Post by @stefano

Stefano Marinelli - littleFedi
@stefano
Public Blog en edited

Hi everyone, I'm Stefano

Also known as the BSD Cafe and illumos Cafe barista - @stefano@bsd.cafe and @stefano@illumos.cafe

This is the first post from littleOne (littleone.littlefedi.social), the first littleFedi instance open to outside users.

littleFedi is a new ActivityPub server, still in active development, written in Go and shipped as a single binary. It speaks standard ActivityPub, so it federates normally with Mastodon, snac, GoToSocial, Akkoma and the rest of the fediverse, and it exposes a Mastodon-compatible API, so most existing apps already work with it.

A few things about it that aren't the usual fediverse defaults:

  • Catch-up instead of an algorithm. Timelines stay chronological, full stop. There's a separate /catchup page, visited on demand, that ranks what you missed using only signals this instance already has locally - who you follow boosted it, replies and favourites delivered here, hashtags you follow. No external popularity data comes in, nothing about what you read is tracked. It answers "what did I miss" without turning into a feed that decides for you.

  • Static blogging built in. Any post can be marked as a blog post and gets published as a plain static page under /@username/blog/, with its own permalink, Atom feed, and no JavaScript or database hit per view, while still being a normal federated post underneath. A proper home for longer writing that doesn't need to compete with a timeline.

  • Self-expiring posts. Any post can be given a timer and auto-delete on its own.

  • Bubble timeline. A middle ground between local and federated: a timeline scoped to a set of instances you've chosen to group together, not just your own or everything.

  • littleMesh. A way to federate without a public domain, certificate, or open port at all - meant for something like a Raspberry Pi behind NAT. Instances get an address derived from an Ed25519 key pair and reach each other through pinned relays that never see plaintext.

  • No trends, no suggestions. These are intentionally left empty. Nothing here is trying to surface "popular" content or keep anyone scrolling longer.

  • Security defaults taken seriously. Signed federation (HTTP Signatures), optional Object Integrity Proofs, TOTP MFA, audit logs, and full account export, migration and deletion if you ever want your data to live somewhere else.

This instance is here to test all of that with real accounts, not just a small group ones'. In the next few days I'll be reaching out to everyone who already told me they were interested, to set the first accounts up - an invite is coming. If you'd rather just follow along and see how it goes, that works too.

It's a test instance, so expect the occasional rough edge. If something breaks or feels wrong, tell me - that's exactly what this phase is for.

#littleFedi #littleOne #Fediverse #Introduction

48 boosts
64 likes
Replying to @stefano
Nigel
@nigel @unsociable.lowkey.party
Public

@stefano @stefano @stefano I am quietly and patiently watching, one day I hope to host my own instance of it ☺️

Replying to @nigel@unsociable.lowkey.party
Stefano Marinelli - littleFedi
@stefano
Public en

@nigel@unsociable.lowkey.party This instance is another step in that direction, which is the release of the code 😉

Replying to @stefano
Mario Sangiorgio
@mario @hachyderm.io
Public

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe does little mesh only work across littleFedi instances or can it federate also with other servers?

Replying to @mario@hachyderm.io
Stefano Marinelli - littleFedi
@stefano
Public en

@mario@hachyderm.io @@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @@stefano@bsd.cafe @@stefano@illumos.cafe they can connect to a gateway (and it can be self hosted) so they can federate with the entire fediverse

Replying to @stefano
fedops 💙💛
@fedops @fosstodon.org
Public edited

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe definitely interested!

I also have a question please: is there RSS support, in general à la Mastodon, but also specifically for the static (blog) posts?

Thanks!

Replying to @fedops@fosstodon.org
Stefano Marinelli - littleFedi
@stefano
Public en

@fedops@fosstodon.org not (yet) for the fediverse feed, but there is for the blog (like: https://littleone.littlefedi.social/@stefano/blog )

Replying to @fedops@fosstodon.org
shom
@shom @gts.shom.dev
Unlisted

@fedops that's what I gathered from that section:

with its own permalink, Atom feed

This would be really nice for a project I have in mind since it solves the problem of a blog with built-in federated post and comments on a single platform while still being able to use the identity as a regular fedi account.

@stefano please add me to the list of interested folks. I see that you intend to release it as MIT license and I'd be interested in self-hosting (currently self-hosting GoToSocial). Cheers and congrats on a cool project!

@stefano @stefano

Replying to @shom@gts.shom.dev
shom
@shom @gts.shom.dev
Unlisted edited

@fedops found the  @user/blog has a traditional blog interface (which does have it's own Atom feed) and is different from the @user?blog=1 interface which is more fedi profile. Interesting stuff. I hope the /blog endpoint has an option to render fedi comments in the future.

@stefano @stefano @stefano

Replying to @shom@gts.shom.dev
fedops 💙💛
@fedops @fosstodon.org
Unlisted edited

@shom oh excellent idea, that would be super useful.

I also like the idea of submitting a toot and retroactively deciding it is worth keeping, then turning it into a blog post (and possibly beautifying it for that purpose). If it has received any followups they would be nice to keep around in the current form as well.
@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe

Replying to @fedops@fosstodon.org
Stefano Marinelli - littleFedi
@stefano
Unlisted en

@fedops@fosstodon.org yes, adding the fediverse posts as comments is planned - there's already a branch supporting it, but there are some bugs and decisions to be taken (for example, should the comments be deleted when deleting the remote posts? And if not, something should be implemented and checked.

Replying to @fedops@fosstodon.org
Stefano Marinelli - littleFedi
@stefano
Public en

@fedops@fosstodon.org do you want an invite code to test it?

Replying to @stefano
fedops 💙💛
@fedops @fosstodon.org
Public

@stefano Hi Stefano, yes please if it's not a hassle. 👍

Replying to @stefano
stand a little out of my sun 🍉
@fiend_unpleasant @mastodon.social
Public

@stefano please add me to list of people interested in playing with this.

Replying to @stefano
Farooq [Master Patata]
@farooqkz @bsd.cafe
Public

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano @stefano@illumos.cafe

Maybe I also write a Fedi instance targeted at tiny machines with Rust or Common Lisp just for the fun of it? :>

Replying to @stefano
Crow
@crow @cville.online
Public

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe Sounds so good that I wish it was bundled with my web host’s cpanel/#Softaculous auto installer!

Replying to @crow@cville.online
Stefano Marinelli
@stefano @bsd.cafe
Public

@crow @stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@illumos.cafe this is so easy to install that will be easily bundled: "littlefedi init" and you're ready 🙂

Replying to @stefano@bsd.cafe
Crow
@crow @cville.online
Public

@stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@illumos.cafe my web host doesn’t give me command line access ☹️

Replying to @crow@cville.online
Stefano Marinelli - littleFedi
@stefano
Public en

@crow@cville.online @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe maybe they'll bundle it, if requested, when it'll be out

Replying to @stefano
Crow
@crow @cville.online
Public

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe Asked a year ago for Mastodon or Lemmy and that was a no go. I wish changing hosts wasn’t such a pain, but also CLI access is usually on a more expensive plan from other hosts.

Replying to @crow@cville.online
Stefano Marinelli - littleFedi
@stefano
Public en

@crow@cville.online @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe Mastodon and Lemmy are more difficult to host. They require a proper database, external dependencies, etc. This will be easier so...fingers crossed! 🤞

Replying to @stefano
Crow
@crow @cville.online
Public

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe I don’t know the first thing about how web apps get added to #softaculous. My host’s offerings basically boil down to WordPress/Drupal/500 FOSS projects no one has heard of.

Replying to @stefano
flo
@fasnix @fe.disroot.org
Public
@stefano
That sounds awesome!
Please add me to a waitlist for the instance to test, if possible :)
Replying to @stefano
flo
@fasnix @fe.disroot.org
Public
@stefano
Thanks in advance!
Replying to @stefano
mosspiglet
@pluvialgeist @camp.smolnet.org
Unlisted

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe I love this idea! I see that an invite code is needed for account creation. I'd appreciate an invite the next time a batch of codes flies out 🙏

Replying to @stefano
Lou.
@gkrnours @mastodon.gamedev.place
Unlisted

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe littlemesh sound interesting

Replying to @stefano
Ariel
@arichtman @eigenmagic.net
Public

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe some very cool features!

Replying to @stefano
Michael Boelen
@mboelen @mastodon.social
Unlisted

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social
What a great idea! Sounds like it has wonderful focus on simplicity 😍 and sustainability (small footprint, doing only the things that really matter) 👌
@stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe

Replying to @stefano
Michael Boelen
@mboelen @mastodon.social
Unlisted

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe Is or will there be a website for the project?

I would love to test things out from the server side and provide feedback on the installation. Most likely you are not there yet to release, but if you want a beta tester on that area, happy to help (and turn it into a nice blog post at the same time).

Replying to @mboelen@mastodon.social
Stefano Marinelli - littleFedi
@stefano
Unlisted en

@mboelen@mastodon.social @stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe Thank you! The website isn't there, yet: https://littlefedi.org

If you want to, I can create an invite code to join this instance. The code will be released, and I hope this will be soon. I'll surely appreciate any help and blog coverage. Thank you!

Replying to @stefano
Michael Boelen
@mboelen @mastodon.social
Unlisted

@stefano@littleone.littlefedi.social
Yes, would love to receive an invite code as well. Testing from all sides 💪
@stefano@bsd.cafe @stefano@illumos.cafe