So much about ActivityPub being a W3C design

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Duothematic channel. Primary topic is virtual worlds/OpenSim, secondary topic is the Fediverse beyond Mastodon. Follow me from Mastodon or anywhere else in the Fediverse.

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Homepage:: https://hub.netzgemeinde.eu/profile/jupiter_rowland

So much about ActivityPub being a W3C design

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 20:26:29 +0200 zuletzt bearbeitet: Wed, 06 Sep 2023 20:26:20 +0200

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

Basically, everything in the #Fediverse that's based on #ActivityPub is built against #Mastodon. Because Mastodon defines the ActivityPub spec all alone.

Says the man who has created more federated protocols - #DFRN, #Zot, #Nomad - and Fediverse projects than anyone else and invented #NomadicIdentity.

Mike Macgirvin schrieb den folgenden Beitrag Tue, 05 Sep 2023 22:28:16 +0200

I provided my input to the AP spec editor and it was rejected outright. Everything I provided to the ActivityPub editor was rejected outright. If there were any questions, it had to go through the Mastodon dictator, who rejected anything he didn't invent. And then the ActivityPub editor would likewise reject it. "Mastodon has millions of users, you don't".

That's the way the process works.

The major concern was that nomadic identity is hard, and the clock was ticking on when the spec had to be finalised. The ActivityPub editor also insisted that it be done using the draft digital identity spec. So that ensured it would never make it into ActivityPub.

Here we are 5-6 years later and they still can't figure out how to do nomadic identity in a decentralised framework (outside of using torrents or centralised resolvers). Meanwhile we've had it, used it, and improved it for well over a decade.

There's a specification in the public domain. Some complain that it isn't enough, but I'm one person in a planet of 8 billion and haven't had any help developing this. The only help I ever get is with bike shed stuff - web interfaces. Not one person has offered any help polishing up the spec or improving the actual implementation code or even offered critique and discussing the subject. Just "I can't use this. Bye." [edit: apologies. That isn't entirely correct. I did get help from one person.]

I've started to pick it up and try again using did's as a proof of concept, but I'm retired now and really can't be bothered dying on the same hill over and over again.

But I will try and update Nomad (the protocol, formerly Zot) to use a did: form. It's just a replacement WebMTA for delivering JSON ActivityStreams which is nomadic aware. There's still no chance of it ever getting into ActivityPub unless it's invented by the Mastodon dictator.

Meanwhile the spec is in the public domain and there are working implementations and it federates with ActivityPub and nobody is holding a gun to anybody's head.

https://codeberg.org/streams/streams

Fediverse

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 22:59:42 +0200 zuletzt bearbeitet: Wed, 06 Sep 2023 22:59:34 +0200

MikeK

mkarliner@mastodon.modern-industry.com

@jupiter_rowland

Can I offer some help?

Wed, 06 Sep 2023 23:16:12 +0200 zuletzt bearbeitet: Wed, 06 Sep 2023 23:16:00 +0200

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@MikeK I don't need any help, and @Mike Macgirvin whose post I've shared* has never needed any either.

*Feature that exists in all #Fediverse projects Mike has ever launched, but not in Mastodon, in case you're confused.

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 06:15:41 +0200

Scott M. Stolz

scott@biztechtonics.net

@MikeK

Can I offer some help?

Mike and Jupiter might not need any help, but I would love some. I have an open source project called Neuhub and my goal is to promote the functionality of nomadic identity (Zot6, Nomad) and remote authentication (OpenWebAuth).

I am building fediverse-enabled apps that are built on top of Hubzilla and Streams, that primarily use Zot6 and OpenWebAuth as their base protocols, with ActivityPub optional. Later we want to add Bluesky (if and when they release it) as an optional add on, so our apps can talk to multiple networks.

Basically, we are taking what Mike, Mario, and others have built, modifying it for specific use cases, and then making it available to specific audiences.

For example, our first project built on this technology is creating a educational/training app that includes courses, community, and their website, all in one app. The community would be fediverse-enabled, of course. I also want to build a personal information manage (PIM) and a communications suite on this platform.

And, all of this will be released open source, since we want to spread the technology.

I know I am being bold, and you don't know who I am, but I figured that it was worth it to ask. Even if others have gotten discouraged with the current status quo, I am taking this on from a very different angle.