Correct me if I’m wrong. I read ActivityPub standards and dug a little into lemmy sources to understand how federation works. And I’m a bit disappointed. Every server just has a cache and the ability to fetch something from another known server. So if you start your own instance, there is no profit for the whole network until you have a significant piece of auditory (e.g. private instances or servers with no users). Are there any “balancers” to utilize these empty instances? Should we promote (or create in the first place) a way how to passively help lemmy with such fast growth?

  • Debo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 years ago

    Seems to me that this is the ONLY way that a user (let’s call them creators for the sake of this convo) can guarantee that their efforts are always both protected AND remain available as the creator sees fit.

    If I start my own lemmy server and I’m the ONLY user, it would stand to reason that if I deprecated that server that all of my posts EVERYWHERE would instantly cease to exist (with exception of quoted posts in other’s comments). That gives me 100% of control over MY specific content contribution to this platform. So, if in the future lemmy goes the way of reddit, it’s as simple as us staging a walk-out just like we did to reddit, except NOTHING would show up on reddit anymore.

    Am I missing something here? For true creators, spinning up a cheap server to host is acceptable if not expected if you want any type of control after the “Post” button is pressed.

    • Terrasque@infosec.pubEnglish
      2·
      2 years ago

      If I have understood how lemmy works, the post and comment would be on the instance hosting the community. Your server would just post it to the community’s server on your behalf.

      • Debo@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 years ago

        Right? Imagine having EVERYTHING you EVER contribute online be 100% controlled by YOU and YOU alone. There’s a framework here for a whole host of businesses…

        Imagine just one where a subject matter expert can sell their ‘membership’ to a platform based on the strength of their history with other platforms…. Almost like a paid Wikipedia where the value of the platform is conveyed to the users that created the content. huh, imagine that.