customdesigned @customdesigned@qoto.org
- Matrix
- @stuart:gathman.org
- Homepage
- https://gathman.org
Joined Aug 2020
@Maximus It wasn't clear what features it added over and above Matrix protocol.
@Maximus If you mean https://www.getsession.org/blog/session-protocol-technical-information - is that now something that can be federated?
@derek Makes sense. The beauty of SSB (and usenet) is that such distribution is distributed and built in. But then you don't have a direct follower count.
@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).
@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.
@derek Hardware for who? The server with the account of the content provider? Or the servers of all the followers? (That is the problem with Matrix and many room members.)
Having not hosted activityPub servers, I don't know the limitations. Could a Mastodon account potentially be followed by millions? Could they be counted?
I am trying to work out the strengths and weaknesses of messaging platforms from fully decentralized to federated to centralized. I am only a user on Mastodon/activitypub and IRC, but I have in the past hosted usenet and currently host:
smtp (email)
XMPP
Matrix
SSB (Secure ScuttleButt)
SIP (fully decentralized)
The impressive feature of twitter and it's totalitarian centralized ilk is that a single id can have millions of followers - and know that. SSB supports unlimited secure (signed) broadcasting, but there is no mechanism for knowing how many followers there are. Of course, TV was in the same boat, and you could get an estimate by polling. BBC broadcasts on SSB.
Counting followers is essential for monetizing content via advertising and sponsors in a decentralized manner - i.e. not subject to cancellation at a whim by a global centralized platform.
Matrix seems ideal for many of the purposes people use Teams or Substack or Slack. Private conversations e2e encrypted, logging with controlled retention (HIPPA compliant), voice and video calls, voice and video conferencing, media. But performance of small personal servers drops with number of participants in a room - I don't think it can support a million followers.
XMPP has inconsistent state for multiple devices, and is terrible at group chats. I do use it a backup for matrix and for voice/video calls. Open XMPP clients supporting VOIP and IPv6 are easier to find than SIP clients. (And SIP is even worse at state for multiple devices.)
Usenet has no authentication (not worth tacking on GPG header schemes).
Email is not designed to be "instant" (as in IM), but can be coaxed into resembling that by clients such as DeltaChat.
Ok, so now I should make a feature matrix (which includes Matrix), but have I missed any open and federated/decentralized protocols? Any other features? Current feature list:
broadcast (million+ followers)
follower count
p2p voice/video
e2e encryption
authentication
federated
decentralized (or federated that can be practically fully decentralized, like SMTP)
Did I miss any?
On Timcast (Rumble/Youtube), twice a panelist has stated "no point in using mastodon and activitypub because mastodon.org can cancel you anytime they want.
This seems like they missed the whole of federation. I traced packets while logging into qoto.org - and didn't spot anything from my network touching mastodon.org.
But maybe qoto.org and and other servers delegate to mastodon.org for login? I can' think of a good reason for that - but before I go on a rant I'm asking if there is any basis to the rumor.
Obviously, if you (foolishly) make your mastodon account on mastodon.org - the operators can cancel you (as they should be able to). I don't think people - even talk show hosts - understand what federation is.
@CHADYbara Is that your pet capybara?
customdesigned
boosted
Fact check: Other animals use capybaras as furniture. :chadybara:
customdesigned
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Fact check: The scientific name for capybara comes from Hydro chaeris, which means "water hog" in Greek. :chadybara:
customdesigned
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customdesigned
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🇳🇱
Interesting fact of the day: The same effect that cuased light in a prism to split up into different colors is what ultimately caused the first transatlantic telegraphic wire in 1858 to fail.
Morse code is transmitted as on-off signals, effectively square waves. Square waves are in fact made up of many different frequencies. Like in a prism different frequencies move at different speeds through a wire. Therefore as the on-off pulses traveled through the transatlantic telegraph wire the signal spread out like it does in a prism and ultimately the pulses would overlap and be indistinguishable.
The effect was so extreme that it took a message of only 98 words (the first message sent) over 67 minutes to send one way and a whopping 16 hours to confirm the message.
Whitehouse, a doctor with little mathematical understanding, thought he could solve the problem by increasing voltage, which we now know was a futile effort. He increased the voltage to the point he managed to short out the cable entirely and made it useless. However Lord Kelvin had already warned of the problem as was ignored and he came up with the law of squares to describe the problem which later was refined to give us the telegraphers equation. The telegraphers equation is still used today to model feedlines in radio transmitters and receivers.
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So I setup a list of maybe 30 highly active matrix rooms organized into Matrix Spaces on the QOTO Matrix server (though you can access them from any spaces enabled matrix server).
Just login to your existing matrix account on any server, or register for a free one at https://element.qoto.org (registration open to everyone). Then join any of the following spaces (make sure you turn on spaces in your config under labs first).
Please let me know if you have any rooms you'd like to suggest to be added to any of the below spaces. Also, feel free to create your own space and share it.
#QOTO_space:qoto.org - Rooms related to QOTO itself
#Fediverse_space:qoto.org - Various rooms from matrix servers that have a fediverse hosted as part of the same community.
#STEM_space:qoto.org - A collection of general topic STEM rooms like Electronics, Physics, Math, etc.
#Regional_space:qoto.org - Rooms specific to Countries, towns or regions around the world.
#Projects_space:qoto.org - Channels for various open-source projects
#linux-distros_space:qoto.org - Rooms for various linux distribtuion flavors.
"... as long as it is reversed at a later point once markets recover then it does far more good than bad."
And that is the crux of the problem. As admitted later on, QE is only needed in the first place due to govt corruption (as market interference other than imports is not a lawful federal power), and it is wishful thinking to imagine that QE will be walked back later.
- Matrix
- @stuart:gathman.org
- Homepage
- https://gathman.org
Joined Aug 2020
