Ugh, software teams are the new bands.
A friend of mine just said the same thing (about another dev team photo), so I took it to the next logical step and created http://devteamorindieband.tumblr.com
Diaspora Project: Building the Anti-Facebook
91–97 of 97 posts
Re: Diaspora Project: Building the Anti-Facebook
#92perhaps the most positive outcome will be the outpouring of many different - but API-compatible social networking tools - all built by various naysayers and "i can do better-ists" which result in a variety of great choices. You can choose Wordpress or Moveable Type, or perhaps Apache or IIS, or AIM or GTalk. Interoperability, done earnestly and successfully, will move the challenge to the quality of user experiences and the robustness of the platform.
Yes, there are many social network style applications waiting to be discovered, but this effort, Diaspora, not only has a lot of attention, but it hit at a good time - when people are openly dissatisfied with the incumbent service, and the team heading up this project has not only the support of groupies, but their school, open source software organizations, and a lot of very motivated community members.
Lets hope that we can build something that will endure for the long term, and reverse the trend of user exploitation.
Re: Diaspora Project: Building the Anti-Facebook
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
If I want to view a web page that you've created, I go to a server which you control (or your ISP controls). I don't have to go to web.com and click through to an account that you've created on the web.com service. If I want to send you an email, I talk to my server, my server talks to your server, and you get an email in your inbox. Maybe I use GMail and you use Yahoo, but the underlying protocol is the same, so it…
Right, but you're forgetting one thing. Decentralized works for technical problems, not social problems. People fled from the decentralized alt.* on Usenet to centralized Lifejournal where they had more control over their experience. A decentralized social network would be a sewer.
Just like a decentralised web or decentralised email? The idea is to have lots of smaller silos interoperating, rather than a couple of big ones. Just because it's decentralised, doesn't mean that you have to give up control of your bit.
Re: Diaspora Project: Building the Anti-Facebook
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
Right, but you're forgetting one thing. Decentralized works for technical problems, not social problems. People fled from the decentralized alt.* on Usenet to centralized Lifejournal where they had more control over their experience. A decentralized social network would be a sewer.
Just like a decentralised web or decentralised email? The idea is to have lots of smaller silos interoperating, rather than a couple of big ones. Just because it's decentralised, doesn't mean that you have to give up control of your bit.
The technical part of it is distributed but "my inbox" is entirely under my control.
Re: Diaspora Project: Building the Anti-Facebook
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just like a decentralised web or decentralised email? The idea is to have lots of smaller silos interoperating, rather than a couple of big ones. Just because it's decentralised, doesn't mean that you have to give up control of your bit.
The technical part of it is distributed but "my inbox" is entirely under my control.
Which is the whole issue - your Facebook "inbox" or "outbox" is not under your control. If it worked more like email or the web, you'd be a lot better off, privacy-wise.
Re: Diaspora Project: Building the Anti-Facebook
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
The biggest sticking point is going to be the web of trust. Facebook's walled garden is excellent at managing identity, and this would be very difficult if any random 419 scammer can set up a Diaspora server and plug into the network. Really, it seems like turn-key services are the primary solution, though the important thing is to get a competitive marketplace where some are ad-supported, some aren't, but all of the…
How many e-mail do you receive that appear to come from your friends, but don't? For me, that's none. Diaspora server will be the same. Your random 419 scammer won't be able to make a lot of friends if people are a little careful. Add PGP keys and a proper web of trust, and the scammer won't be able to spoof any identity at all.
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Re: Diaspora Project: Building the Anti-Facebook
#97If loads are distributed across a network, how secure would your information be? I guess you could get around that by being explicit about how open your data is and discourage people to post sensitive info. Also, by re-federating the service of Facebook with partner companies (push pics back to flickr, status back to twitter, etc.), they could get some nice allies, reduce the bandwidth requirements dramatically, and…
The biggest sticking point is going to be the web of trust. Facebook's walled garden is excellent at managing identity, and this would be very difficult if any random 419 scammer can set up a Diaspora server and plug into the network. Really, it seems like turn-key services are the primary solution, though the important thing is to get a competitive marketplace where some are ad-supported, some aren't, but all of the…
Webfinger might help: