@deadsuperhero thanks for the kind words. I put in the time on ActivityPub because I want us to have a great Social Web. I believe that the Social Web will be healthier and more resilient if it's based on open standards. This how most Internet protocols work.
@deadsuperhero that message really gets under your skin; I don't know why. You keep saying that it is alienating people; I have not seen that happen. I've been able to make this case to implementers pretty well. I think people find it a lot simpler to have one protocol to implement that comes from an organization they trust.
@deadsuperhero if you think there's a better way to talk about other protocols, which will result in more ActivityPub implementations and users, I'm all ears.
It's simply untrue that ActivityPub is unmaintained. We handle reports of errors with errata and an editor's draft. The CG published reports on profiles for Webfinger and HTTP Signature this year, and we have task forces for forums, E2EE, data portability, trust and safety, and discovery open now.
We also have the FEP system for building new extensions, and a process for incorporating extensions into the main context.
@evan@deadsuperhero One alternative.. talk about how the problems with #ActivityPub will be addressed in a reasonable time frame given it’s not actively maintained and the evolution of it is “closed” (tightly controlled by the W3C). I think this would be more effective for attracting developers than FUD and misinformation about other protocols and attacks on those with more inclusive perspectives. That strategy doesn’t help ActivityPub, in either the short or the long term.
@steve@deadsuperhero finally, the CG is working to create a charter for a new working group to develop a backwards-compatible, 1.1 version of the spec. We'll have a discussion about it at tomorrow's meeting, which you should definitely attend!
@steve@deadsuperhero why do you think it's misinformation to point out that Bluesky is a venture-funded startup and that ActivityPub is an open standard from a recognized standards body? Those are straight-up facts.
It's also true that we need to be careful with patents on protocols from private companies. Even when developers have the best intentions, investors often try to squeeze value out of the company with patents. One of the benefits of open standards orgs is patent protection.
@steve@deadsuperhero You should check with the Bluesky team and their investors on their multiprotocol strategy. Do they really envision a future in which Bluesky is a small part of a larger Social Web, connected through bridges? Or is the point to be the *only* distributed social networking protocol? I don't see why investors would put $36M into the second- or third-place no-strings-attached open protocol, but maybe you've got a different set of experiences of venture capital than I do.
@evan@deadsuperhero The "simple truth" is that no changes have been made to the AP Rec since 2018 despite numerous bug reports and extensive community feedback. There's currently no W3C group with the authority to make any changes. For at least those reasons, I think it's fair to say it's currently unmaintained. I know there has been some talk about chartering a WG to do a minor update. 🤞 FEPs are not W3C, are not AP-specific and are a separate, informal process. But, of course, you know that.