so what is this #wafrn thing i keep seeing everywhere

it looked like new regular fedi software at first but i get the bluesky corporate ick from how its marketed, just some other psyop project trying to divide-and-conquer the fediverse

is it actually another good-faith, free software, #ActivityPub #Fediverse software project, or just yet another new attempt at splitting the fediverse? i dont really have the energy right now to dig into it

in reply to ezri the pupy 🐕

Exactly yeah, but there's some hostile software like Threads or Bluesky that nominally "supports" ActivityPub but only really as a way to leverage the Fediverse and its user-base while in reality trying to get everyone to move to their closed-off platform and protocol.

It's the good old Embrace-Extend-Extinguish strategy where they'll embrace existing community-run software, then extend and modify it to the point where the experience for users of all other software is diminished, so they can eventually pull the plug and kill the original project.

Like the Browser Wars where the open and free HTML protocol was abused by browsers to the point where some websites were unusable if you weren't using the "correct" browser.

I am on GoToSocial myself and I like Mastodon, PixelFed, PeerTube and all the other Fediverse-first software. I embrace software diversity in the Fediverse. I just don't like corporations like Bluesky or Instagram trying to cosy up to the Fediverse with their own closed ecosystems in an attempt to fragment it.

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in reply to lia

I created wafrn 4 years ago, conected it to fedi 3 years ago. And conected it to bsky a bit more than a year ago. The bsky conection is optional.

When threads was coming, I wrote some code for making federation per user opt in. Blocked them anyway when “its ok to harrass trans people “ leak of the rules.

Wafrn is a tumblr inspired software, the ui is different to most fedi software

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in reply to lia

Wafrn is actually something different and pretty cool. 😎

It's an app with kind of a retro feel, that talks to both the Fediverse and Bluesky. On the Fedi side it is pretty much like other instances, you join one, just like different Mastodon servers.

On the #Bluesky side #Wafrn is really something different. When Bluesky went down Wafrn didn't skip a beat, because it doesn't use any of the Bluesky infrastructure. Will try a simple description...

-more-

cc:@gabboman

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in reply to Mastodon Migration

AT Proto is kind of tricky to explain, the instances don't do all the work. There is another network 'bookkeeping' service that is required. When people question #Bluesky's claims of being decentralized this is what they are talking about. If this goes down, all Bluesky goes down.

However, there is also an AT Protocol bookkeeping service that is not run by Bluesky. #Wafrn uses this 3rd party service, and does other magic including talking directly to instances for info.

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in reply to ShnoofleBear /ʃnuːfɛlbɛːr/

Kind of, and that is what this 3rd party bookkeeping service sort of is. #Blacksky also has one, although when Bluesky went down, Blacksky still had problems last week. These things are complicated. Probably they will fix this dependency.

The issue with AT Proto federation is not that it is impossible, it is that is difficult and expensive. On the Fedi side anyone can run an independent server. Running an AT Proto independent bookkeeping service is really hard.

in reply to Mastodon Migration

i think wafrn is the perfect demonstration on how things should have gone with the interconnection thing, instead of double consensus.
You just do it and nobody will ask how, or what you are using.

You can't have millions of normal users who have no clue about the technicalities, influence the decision behind the bridge.

people just want to talk

I'd like a sidecar software for my #mastodon server

in reply to lia

@lia Wafrn is fantastic software, and its developer @gabboman the wafrn dev is fantastic, both personally and technologically.

Wafrn isn't the only software that allows you to communicate with the Bluesky world. Friendica also offers the ability to connect to a Bluesky account, enabling even greater capabilities than other Bluesky clients. Similarly, bridgy.fed has allowed all fediverse users to connect to the Bluesky world via a bridge.

But Wafrn has taken a quantum leap: when you install a Wafrn instance, you create a server federated with the Fediverse via Activitypub, but you can also simultaneously install a parallel server that acts as a Bluesky node. This way, just like Friendica, Wafrn becomes a client for a Bluesky account, but the main difference with Friendica is that the Bluesky account you use is that of your "parallel server," a server federated with other Bluesky servers via the AT protocol.

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