@customdesigned@qoto.org if you were to self host activity pub I wouldn’t use mastodon unless you plan to spend and have lots of users. It doesn’t work for small scale. As for this specific Que, honestly not sure, what’s gargons follow count?

@customdesigned
Iirc, activity0ub requires the server to "accept" and store the followers' info(inbox and such) so when you make a post their server would get notified about it(allowing for both notifications and simply to know if there is a post to pull)

@orcmid HTTP doesn't scale - without applying abominations like Content Distribution Networks - which greatly diminish confidence in authentication (private keys distributed to CDN servers).

Further, HTTPS authentication for Joe Sixpack is accomplished by using the TLS cabal - which can cancel you at a whim (and has done so). ICANN can also cancel domains at whim (part of the agreement for official TLDs).

Yes, you can run your own CA, your own TLD, and this works very nicely, and we have done it for a private Matrix homeserver. But unless you know Joe personally, he is not going to be installing your CA and DNS resolver for his browser.

@orcmid A long term goal is get EVERYONE to run their own DNS resolver. Or at least use a trusted geek's resolver. Like everyone did before using ICANN became widespread. DNS is *supposed* to be federated. Using ISP resolvers is a huge problem, even if you aren't concerned about centralization.

If that were accomplished, then it would be easier to convince people to add just your TLD - it wouldn't interfere with anything else (except someone else's TLD with the same name - in which case they have to choose).

@customdesigned Wow. I am not so disturbed by HTTP[S] and I'm using Mastodon in my browser this minute. Something like a feed reader could work assuming the Mastodon APIs are supportive, whether or not it is literally RSS/Atom. I don't quite know how the endstate you aspire to is going to be consumer and casual-user friendly.

@orcmid There is nothing wrong with HTTP - it just doesn't scale. Your Dell server in your office is not going to support a million people viewing your site.

There is nothing wrong with TLS - it just that a secret cabal decides what CAs are included by default in popular browsers - wielding an effective power to cancel.

There is nother wrong with DNS are originally conceived - it has just been centralized because companies were mad that using a new "cool" TLD wasn't resolved by all users (depending on the sysadmin for their DNS resolver). There were the original ARPA TLD list, and ISO country codes that everyone agreed on. (With some disputes over nations out of favor - e.g. Kurds today banned by ICANN.) But using .COM for your company was BORING.

But mainly, ICANN was sold to sysadmins as a convenience - no more following mailing lists and keeping nameservers updated for the TLDs you support. ICANN does all that work for you! All they ask in return is world domination.

There are attempts to provide a successor to HTTP that scales. E.g. IPFS, DAT, and other content addressable schemes. Note that CDN providers work similarly to IPFS, and their business model continues to hold if IPFS gets widespread adoption. (Pay us to ensure your content is cached close to your customers - instead of relying on amateurs who may or may not be reinstalling their server at the moment or turning their desktop off.)

@customdesigned This all hinges on the assumption that I would want to run a server in my computing locality. I understand your perspective for that situation. It's not a problem I intend to have.

@Maximus If you mean https://www.getsession.org/blog/session-protocol-technical-information - is that now something that can be federated?

@Maximus It wasn't clear what features it added over and above Matrix protocol.

@Maximus How do you see what a toot is in reply to on mastodon?

@Maximus I found what toot you were replying to - but it still isn't clear what "it" is referring to in "No but it's better".

@Marvin You have to talk about a specific client for that criticism. It works great for me. I mostly use self-hosted element web. None of the people I talk to have any issues. There was some confusion with FluffyChat, but quickly adapted to.

@davoloid Agreed. And that is a big weakness of SSB - it doesn't have the selection of robust clients like Matrix does.

@engelbart They are kept indefinitely. But you can set a retention limit on matrix-synapse - or as a user post a tombstone on a room pointing to a new, fresh one.

@customdesigned so, I'd say matrix sucks on this.

But I still love matrix for other features.

@engelbart What is "this" you don't like? That comments don't disappear unless you take steps? Or that comments can disappear eventually?

@customdesigned that I can't set retention period for my messages.

@engelbart Oh, but you can.

@customdesigned how?

@engelbart https://matrix-org.github.io/synapse/latest/message_retention_policies.html

@engelbart Of course, once something is out on the internet you can never be sure all copies are deleted. Standard Matrix homeservers follow delete/retention requests - but the code is open, and NSA homeservers would just archive them instead. 😜

@engelbart And of course, when facebook, et al, "delete" on your request, it is still on their backups.

@customdesigned seems not to be accessible on my homeserver

@engelbart What do you mean exactly? Are you trying to DM me? On what server?

@customdesigned Do you know what is a homeserver in Matrix?

@engelbart It's like a mastodon/chatter/pleroma/etc server but for Matrix protocol instead of ActivityPub protocol.

Protocol website at https://matrix.org, one list of homeservers at https://joinmatrix.org

@customdesigned Yes. My homeserver is matrix.org. And as I can see it doesn't support retention for the messages.
So I can't specify auto-delete timer in my groups/chats.

@engelbart Yes, you need to run your own homeserver. Synapse only lets the admin configure retention policy.

@customdesigned what do you think of dendrite?

@engelbart Much smaller footprint than synapse. Passes more and more of test suite with each release. I will deploy a test as soon as I get it built for Fedora. (According to Fedora packing standards - offline, repeatable build.)

@engelbart Oh - are you saying you can't reach github.io ?