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1. Embed this notice
   Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 13:22:28 JST Evan Prodromou

   I just sent the final proofs of the #ActivityPub book to the editors at O'Reilly.

   I'm done; with this part, at least.

   I am not sure what I'm going to do with all that surplus time. I should probably start a huge new project!

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 13:24:14 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     I turned in my manuscript at the end of May; we've done 5 rounds of edits since then. Making books is hard!

     https://evanp.me/2024/06/03/i-turned-in-my-manuscript/

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 13:26:18 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     You can still read the pre-release version on O'Reilly Learning Platform for free with a 10-day trial of the service. I don't know how much longer that deal is going to be around.

     https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/activitypub/9781098162733/

   • Embed this notice
     everton137 (everton137@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 20:55:46 JST everton137

     in reply to

     @evan congrats! Just a curiosity, is there a comparison with other protocols trying to create an interoperable web? I'm trying to understand why AT Protocol was created. I still need to read some references some people shared here.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 20:55:46 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 it was created because Jack Dorsey thought they could spin out a business with a protocol as a product. They would connect big social networks, using the Twitter user and content base as an enticement. Those networks would pay BS to develop and maintain the pipes connecting servers.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 20:57:27 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 using an existing open standard wouldn't work for this business model, because those big social networks could connect without paying anything to BS. They needed to make a new, incompatible protocol that other businesses had to pay for.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:00:13 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 Twitter gave them $13M, and they raised another $8M. They've squandered that money developing their proprietary protocol. They're losing: we're getting more and more implementers supporting ActivityPub. They're going to go out of business, and then ATProto will disappear.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:02:24 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 my knowledge of this is firsthand. I talked with Parag, then CTO of Twitter, about it when BS first started. He laid out the entire business plan for me. I was part of the BS community that discussed different protocols to use.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:03:15 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 anyone who tells you that the BS protocol was developed for technical reasons is a liar. If they work for BS, you have a good idea why.

   • Embed this notice
     everton137 (everton137@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:06:24 JST everton137

     in reply to

     @evan got it. Thank you for sharing!

     Just one point, isn't AT Protocol open source?

     #atprotocol #activitypub #OpenSource #BigTech

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:06:24 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 I'm not here to provide BS technical support for you.

     Parts of the BS stack are Open Source. The protocol is not an open standard. There is no guarantee that if you make your own implementation with different source code, you will not be subject to patent or other IP liability.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:08:56 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 you asked why the BS protocol exists. I just explained the why.

     Once Elon Musk bought Twitter, the BS company's deal to federate Twitter first fell through. So they've been in zombie mode for the last couple of years; their original reason for existing is gone, but they had a big pile of money, and they didn't want to give it back to Twitter. So they kept it and kept going.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:10:43 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 their big advantage over ActivityPub is a unified stack. There's one client, one server, and one user experience. Signing up for BS is just like signing up for a really faithful Twitter clone.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:13:01 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 when they run out of money, the company will fold. The intellectual property assets, like ATProto, will be sold to various bottomfeeder companies, who will try to make use of them by doing patent lawsuits.

     Anyone building anything on top of ATProto would be really smart to consider what they're getting out of the process.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:14:19 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 if you really want to reach the BlueSky community, do it through the safety of the BridgyFed bridge. Develop for ActivityPub, and let BlueSky users reach your product through the bridge.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:15:03 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 I've already written about BlueSky and what a dangerous distraction it is.

   • Embed this notice
     everton137 (everton137@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:15:04 JST everton137

     in reply to

     @evan your points shared here deserve an article. :mastogrin:

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:19:47 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 the one good part about BlueSky is that it's challenged us to do better with ActivityPub. They pointed out that AP's data portability isn't great; we're making a new extension, LOLA, that makes moving between servers a breeze.

     https://swicg.github.io/activitypub-data-portability/lola

   • Embed this notice
     everton137 (everton137@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:19:48 JST everton137

     in reply to

     @evan yes, that was my question. Your explanation is clear. And you raised important points the general public doesn't know. Again, thanks for sharing.

     If I'm reading arguments from developers comparing both protocols, I think it's fair enough to ask. I hope more people can be aware of it. It's easy to follow the trend established by those with money.

     Cadu Silva :verified: repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:22:03 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 the reason we are moving faster and doing better work on ActivityPub is variety. There are 100+ implementations of ActivityPub on the fediverse right now. Hundreds of developers making cool new clients and servers. Dozens who are defining extensions and building specs. It's a really lively period.

   • Embed this notice
     everton137 (everton137@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:24:48 JST everton137

     in reply to

     @evan is it somewhere I could read and share?

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:24:48 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137

     https://prodromou.pub/@evan/110045336289311841

     http://evanp.me/2023/10/06/activitypub-the-socialcg-and-the-social-web/

   • Embed this notice
     John Francis (johnefrancis@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:37:51 JST John Francis

     in reply to

     @evan how about something that facilitates customer-side cooperative association to counter enshittification and monopoly? Generalized and dynamic global disintermedition between producers and consumers.

     Should keep you busy a while.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 21:37:51 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • John Francis

     @johnefrancis I was joking. I already have too many projects.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 22:46:19 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 I've got a lot going on over the next few weeks, but I'm going to try to find time to write an explainer about BlueSky. I agree, we probably need some better guidance out there. I don't really want to give them any oxygen or attention, but I'd rather have this stuff clear.

   • Embed this notice
     everton137 (everton137@social.vivaldi.net)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 23:40:16 JST everton137

     in reply to

     @evan I'm quite disappointed to see so many Brazilians migrating to Bluesky. But I don't blame them. I see the logic to be where the crowd is if you don't know the importance of points you raised.

     Unfortunately it appears only a few people, as compared to the big tech social media, are aware of it.

     It was more disappointing to see people continuing to use x tho.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Sep-2024 23:40:16 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @everton137 Absolutely. You saw that we have had 2M new users since August on the Fediverse, right?

     https://fedidb.org/

     We're seeing a lot of growth here.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 19-Sep-2024 08:51:24 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • bryan newbold
     • everton137

     @bnewbold @everton137

     Hey, Bryan. I like that BlueSky, the social network, is an active part of the Fediverse through BridgyFed.

   • Embed this notice
     bryan newbold (bnewbold@social.coop)'s status on Thursday, 19-Sep-2024 08:51:25 JST bryan newbold

     in reply to

     • everton137

     @evan @everton137 bummed that you have such a negative public take on atproto and Bluesky and see it as antagonistic and "dangerous".

     I have a huge respect for ActivityPub and the folks involved, including you. I think we are all working towards the same goals, there is no final word on protocols/architecture/governance/regulation in this space, and that there is a lot of room for collaboration.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Thursday, 19-Sep-2024 11:19:39 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • bryan newbold
     • everton137

     @bnewbold @everton137 I moderated some of the language in this thread.