I just sent the final proofs of the #ActivityPub book to the editors at O'Reilly.

julian

@[email protected] start working on the sequel: ActivityPub: The Good Parts

Evan Prodromou

You can still read the pre-release version on O'Reilly Learning Platform for free with a 10-day trial of the service. I don't know how much longer that deal is going to be around.

https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/activitypub/9781098162733/

Evan Prodromou

@julian @erincandescent They're all good parts!

infinite love ⴳ

@evan @julian @erincandescent they're good parts, julian

julian

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] did I end up sounding facetious? Didn't mean to, was just a joke about Javascript: The Good Parts being a small book, heh.

infinite love ⴳ

@julian @evan @erincandescent oh, no, don't worry, i understood the intent, i was just referencing "they're good dogs brent"

Evan Prodromou

@julian @trwnh @erincandescent It's also one of the best programming books ever written. It literally changed the industry. I love that book.

julian

@[email protected] I actually did not know that this meme existed, that's hilarious!

I'm one of today's 10,000 and it's only 37 minutes past midnight...

everton137

@evan congrats! Just a curiosity, is there a comparison with other protocols trying to create an interoperable web? I'm trying to understand why AT Protocol was created. I still need to read some references some people shared here.

Evan Prodromou

@everton137 it was created because Jack Dorsey thought Twitter could spin out a business with a protocol as a product. They would connect big social networks, using the Twitter user and content base as an enticement. Those networks would pay BS to develop and maintain the pipes connecting servers.

Evan Prodromou

@everton137 using an existing open standard wouldn't work for this business model, because those big social networks could connect without paying anything to BS. They needed to make a new, incompatible protocol that other businesses had to pay for.

Evan Prodromou

@everton137 Twitter gave them $13M, and they raised another $8M. They've spent that money developing their proprietary protocol. I don't think it's a successful strategy. They are shooting the moon; hoping to be successful at all other developers' expense.

Evan Prodromou

@everton137 my knowledge of this is firsthand. I talked with Parag, then CTO of Twitter, about it when BS first started. He laid out the entire business plan for me. I was part of the BS community that discussed different protocols to use.

Evan Prodromou

@everton137 I don't agree that the primary motivations for starting BS were technical, in response to AP's failings. I don't think it's fair for BS people to position it that way.

everton137

@evan got it. Thank you for sharing!

Just one point, isn't AT Protocol open source?

#atprotocol #activitypub #OpenSource #BigTech

everton137

@evan your points shared here deserve an article. :mastogrin:

Evan Prodromou

@everton137

Parts of the BS stack are Open Source. The protocol is not an open standard. There is no guarantee that if you make your own implementation with different source code, you will not be subject to patent or other IP liability.

Evan Prodromou

@everton137 you asked why the BS protocol exists. I just explained the why.

Once Elon Musk bought Twitter, the BS company's deal to federate Twitter first fell through. So they've been in zombie mode for the last couple of years; their original reason for existing is gone, but they had a big pile of money, and they didn't want to give it back to Twitter. So they kept it and kept going.

Evan Prodromou

@everton137 their big advantage over ActivityPub is a unified stack. There's one client, one server, and one user experience. Signing up for BS is just like signing up for a really faithful Twitter clone.

Evan Prodromou

@everton137 I don't think the AT protocol will outlast BlueSky, the company.