Why not just use WordPress? If you're technical, self host using wordpress.org. If you're not, or don't want the hassle, host using wordpress.com. If you do need the ActivityPub side of stuff you can install a plugin [0].
Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
41–50 of 62 posts
Re: Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
#42> Uses SQLite, and no external dependencies except Python 3.10+ I don't know if it's the way it's been written, but it reads to me that only python is needed, no libraries. I'm assuming this isn't true though: I can see a lot of libraries: https://github.com/tsileo/microblog.pub/blob/v2/pyproject.to...
I feel like Python 3.10 is large dependency -- almost no one would use it unless required.
Python 3.10 is standard even in the latest debian version, nearly every Linux that you would setup today has python >=3.9 preinstalled. Unless you use some sort of "webspace" type of provider that only allows PHP, this should not be an issue (in fact I had a webspace once and it too had python, I just had to ask).
So python 3.10 is not an external dependency here, because external implies you need to install it.
But all the non-standard python modules used (humanize, ...) are definitly external dependencies and that can be an issue if you try to run your service in such a restricted environment.
Re: Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would have guessed that it means something like "you know how you need to get postgres, redis, and elasticsearch up for a good mastodon install? none of those"
Yeah, when the author writes "external" I think they mean "runs outside the Python interpreter process".
Probably, but these are external dependencies. Whether they are python dependencies or not wouldn't change that.
If someone writes "no external dependencies except Python 3.10" I'd expect that thing to run out of the box on any system that has Python 3.10 on it. The developer promised after all that this was the only dependency.
When I realize that there are in fact a heap of external python modules you need to install, I loose a lot of trust in the proficiency of the project.
No external dependencies means that you just use the standard python interpreter and you maintain all the code you are using (outside of what the language provides). No external dependencies speaks of a willingness to go the extra mile to reduce size, make the thing universally runnable and easy to install and to avoid having random (potentially unchecked) code running inside your project. So it is a statement to make.
Most projects I work on have external dependencies, but I: A.) try to keep them to a minimum and only rely on vetted and tested ones and B.) I don't claim there are no external dependencies
Re: Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, when the author writes "external" I think they mean "runs outside the Python interpreter process".
Probably, but these are external dependencies. Whether they are python dependencies or not wouldn't change that. If someone writes "no external dependencies except Python 3.10" I'd expect that thing to run out of the box on any system that has Python 3.10 on it. The developer promised after all that this was the only dependency. When I realize that there are in fact a heap of external python modules you need to insta…
(author here)
I see the confusion, I tweaked the README to remove that claim. But I indeed meant "no external dependencies like postgres/redis..".
Re: Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
#45This looks great. Mastodon is not a good choice for a "single-user instance". It has been a pain and a waste of resources, running it for the last few years. If the migration process is easy (and keeps all the previous data), I will definitely consider the move.
Re: Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
#46Application-wise this looks awesome. I would love to see way more people using something like this. The problem is self-hosting is too difficult for the average person. But that doesn't have to be the case. Self-hosting shouldn't be any more complicated or less secure than installing an app on your phone. You shouldn't need to understand DNS, TLS, NAT, HTTP, TCP, UDP, etc, etc. Domain names shouldn't be any more diff…
In theory this is already the case; Self-hosting only really requires understanding DNS and the basics of running a Unix system if you just rent a VPS at say, Hetzner. Similarly, buying domain names is as easy as buying a phone number, probably even easier since ID legislation surrounding phone numbers is much stricter.
NAT, TCP and UDP don't come into play unless you also plan on self-hosting your IP assignments or need to configure the firewall, which most people don't need to do (firewalls for webservers are usually already set up by the distro from my experience.)
The problem is that the rest of the process is poorly documented (really... anything surrounding HTTPS; webservers require setting arcane config flags that all make sense once explained but why aren't distros just shipping sane SSL snippets that aim to get a good SSLLabs score/maintain older browser compat as needed, pretty much all these configs are shared across systems, certbot is cool but good luck parsing the documentation and woe be onto you if you do DNS-level verification with an unofficial plugin, the docs are all over the place) which creates this faux idea that you need to be a massive tech nerd to even begin self-hosting.
The closest thing most people can follow is setting up shop at a shared hosting provider with a one-click WordPress installation (or other apps fitting in an AMP stack). That has been automated to the point where the enduser can reliably do it, but that pushes the limit of what you can really consider self-hosting.
Re: Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's definitely some weirdness with the @t@hexa.ninja account given as an example of an instance in the wild. Loading that in Mastodon's "Web" says it contains "4 posts", but consulting the "Posts and replies" tab will reveal the contents of 5 posts. Meanwhile, this number is about half of the expected number, based on the posts that are actually visible on the https://hexa.ninja/ > landing page (i.e. as viewed in…
ActivityPub does not handle old posts. This post number is the number of posts since at least one person on that instance followed them. Before that, the instance didn't know they existed ActivityPub is a publisher/subscriber protocol
> does not handle old posts. This post number is the number of posts since at least one person on that instance followed them.
That's not an explanation for the behavior here.
The instance's very first Hello World post https://hexa.ninja/o/4473c26694414f928466337c1a9e0fc6> appears, while more recent ones don't. There's probably no one actually following this account from this instance. (Hard to check.)
Re: Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
#48> Uses SQLite, and no external dependencies except Python 3.10+ I don't know if it's the way it's been written, but it reads to me that only python is needed, no libraries. I'm assuming this isn't true though: I can see a lot of libraries: https://github.com/tsileo/microblog.pub/blob/v2/pyproject.to...
I would have guessed that it means something like "you know how you need to get postgres, redis, and elasticsearch up for a good mastodon install? none of those"
So the usual pile of library dependencies, but no service dependencies.
It is like talking about storage fragmentation: one layer's internal fragmentation is the next's external fragmentation.
Re: Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
#49I don't get what it does. Is ActivityPub used like some kind of RSS feed that people can follow?
It's a decentralized social media protocol. More rich and versatile than RSS.
Surprising how many people are misreading the comment/question. Responses range from people answering the question, "What is ActivityPub?", to "What is Mastodon?"
To the original commenter: yes. This project is using ActivityPub kind of like RSS. Since it's ActivityPub and not merely RSS, the experience when using e.g. Mastodon as your reader, however, is "like RSS, worse". On the other hand, since it's ActivityPub, it also supports all the ways to track followups/replies/threads both from the original poster and people who are not the original poster, a way to dynamically track/display who else is subscribed, and it advertises a channel for you to send notifications to if you yourself wanted to reply or follow. This is its main value proposition—mostly for people who prioritize the gimmick of modern-ish social features over simplicity and economical setup/hosting.
Re: Microblog.pub – A self-hosted, single-user, ActivityPub powered microblog
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree, I started looking at setting up a mastodon instance and didn't get very far before looking at alternatives. Thanks for the suggestion. I don't really want to run another Wordpress, but Gnu Social looks promising.
Check out pleroma. It uses much less resources than mastodon so it’s been nice as a single user instance.
If you want even lower resource usage, try honk[1] (currently using about 80M whilst my Pleroma is using 350M + 500M from Postgres) (although it is considerably more minimal than Pleroma...)