Elena Rossini ⁂
Lately I have been thinking a lot about the issue of #Fediverse sustainability.
Thank you @stefan for writing a superb article about this topic! (for reference: https://stefanbohacek.com/blog/the-ways-we-keep-the-fediverse-sustainable/)
A question for #FediAdmins: in addition to regular donations, is it a recommended thing to set one's posts to auto-delete (after a specified time) to keep server costs down?
I'm thinking of setting my toots to auto-delete after 2 weeks for this very reason...
CartyBoston
@_elena @stefan On my instance by far the largest space consumer is cached media files attached to posts.
If you reduce the time media is cached and someone needs it, it's simply refetched.
If you do one thing that should be it, the posts themselves are tiny.
𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒚 𝑺𝒏𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒔 🌨
@_elena I'm interested to read the admin responses here. I auto delete my posts both so I can be polite about storage, and also for the privacy benefits.
Storage and upkeep are the main reasons I never considered self-hosting my own masto, even though I often do with other services.
My personal policy is that anything I want to endure should be on my blog.
Dentaku (Thomas Renger)
@_elena @z428 I run a small Mastodon instance since 2018, there are some 300 accounts on it, and some may have set their posts to auto delete. If I take a look at the media storage:
:~$ bin/tootctl media usage
Attachments: 110 GB (19,7 GB local)
Custom emoji: 2,31 GB (392 KB local)
Preview cards: 7,57 GB
Avatars: 4,39 GB (17,7 MB local)
Headers: 10,7 GB (41,7 MB local)
Backups: 0 Bytes
Imports: 0 Bytes
Settings: 0 Bytes
you can see that local accounts only make up a small part of it.
Alan K Thompson
@_elena Should you decide to go through with auto-delete, please make it for more than two weeks. I get busy, sometimes for a few weeks, and catch up later...
Raphael Lullis
It will be more productive to focus on increasing revenue per user, rather than approaches for penny-pinching.
I hate to be that guy, but I will say it again. The best way to make the Fediverse sustainable is by charging a little bit from everyone that is not willing to run their own instance. Communick would be not only profitable, but a significant contributor to Fediverse projects, with "only" 10k users paying its basic plan of $29/year.
Stefan Bohacek
@_elena Glad you enjoyed the article, thank you for sharing it!
And related to your question, answering it as a user, while my bots were running on the #BotsInSpace server, I did set their posts to autodelete after 2 weeks.
And we now know that running that server became too expensive, in big part due to storage requirements.
https://muffinlabs.com/posts/2024/10/29/10-29-rip-botsin-space/
So definitely something worth doing!
Raphael Lullis
First we make it sustainable, then we can make it universal.
Once I had a guaranteed income from the paying users, I could implement a "pay-it-forward" system where users can contribute on top of their contract, and use these funds to support "free" accounts.
There is also plenty of space for community leaders interesting in support specific groups to run their own servers, and make it free or invite-based.
Stefan Bohacek
@raphael @_elena I think it's fair to ask folks to pay, but we're still going to need free servers (or at least reasonably limited free accounts) for people who don't have the means, to keep social media diverse and not to exclude marginalized voices.
Alan K Thompson
@_elena Thanks!
Raphael Lullis
Communick already has the idea of "group subscriptions", i.e, you can subscribe for a package of 5 accounts for $119/year. The one signing up can then invite who they want.
Perhaps I can work out something where the one buying into such a package can leave the spots open?
Stefan Bohacek
@_elena I remember you mentioning this, and I love it!
Some sort of a "gift subscription" that you can pay for when you invite someone.
My camera shoots fascists
Not an admin, but apropos the question, someone pointed out that by starring/faving your own posts, it will save them if you otherwise have things set to auto delete. (Something I keep meaning to start doing 🙄)
Making this a more widespread practice would be a good compromise for people who want to leave a record of their more interesting material but don't need all of it stored indefinitely.
Raphael Lullis
So, I started playing with the concept. It would be reasonably straightforward to add a contract package that has no active account, until someone else comes to claim it.
I am however not too excited about the idea of *anyone* being able to sign up to the website and take that account. There needs to be some type of vetting in place.
How about a system where users who are not ready/willing/able to pay can ask for a spot from those who have a group subscription?
Stefan Bohacek
@raphael @_elena I like that idea! If you end up doing this, definitely let me know how it went!
Raphael Lullis
Well, with an invite system I already have it in place... :)
Take a look at the bottom of https://communick.com/packages
Stefan Bohacek
@raphael Yeah, I figured this would include some kind of an invite system, definitely makes sense.
Raphael Lullis
I think this can still be improved, maybe a system where those who purchase the group package can put the free spots to be listed on the site, and add a way for users to just "apply" to it.
But more than anything, I need people who are willing to put their money where their mouths are. There is nothing stopping people to purchase those packages and offering to their friends or other social networks. It would also help quite a bit to solve the onboarding issues.
Stefan Bohacek
@raphael @_elena Ah, well it sounds like you're all set then!
Leah Price
@_elena @Mikal would you be willing to tell me what tool you used to archive? Thanks!
GNU social JP is a social network, courtesy of GNU social JP管理人. It runs on GNU social, version 2.0.2-dev, available under the GNU Affero General Public License.
All GNU social JP content and data are available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license.