I don't think people are realising the danger the Fediverse is in.
The only thing stopping corporations and VCs taking over this place is that the Fediverse is spread out on many different servers, which makes it very difficult to purchase.
If most of the Fediverse ends up on mastodon.social, which is now a strong possibility, there will be nothing to stop most of it being sold to Musk or Zuckerberg or whoever.
The bigger mastodon.social becomes, the more likely a buyout is to happen.
(1/4)
Here's what Eugen Rochko's Mastodon gGmbH organisation now controls:
-The Mastodon server software & API (though the current version is FOSS)
-The mastodon.social server, which has 1 in 7 of all Fediverse users
-The official Mastodon apps, now telling people to just sign up on mastodon.social
-The official website at joinmastodon.org
-The trademark for the word "mastodon", which lets them dictate terms to any server which uses it
This is a tempting package for any potential buyers.
(2/4)
The trademark alone gives Mastodon gGmbH huge power, it lets them tell any server using the word "mastodon" in its domain name what software or forks it can use.
And it's getting worse. Mastodon gGmbH is now making official apps which direct people to sign up on mastodon.social instead of a random trusted server or choice of trusted servers.
The more people sign up on mastodon.social, the more tempting Mastodon gGmbH becomes as a takeover target.
(3/4)
With all that in mind, here's a suggestion:
*IF* mastodon.social becomes more than 50% of the Fediverse, either by total users or monthly active users, the rest of us should defederate it.
Sticking with mastodon.social because "that's where the people are" is pointless. Centralised growth will simply cause the governance problems we've seen on Twitter and Facebook to be replicated on here.
Growth has to be decentralised in order to protect the independence of all Fedi servers.
(4/4)
@feditips How do I switch servers? How do I find a suitable server for me?
@Crookedlilhouse @feditips
After a quick google search, here is a step-by-step guide on how to switch servers: https://nerdschalk.com/change-or-switch-servers-on-mastodon-step-by-step-guide/
If you want to find a server, https://instances.social has basically all of them, and at https://wehavecookies.social we always welcome new users.
@BentiGorlich @Crookedlilhouse @feditips thank you. I am trying to find one that I can move to. I hope I will able to keep all my friends
@kcsorenby @Crookedlilhouse @feditips
As far as I know it should work realatively flawlessly. You should keep all your followers and follows. The only thing thats definatly lost are your posts. They will not move
@BentiGorlich @Crookedlilhouse @feditips so crazy question .., but is there no way to save them somewhere?
@kcsorenby @Crookedlilhouse @feditips
Well, they remain on your old account if you don't delete it
@kcsorenby @BentiGorlich @Crookedlilhouse @feditips are you trying to move from mstdn.social? its a separate server than mastodon.social and administrated by a completely independent team afaik, so i think youre okay if thats the intention.
@edendestroyer @BentiGorlich @Crookedlilhouse @feditips I’m thinking calckey.social.. stranger.social or toots.nu.. suggestion ?
@kcsorenby @BentiGorlich @Crookedlilhouse @feditips Calckey.social is cool, ive communicated with the peeps who moderate it in the past, theyre cool.
@edendestroyer @BentiGorlich @Crookedlilhouse @feditips ok .. thanks.. and I can transfer my friends to there?
@kcsorenby @BentiGorlich @Crookedlilhouse @feditips
It does seem to have a transfer account option, but i havent tried it yet.
@kainoa might be able to guide you better given that they are the developer of calckey.
@edendestroyer @BentiGorlich @Crookedlilhouse @feditips @kainoa ok.. I will try and ask your friend tomorrow then..so I get assistance.
@kcsorenby@mstdn.social @edendestroyer@masto.ai @BentiGorlich@wehavecookies.social @Crookedlilhouse@mastodon.social @feditips@mstdn.social yep, you can transfer your account and bring your followers over. It's the same as migrating a masto account.
@kainoa @feditips @edendestroyer @Crookedlilhouse @BentiGorlich ahh there u are!? ok.. awesome! So .. I will transfer over tomorrow. If I have any problem , I hope I can ask you?
@kainoa @feditips @edendestroyer @Crookedlilhouse @BentiGorlich well.. it’s me againit appears like my sign up did not work.. I was sent verification to my email and pressed got it.. now it’s all just says processing.. and is a frozen screen
@kcsorenby@mstdn.social @feditips@mstdn.social @edendestroyer@masto.ai @Crookedlilhouse@mastodon.social @BentiGorlich@wehavecookies.social weird... can you try clicking on the email again?
@kainoa @feditips @edendestroyer @Crookedlilhouse @BentiGorlich just tried it and it says unexpected token c could not is not valid
@kcsorenby@mstdn.social @feditips@mstdn.social @edendestroyer@masto.ai @Crookedlilhouse@mastodon.social @BentiGorlich@wehavecookies.social oh that's weird, I haven't seen that before... what username did you register it under?
@kcsorenby@mstdn.social @feditips@mstdn.social @edendestroyer@masto.ai @Crookedlilhouse@mastodon.social @BentiGorlich@wehavecookies.social yeah, for whatever reason your account is just showing as invalid in the database, probably a weird glitch... can you try registering with a different username? (if you want to use the same email, just add a +1 to the end of the name, i.e. myself+1@gmail.com)
@kainoa @feditips @edendestroyer @Crookedlilhouse @BentiGorlich ok .. I will try
@kainoa @feditips @edendestroyer @Crookedlilhouse @BentiGorlich tried. It shows the same text .
@kainoa @feditips @edendestroyer @Crookedlilhouse @BentiGorlich I did it! I created a new email and all! thank u
@kainoa @feditips @edendestroyer @Crookedlilhouse @BentiGorlich I got in when I created a new email and name.. yep.. I’m just setting it up and then I will try to transport my friends over from Mastodon..
@kainoa @feditips @edendestroyer @Crookedlilhouse @BentiGorlich I have tried 3 times
@kcsorenby@mstdn.social @feditips@mstdn.social @edendestroyer@masto.ai @Crookedlilhouse@mastodon.social @BentiGorlich@wehavecookies.social 3 times with the same username or different usernames each time?