I was excited to learn that GNU Social is in PHP, but quickly turned off because of the quality of the PHP code.
Heh, sorry, this made me chuckle. I'm sorry you're right, but ya know, it's a GNU project, so there's always room to contribute. :)
GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
21–30 of 259 posts
Re: GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
#22What's the value proposition over Twitter?
Re: GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
#23Wasn't this the initial goal of app.net? I know it's morphed somewhat now, but, if I remember correctly, it came about as a direct response to some Twitter developer in-niceness.
Re: GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
#24The https://quitter.se anti-capitalist message didn't resonate with me, so I joined the https://gnusocial.no federation. Much friendlier :)
I am not familiar with either, but I am curious why does "anti-capitalist message" matter so much? I thought the purpose is to build a messaging network that everybody can use. And even GNU founder can be considered anti-capitalist.
I am asking because to me, to decide to join some (not political) community based on your own political opinion, is a good way to live in your own bubble. The real strength of the Internet is that we are exposed to contrarian positions, even at the expense of our comfort.
Re: GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
#25What's the value proposition over Twitter?
What do you mean by "value proposition"? It is free software, not a business opportunity. Not everything is about selling and money.
I read about the project just to answer your question, which you could have answered for yourself by reading.
You can run your own instance. The source is open, which means it is publicly auditable, you can contribute to it, you can fork it. It is federated. There is not one single global point of failure, which has other implications regarding things like censorship. You are not beholden to a proprietary, profit-motivated service which can do whatever it wants with your data or with the service. It is an attempt to move away from walled gardens.
If you distrust US-based services, you can use an instance which is based in Europe or wherever.
If you don't get it, you don't get it.
Re: GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
#26Re: GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
#27Diaspora* is also an interesting option.
Re: GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
#28Copying the design of Twitter and Facebook. What a great way to make a good first impression and to respect the copyright the GNU project cares so much about. I can't imagine a better way to show everyone just how amazing you are. The free software community must be truly happy to have such amazing supporters on their side.
Do you understand that GNU got started by copying Unix? You can copy a product without violating copyright, although there have been several court cases on this topic.
Of course you can copy the product as such, that's fine by me and I think even necessary.
They've gone far beyond that here though, copying not just the product but significant parts of the design. The Quitter thing looks almost exactly like Twitter. If they'd copied the website of a bank like this, it would be considered phishing.
This is well beyond copying an idea or a few design concepts.
Re: GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
#29The https://quitter.se anti-capitalist message didn't resonate with me, so I joined the https://gnusocial.no federation. Much friendlier :)
I am not familiar with either, but I am curious why does "anti-capitalist message" matter so much? I thought the purpose is to build a messaging network that everybody can use. And even GNU founder can be considered anti-capitalist. I am asking because to me, to decide to join some (not political) community based on your own political opinion, is a good way to live in your own bubble. The real strength of the Interne…
It is a federated messaging network. I don't see that it is any more subject to filter bubbles than Twitter is. Everyone chooses who they follow anyway. If you want to subscribe to feeds from people with politics opposite yours, you can do that.
Re: GNU Social, a FLOSS alternative to Twitter
#30What's the value proposition over Twitter?
What do you mean by "value proposition"? It is free software, not a business opportunity. Not everything is about selling and money. I read about the project just to answer your question, which you could have answered for yourself by reading. You can run your own instance. The source is open, which means it is publicly auditable, you can contribute to it, you can fork it. It is federated. There is not one single glob…
Not all values are monetary.