I can't believe clicking on a link to a post on another #fediverse instance from within my fediverse instance opens the link in a new tab instead of opening the post in my instance. Especially when both are #Mastodon, which should be quite mature by now, right? I am grateful for the work the devs does, and I regret that I can not help, but this seems like something that should've been worked out a long time ago if we want people to like federation? Right? Am I crazy?
@FinchHaven Phanpy runs in the web browser, so I'm not sure why you're saying browser vs Phanpy. Browser + standard/default Mastodon installation ootb vs browser + Phanpy would be more correct. Sorry if I used the wrong terminology, "why can't the standard/default Mastodon installation/UI/UX ootb (I'm sure you understand what I'm talking about even if I don't know the correct word for it) do it?", is that better?
@tykayn Don't we have like WebFinger or something to let each instance know about eachother? I don't really know anything about this stuff, but I can do a search for the URL of a post in Mastodon and the post shows up instantly! So it seems very strange that it should be any harder when clicking it. And alternative Masto web apps out there, like Phanpy, can already do this. So it's a solved problem by projects that are much younger and less financed than Mastodon.
@forteller agreed that would be great, but to do this you need a way to know that the URL is effectivly a fediverse instance and ask the Web page to search for this URL instead of letting the usual behavior of the Browser do its thing.
that would be helpful to ease the use of non local things and render things like really compatible, indeed. it could be a cool behavior to have by default, and an option to disable in settings if we want.
you can discuss it on the discord (arf) or the github issues (Hum). i wish discussions on libre software were made in fucking open places, with a simple way to give feedback, but here we are.
@FinchHaven How is Phanpy a browser add-on? Phanpy runs in the browser the exact same way as mastodon.social or any other instance runs in the browser. Just point your browser to the URL, you don't have to do or install anything extra.
So it's more like asking why can't this model engine installed in this car take me anywhere when this other model engine installed in the exact same car can, when I know both engines runs fine and they are both installed correctly in the same car.
Final call, because yes, you don't understand this
""why can't the standard/default Mastodon installation/UI/UX ootb ... do it?", is that better?"
The standard "standard/default Mastodon installation/UI/UX" is a software distribution
It does *not* render itself
It must be rendered through some sort of user interface, whether that's a web browser (Firefox) a web browser add-on (Phanpy) or an independent app, most likely running on a phone
To make a poor example, it's like asking "why can't my single-overhead cam 2.0 liter gas engine take me anywhere"?
Because it has to be installed in an "app" -- in this case, a car
@FinchHaven I've never heard a website being described as a browser add-on before. Until now I thought browser add-ons are the things you install from like https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ and the Chrome equivalent.
Could you give me an example of another website that is a browser add-on? And is there any way to distinguish them from just regular, old websites? It seems I've missed out on something crucial, and I'm sorry for having caused you any distress on account of that.