the name? After search I think it was Clubhouse, somehow I expect same thing about mastodon two years from now.
- irq 4y ago
  Mastodon existed for 4 years before Clubhouse launched, and will likely still exist after Clubhouse eventually fades into irrelevancy
  - Markoff 4y ago
    and your point regarding mastodon now enjoying 15 minutes of fame, before it becomes just another fad?
    - irq 4y ago
      My point is that Mastodon existed before it was as famous as it is now, and will continue to exist after, because it never needed to be famous to exist in the first place, unlike Clubhouse.
      - Markoff 4y ago
        and how is it opposing my comment? I just said it's fad enjoying its 15 minutes of fame with bunch of people promoting it right now before it will be all forgotten again in few months we all remember that "huge" WhatsApp exodus due to privacy policy, this is exactly same thing
- riffic 4y ago
  the Fediverse has existed since 2008 in some form (https://fediverse.party/en/post/fediverse-14-years-in-2022/ https://fediverse.party/en/post/fediverse-14-years-in-2022/). It embodies the spirit of longevity noted by the Lindy Effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
kixiQu 4y ago
Fun piece of Mastodon lore, of course, being that an employee of the Internet Archive was fired for a Mastodon post so "F*** Brewster Kahle" was then heavily, heavily, heavily posted/reposted on the network Having trouble finding any external writing on it from the time to link (to be able to show without pointing to someone in particular)
alexvoda 4y ago
Speaking of this, is there an archive of Twitter anywhere? If not, wouldn't it be a good idea to start archiving the public content?
pornel 4y ago
Having companies run ActivityPub servers on their own domain makes technically a lot more sense than begging/buying a blue checkmark from somebody else.
- mdaniel 4y ago
  This is relevant to my interests because I don't want the hassle of running a rails app, but I sure would love to host enough of the endpoints to make my existing vps accept and transmit ActivityPub messages. Like a single-user server (which I fully recognize would remove any "Local Timeline" view but OTOH would mitigate having to switch servers/losing control of my fediverse identity The ActivityPub spec itself seems pretty approachable, but a couple of alternative implementations I saw recently mention "Mastodon compatible" so I wonder how far it has deviated from the actual spec

178 points by riffic 4y ago

I signed up (who wouldn't, this internet institution is an institution) but then had another look at the rules and was wondering: Is this meant as an IA employee-only resource?

CharlesW 4y ago
textfiles (Jason Scott) hangs out here, so hopefully he'll comment! I signed up in case it's meant as a public resource.
- sp332 4y ago
  Well he's already said it on twitter. https://mobile.twitter.com/textfiles/status/1591100036557197315 https://mobile.twitter.com/textfiles/status/1591100036557197...
stonogo 4y ago
Looks that way: "The mastodon will only have Internet Archive employees and role accounts" from https://mastodon.archive.org/@textfiles/109326946121755295 https://mastodon.archive.org/@textfiles/109326946121755295

textfiles 4y ago

Hi everyone. Glad word of this is getting around. It's only open for official Internet Archive role accounts and employees. We don't really have the time or resources to have a fully-running open-registration community from the server. But you can definitely visit it if you're on Mastodon to find official accounts and employees to connect with.

eastghola 4y ago
Why are you censoring the Internet Archive? This is supposed to be a library-like resource, not a opportunity to cover up the misdeeds of members of today's sacred caste.
- harrisonpage 4y ago
  freemasons run the country!
  - chatterhead 4y ago
    Those who pretend conspiracy doesn't define the human experience actually do.
  - tjpnz 4y ago
    Freemasons are in the doxing and DIY HRT business now?
    - laura-media 4y ago
      god I wish
bombcar 4y ago
You might want to disable sign-ups or make them on approval only, as apparently two other people from HN have already signed up.
- textfiles 4y ago
  We had signups for a couple days for some of our employees to have an easier time hopping on, but yeah, switched to invite-only.
riffic 4y ago
sorry (I'm the OP), I was enthusiastic about your instance and did not see you had open regs. I would have refrained from sharing if I had noticed until you had the opportunity to switch. You may also want to be on 3.5.3? https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/releases/tag/v3.5.3 https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/releases/tag/v3.5.3

veqq 4y ago

Adding "for internal use" to the end of the title could save confusion, considering the direction of the other comments here. I'm curious what the purpose/use in their workflows is for this though.

riffic 4y ago
didn't notice, oops! Speaking to purpose, this may be helpful: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33509613 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33509613
jonny_eh 4y ago
Everything about Mastodon is confusing.
- VikingCoder 4y ago
  "I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. 3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things." ― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
  - jonny_eh 4y ago
    Maybe, but I doubt the kids are gonna flock to Mastodon. I'm happy to be wrong though.
    - krapp 4y ago
      Enough of the kids have flocked to Mastodon that articles bemoaning the death of the platform and ruin of the culture have already been written, admins have closed instances to new members and an almost xenophobic hostility towards Twitter newcomers is becoming commonplace. If that's not a sign of some degree of success, I don't know what is.

rektide 4y ago

Would love a bot we can follow that will archive our feeds. This would be doable even without an Internet Archive server- anyone could write a bot to follow & submit content to Internet Archive- but it'd be cool to see it officially hosted at Internet Archive itself. Anyhow, cool to see!! Welcome to the fediverse Internet Archive, glad to have you here!

dewey 4y ago
Just asked the guy who runs a similar bot for Twitter and is also on Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@dewey/109327260799744348 https://mastodon.social/@dewey/109327260799744348

mdaniel 4y ago

Aww, I was going to suggest changing the submitted URL to be the "/public" of Mastodon instances which allows previewing who's there and what they're talking about, but it seems theirs has it switched off: https://mastodon.archive.org/public https://mastodon.archive.org/public is a 404

riffic 4y ago
it's generally a good idea to disable /public, for reasons. This endpoint shows those who choose to be listed in the directory: https://mastodon.archive.org/explore https://mastodon.archive.org/explore
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  > it's generally a good idea to disable /public, for reasons. Okay, I'll bite; what reasons?
  - jamjom 4y ago
  - riffic 4y ago
    You may inadvertently publish unsavory things. It's a risk and for that a reason the author gave admins the option to turn it off.

woah 4y ago

One question I have about these employer-run mastodon servers- what if you wanted to say something bad about your employer? Seems like that wouldn’t really work out well.

egypturnash 4y ago
What do you do if you have a work email account, and want to say something bad about your employer? You use your personal account.
INTPenis 4y ago
Some people have three different fediverse accounts just for fun, so I'm sure employees can keep two accounts on two different instances straight.

Markoff 4y ago

Does anyone remember that audio chat thingy which was next big thing and I can't even remember the name? After search I think it was Clubhouse, somehow I expect same thing about mastodon two years from now.

irq 4y ago
Mastodon existed for 4 years before Clubhouse launched, and will likely still exist after Clubhouse eventually fades into irrelevancy
- Markoff 4y ago
  and your point regarding mastodon now enjoying 15 minutes of fame, before it becomes just another fad?
  - irq 4y ago
    My point is that Mastodon existed before it was as famous as it is now, and will continue to exist after, because it never needed to be famous to exist in the first place, unlike Clubhouse.
    - Markoff 4y ago
      and how is it opposing my comment? I just said it's fad enjoying its 15 minutes of fame with bunch of people promoting it right now before it will be all forgotten again in few months we all remember that "huge" WhatsApp exodus due to privacy policy, this is exactly same thing
riffic 4y ago
the Fediverse has existed since 2008 in some form (https://fediverse.party/en/post/fediverse-14-years-in-2022/ https://fediverse.party/en/post/fediverse-14-years-in-2022/). It embodies the spirit of longevity noted by the Lindy Effect: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect

kixiQu 4y ago

Fun piece of Mastodon lore, of course, being that an employee of the Internet Archive was fired for a Mastodon post so "F*** Brewster Kahle" was then heavily, heavily, heavily posted/reposted on the network Having trouble finding any external writing on it from the time to link (to be able to show without pointing to someone in particular)

alexvoda 4y ago

Speaking of this, is there an archive of Twitter anywhere? If not, wouldn't it be a good idea to start archiving the public content?

pornel 4y ago

Having companies run ActivityPub servers on their own domain makes technically a lot more sense than begging/buying a blue checkmark from somebody else.

mdaniel 4y ago
This is relevant to my interests because I don't want the hassle of running a rails app, but I sure would love to host enough of the endpoints to make my existing vps accept and transmit ActivityPub messages. Like a single-user server (which I fully recognize would remove any "Local Timeline" view but OTOH would mitigate having to switch servers/losing control of my fediverse identity The ActivityPub spec itself seems pretty approachable, but a couple of alternative implementations I saw recently mention "Mastodon compatible" so I wonder how far it has deviated from the actual spec