Hacker News

ActivityPub over ATProto

45 points by albuic ago | 20 comments

rapnie |next [-]

(2023) but worth being reposted, never got a good HN discussion. Between 8 and 12 July there's DWebCamp [0] and many experts and devs on both protocols are present, so opportunity for some good cross-pollination here.

[0] https://dwebcamp.org

inigyou |root |parent |next [-]

Damn, I could've been there, if I'd known about it

toomuchtodo |root |parent |previous [-]

Will content from dwebcamp be online for those unable to make it?

rapnie |root |parent [-]

I think so, yes. The videos of the last camp are online as well at https://dwebcamp.org/videos

4lx87 |next |previous [-]

RSS/webmention > ActivityPub > ATProto

jayemar |root |parent |next [-]

I don't disagree with the sentiment as I love RSS, but doesn't it have a different use case than ActivityPub or ATProto?

madeofpalk |root |parent [-]

I mean, conceptually ActivityPub is quite similar to RSS. You might be able to call it Less Simple Syndication.

spankalee |root |parent |previous [-]

And how does RSS let you move your data to a new host while preserving your identity like AT Proto does?

gnashxyz |next |previous [-]

Huge fan of this concept.

nekusar |previous [-]

I can easily install an ActivityPub server, with Glitch.

Show me the ATProto server that can integrate with BlueSky.

spankalee |root |parent |next [-]

There is no "AT Proto server" - https://overreacted.io/there-are-no-instances-in-atproto/

fsflover |root |parent [-]

Which is a misleading message, according to the recent HN discussion, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48841723.

madeofpalk |root |parent |next |previous [-]

> I can easily install an ActivityPub server, with Glitch.

Can you? The same Glitch that shut down last year? https://blog.glitch.com/post/goodbye-glitch

Regardless, ActivityPub and ATProto have different designs and goals. Your question is akin to comparing a helicopter and an airplane.

There's no such thing as a "ATProto server". How complicated it is, and the trade-offs it made are valid criticisms of it. It all depends on what exactly your goal is as a participant of a distributed social network.

inigyou |root |parent [-]

What does ATProto run on, if not servers? Is it fully decentralised mesh P2P that runs on phones?

anentropic |root |parent |next [-]

There's not one server instance type, there are different components to it

To 'own your data' you just need a PDS, which should be cheaper to run than an ActivityPub server

To build an app you need some of the more expensive parts

madeofpalk |root |parent |previous [-]

What makes up the ATProto is more than one type of server. Compared to ActivityPub where you just run a single Mastodon instance and you're set.

If the thing you want to own is your identity and data, you can fairly easy run a PDS yourself. If the thing you care about is different moderation decisions, you can run your own labeller (moderation system) or subscribe to another someone else has made.

riffraff |root |parent |next |previous [-]

Never used it, but I've seen some praise for Snac as an easy to deploy activitypub server

https://codeberg.org/grunfink/snac2

master-lincoln |root |parent |next |previous [-]

here https://blog.bront.rodeo/setting-up-your-own-pds/

Hoodedcrow |root |parent |next [-]

The answer here would be "there's no such thing as a generic "server" like in ActivityPub because it's split into different components, of which a PDS is only one".

Honestly my main question here is "If you disagree with various ActivityPub instances' defederations, you can get around this by starting your own instance that federates with everything; is there an equivalent for bypassing Bluesky's moderation decisions?"

nekusar |root |parent |previous [-]

[dead]

well_ackshually |root |parent |previous [-]

A PDS? Here: https://blog.bront.rodeo/setting-up-your-own-pds/

Want your own AppView so you can have nekusar.net and post your messages and people on BSky see it ? https://github.com/blacksky-algorithms/atproto

ActivityPub zealots would do well to calm down for one second, this can't be good for your heart man.