We would like to run an #activitypub instance as part of the #weirdone platform, same as the excellent #omglol by @prami

Erlend Sogge Heggen

This instance will be operated as a paid extension of Weird, costing $10/yr ($20/yr after beta).

All member subscriptions will go entirely to the AP instance hosters, which should be a team of at least 2-3 sysadmins & moderators tending to the instance part-time. This is expected to be a fairly low-volume instance since all members are paid (to begin with).

#moderation

Erlend Sogge Heggen

The instance type we’d like to host is most likely gonna be @mitra #mitra

..specifically because it supports nomadic identity, so neither our instance nor our users are locked in stasis; Weird net can migrate to a different AP instance in the future if necessary, and instance tenants can migrate to any other instance that supports Nomadic Identity (FEP-ae97), e.g. with:

fep-ae97-client

Codeberg.org (codeberg.org)

It’s pretty easy to self-host; the real challenge is instance governance and moderation.

silverpill

@erlend Interesting!

As of today, regular Mitra accounts are still tied to a domain name. Portable accounts are partially supported, but you need to use fep-ae97 client to access them.

I'm committed to making this functionality available to everyone, though, and would be happy to work with you

find you on :butterfedy1: fediverse

@silverpill @erlend congrats on your possible choice.

part of my volunteering today is in improving fediverse and i feel that mitra server is just the most calm and commonsense way to enjoy fedi. there's a couple minor issues and my goal is to help them get solved.

one of my fave things is infinite scroll can be turned off(?), or at least i dont have infinite scroll on, so i can view a page without constant distractions.

if you love " #weird " then u might be excited by the ability to federate over the (invisible internet protocol) #i2p network. Is a network designed to protect ppls freedom and access to information. Instances in the #uk and #australia will probably benefit by switching to ONLY being available over i2p, however at present this would mean limited federation.... a microcosm-verse, but i think the more instance that harness i2p access and federation, the faster it will simply become standard. i am looking forward to trying out my instance over i2p with the non-js interface of #bloatFE but i believe my admin hasn't been able to keep it online (@nimda?). earlier in the year i made some tweaks to #Bloat's css to improve its look-and-feel, i don't believe @r has merged them into the project yet, if you want to try out the CSS, please contact me and i'll dig it up or open an account on this instance and access it via (bloat.wizard.casa)

on the topic of nomadic ident....(1/2)

find you on :butterfedy1: fediverse

@nimda @silverpill @r @erlend

2/2

On the topis of Nomadic Identity (FEP-ae97)

i love the idea, but i dont believe fediverse is mature enuf to handle this feature in a way that upholds one of the core goals of fedi, #decentralization.... the evidence for this is the reliance on large CDN (cloudflare, anazon, fastly, bunny) by the larger instances that are commonly perceived as more "reliable". We have not yet solved the centralization issue, so nomadic identity will invariably lead to more centralization that is already problematic. My estimates are fedi is 70% centralized (not considering Theats which i don't consider part of the open web, nor fediverse) (see also #fedipact and the license of the #fediverseemoji i use). Nomadic identity is therefore, at this stage, a double edge sword.... a classic case of "be careful what u wish for, lest it come true".

As a result, i have a slightly different set of priorities for #resilience. Once existing i2p functions are seen to work effectively (low-hanging fruit.... we could verify this in a week or so) i'd like to focus on Decentralized Content Nodes (#DCN).

DCN

DCN is about individual fedizens helping their instance stay online in the first place, by offering to serve the media (ie, images and video) in posts that they produce, Like, React, and Boost. I'm confident that a fork of the #IPFS browser addon, can make this an easy process for a fedizen to setup, guiding them to install/configure i2p correctly, and if they want to also serve content to others, guide them to also install the DCN on their particular linux distro.

CONS: (but remember these are purely optional downsides for ppl who choose to help their instance)

- likely requires an addon
- minor unreliability (i2p connections may not work on first attempt (an easy way to re-try load will be important)
- a bit of latency (2.5 seconds if a connection is not established, otherwise is effectively instant, established connections last for 12 mins). Lag only affects media above-the-fold, content below can take as long as it likes to load, as long as it loads before the viewer scrolls down.
- slightly slower load speeds (i2p gets to 200kbps speeds on average)

so yeah is great that you are interested in mitra

i think because mitra suppots i2p, is best placed to fix fediverse's urgent centralization, privacy, freedom and reliability problems.... happy exploring.

silverpill

@frogzone

>We have not yet solved the centralization issue, so nomadic identity will invariably lead to more centralization that is already problematic.

Nomadic identity doesn't lead to more centralization. If anything, it may encourage people to migrate to smaller servers because server reliability becomes less of an issue.

@r @nimda @erlend

find you on :butterfedy1: fediverse

@silverpill @nimda @r @erlend > it may encourage people to migrate to smaller servers

That sounds like a be a big "may" to me. The only time someone will tolerate repeated service outages is when they are self-hosting. Maybe we need to investigate what push and pull factors exist for instance migration, but on the balance of probabilities if a service is working the propensity to move will be low. You may be right, in that if the friction is SO low to change instances then people will hop at the first hint of concern, but i think 85% of ppl will stay where they land, especially if their handle (ie. @name@instance) changes with each move.

tell me if i'm wrong about something tho.

silverpill

@frogzone

>That sounds like a be a big "may" to me.

Yes, but still, there is no reason to believe that nomadic identity leads to more centralization (if we're talking about mitra and FEPs it implements)

@r @nimda @erlend

Erlend Sogge Heggen

@silverpill does Mitra support OIDC logins?

In order to facilitate seamless login into a Mitra instance via Weird-app, Mitra needs to support logins via Rauthy (OIDC backend of Weird): https://github.com/sebadob/rauthy

silverpill

@erlend No, Mitra doesn't support OIDC logins. This option could be added, but I am not sure if it really makes sense.
Nomadic identity provides SSO too, perhaps it would be better to explore that possibility

silverpill

@erlend If Leaf protocol uses keypairs for identity, then it should be possible to use that identity directly, without OIDC bridge