Fediverse

Opensimulator: Projects: The Fediverse and ActivityPub

The digital age has seen the rise of several social media platforms, each building its own siloed community. But a groundbreaking approach to social networking, called the "Fediverse," seeks to break down these walled gardens. The Fediverse, short for "federated universe," is a collection of interconnected yet independently operated online communities that communicate with one another. Unlike mainstream platforms where all user data resides under a single company's control, the Fediverse promotes decentralization, giving individual instances the freedom to set their own rules while still being part of a broader network.

At the heart of the Fediverse lies ActivityPub, a protocol that facilitates this decentralized communication. ActivityPub standardizes how different services, ranging from microblogs like Mastodon to video platforms like PeerTube, share and receive updates. When a user on one platform makes a post or comment, ActivityPub ensures that the message is sent, received, and understood across different participating platforms. This intercommunication means users aren’t confined to one platform's ecosystem; they can seamlessly interact with diverse services across the Fediverse.

This approach offers numerous advantages. First, it's a bulwark against censorship, as no single entity controls the entire network. Second, it spurs innovation, since developers can create new services without starting from scratch, leveraging the existing ActivityPub-based infrastructure. Finally, it returns control to users, who can choose platforms aligned with their values or even host their own instances. In an age where digital autonomy is increasingly cherished, the Fediverse and ActivityPub offer a compelling blueprint for the future of online social interactions.

Conceptually, HyperGrid can be likened to ActivityPub, which connects many heterogenous servers and allows them to all communicate and share information.

There is currently a project underway to connect the FOSS server named 'Streams' (https://codeberg.org/streams/streams) to OpenSimulator and HyperGrid. Streams is a PHP/MySQL based nomadic federated communications server created by Mike Macgirvin (https://medium.com/we-distribute/got-zot-mike-macgirvin-45287601ff19)

Here are the primary objectives of the project:

• WORKING: Editable Welcome page for viewer
• WORKING: Sync passwords when updated on streams instance.
• WORKING: Password reset link works through streams.
• WORKING: Photos marked full perm in OS will show up on streams feed
• WORKING: "Picks" section will show up on public streams profile.
• PENDING: Profile photo changed in OS will appear on streams profile and vice-versa
• PENDING: Create account will happen on streams, account will be created on OpenSimulator server.
• PENDING: Notifications (@mentions, @replies, @privatemessage, etc) on streams will optionally appear in a popup in OS viewer.

Git repository at Codeberg: (opensim-dev branch) https://codeberg.org/AerisIrides/streams-addons/src/branch/opensim-dev

Not only does the streams integration create a full-featured open-source drop-in website for a OpenSimulator installation, also a directory of Fediverse users with a means to connect to 2 million active monthly Fediverse users. (stats ref. https://fedidb.org/)

ActivityPub Standard: https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/

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