Discussion about the aussie.zone instance itself
This has probably been asked before but is there any reason why this couldn't be implemented as a basic lemmy client (with signup facilities only)? Meaning instances don't need to host anything or are you concerned that centralisation might drive up Reddit API costs or will the OAuth stuff require a server?
Thanks for trying to make the fediverse more accessible!
Excellent question! The truth is that it can be done on the client only, but the instance would need to be fully open for registrations. The server-side service is needed in order to ensure that any user authenticated via Reddit can signup and get started right away.
(Sorry it took me so long to see this. None of the comments were federating to my instance, so I wasn't seeing any of the comments here.)
I personally don't see more redditors as a good thing at this point.
Reddit has gone full blown cesspool on many subs, and I'm not sure having them would help, especially if it overwhelms moderation.
A lot of Reddit is also posting populist stuff at this point to get attention, rather than acting normal.
I'd prefer a smaller quality community where people are normal, instead of one where we end up with people trying to fight for the most attention (sometimes as an attempt to get attention by advertisers).
Since I just made an account, I've been wanting to give my opinion on this for a while.
I agree that the usual reddit people would destroy a nice community like aussie.zone. But I wanted to mention that the bad kind of people from reddit would not try to find an alternative. They are happy there. There are decent people who want out, but don't know where to or how. I am very confused with lemmy (not that I am a decent person, that remains to be judged), and I would have appreciated more help. So helping people dissatisfied with reddit might be helpful as they are unlikely to be bad (or at least not belonging to the normal reddit bad) and wouldn't harm the community.
I have some other opinions as well but that was the main point I wanted to bring every time I see this kind of comment.
There are decent people who want out, but don’t know where to or how.
What has changed since last year that would make those people leave now? reddit's AI policies? There was a massive migration with tons of coverage and assistance not long ago and most people chose to stick with reddit. Even those who migrated over last year left in droves after just a month or two. This idea that there's a renewed push to get off the platform doesn't really make sense to me. On the other hand, maybe that's an argument in favour of services that make transitioning easier. I doubt we will get an influx of losers again so why not help a small number of people and see where it leads?
Lemmy is difficult. So much more than reddit... It could be like Linux. Something you try again and again and eventually get the hand of it or accept it. I spend many years going back and forth between using Linux and not using it at all until I got completely rid of Windows. And I do not regret it at all!
But it wouldn't have happened if people stopped trying to make Linux's transition easier. I don't believe I'm harmful to the Linux community. It could be that it would be the same for people on reddit. I hated being on windows, but I still kept using it until the alternative seemed viable to me.
Of course I could be wrong and the community destroyed. But then... a new community elsewhere? I'm an old man on the internet, I've seen this happening a lot. Filters after filters after filters and some times the end result is perfect.
Lemmy reminds me FIDO of old by this. Collective of elitist geeks.
What is/was FIDO. I looked up http://fidoalliance.org/ , is that what you mean?
It looks like they do some kind of passkey instead of password service, did they start as a security focused forum or something?
FIDO net. A worldwide hobbyist network providing email and USENET like services. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FidoNet. It was very geeky place with high barrier to entry.
I definitely would like to see more people in general. Without it, you just can't reach that critical mass where it's possible to have meaningful conversations about niche topics. And that, far more than any other element, is what the value of Reddit is. The fact that /r/olympics daily megathreads get thousands of comments per day but [email protected] threads are lucky to reach 10 is a great example of what I mean. And I started those megathreads because I figured hey, it's the gods damned Olympics. That's got to be a broad enough topic to get some interest. And yet no. If something that big doesn't even make it with this platform's current size, what hope do you have of sharing your niche interests and getting good discussion?
Haha, i hadn't even noticed [email protected] on my feeds damn! I wonder why that hasn't gained traction?
If one of Frances special sports was a Linux Power User comp, i reckon that would've lit up lemmys Oympics megathreads! :p
I don't know to be honest. A few of the image and news posts in that community have done pretty well, so I don't think it's a lack of interest in the subject matter. A bit of a chicken-and-egg problem, perhaps, since so far nearly all the comments have been mine with only two or three comments from others over the whole week?
Just had a quick look, can't believe it had all passed me by. 570 users isn't nothing, especially sonce i'm thinking they all signed up in the last few weeks.
I did notice the Megathreads aren't pinned, could that be making them less visible? I know i initially scrolled right passed them, and i's specifically looking for them.
Yeah maybe, I dunno. Could be worth a shot. I'll have to reach out to the mods, if they're still active.
To enable this service, the Lemmy admin needs to add a couple of docker services to their setup and needs to get their own Reddit API key (which is used only for authentication, so well within the rate limits and certainly not incurring any prices).
If i've read your post correctly, it seems @lodion or @nath need to weigh in on this one, before anybody else could take any actions themselves in support of your project?
Exactly, this is something that only the admins can execute on. In any case, it's still a good idea to have users chiming in.
@[email protected] and @[email protected], you can reach me here or via matrix (@raphael:communick.com), I'll gladly help.
Sorry not interested in any hooks into Reddit, or additional software requiring ongoing management.
Ok, no worries... do you have any objection though to have your instance as the recommended instance for migrating redditors who are subscribed to Australia-specific subreddits?
That's fine.
I love the idea, and I also believe that getting more people onto the fediverse is a good thing. However, I do have a couple of questions/concerns.
Firstly, I'm not really sure why this would require access to Lemmy instances themselves? is it to improve coverage by automatically crawling all the communities on a given instance to match with Reddit alternatives? Or is it to automatically sign new people up to an instance and then subscribe them to the Lemmy communities automatically? I believe that pushing for admins to provide root level access to their Lemmy servers is going to limit your growth. I don't run an instance, but if I did, I'm not sure that I would allow anything except the bare minimum access to the server.
I also noticed that the Subreddits section doesn't display anything. I ended up creating a second account which I OAuth'd to my Reddit account, and it was still empty. I was trying to figure out how to add an 'alternative to' section on a few communities (which took me a while to figure out how to do)
Also, about the above: Are there any plans to add a way to link a Reddit account to a pre-existing account? What about account deletion, data anonymisation, and GDPR compliance? I do realise most of those aren't relevant at the moment, and probably won't be for some time, but I think you may encounter some issues, considering the more privacy-conscious nature of a lot of Fediverse users.
I do really hope to see this expand and grow, though. Despite the potential to bring some unsavoury Reddit types, it'll be an overall win for the Fediverse.