this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2023
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Lemmy

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Lemmy needs an instance-aware way to link to communities (and posts and comments) (derp.foo)
submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Hi all,

I’ve been observing and participating in this community for about a week now. I’m liking it so far, but one thing I’m really missing is a way to link to other Lemmy content in a way that’s instance-aware.

For example, if I were to want to link to [email protected], I’d link to https://startrek.website/c/risa. But then I’d end up at a Lemmy instance where I don’t have an account; I’d really prefer to be redirected to https://derp.foo/c/[email protected].

So here’s my proposal: create a central Lemmy redirection service where people can set their instance (in a cookie). The idea would be that people can link to, say, https://example.com/c/[email protected], and be ensured us lemmings end up on an instance where we can actually post.

Linking to posts and comments should ideally be part of this as well but whould involve a little more work.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

create a central Lemmy redirection service

This is contrary to what the Fediverse is about. [[email protected]](/c/[email protected]) is already unique and an identifier to universally refer to that community. It automatically links to https://your-instance-URL/c/[email protected] which makes absolute sense, because you have an account on your instance.

If you want to visit [[email protected]](/c/[email protected]) just open the link with your instance. Either by using the URL or by cop&pasting the URL into the search field, or by something like lemmy Link in your browser.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is contrary to what the Fediverse is about.

I can understand how this doesn’t really fit well with the decentralised paradigm. I personally am more than proficient enough to deal with such shortcomings. However, it’s still a drag, and many other people will be scared away because of it.