Alright, I know I haven't given many updates on #Catodon, because frankly there's not a lot to say. We're reorganizing, reprioritizing etc. Things are going slow. I haven't given up on the project, I think we have an interesting approach which is worth exploring, but we're short on human resources atm. Hopefully this will change and things will get exciting again, but we're not there yet. I'll let you know.
However, I wanna talk about another project I'm also sort of involved in lately - #Iceshrimp! So Iceshrimp also started as a #Firefish fork but they are currently rewriting the whole thing on .net/C#! Both the backend and frontend are being rewritten in C# - the frontend on Blazor. AFAIK this is the only fedi project written on .net and I'm really curious for the result!
This has been announced many months before, and Iceshrimp-js is in feature freeze, to allow all efforts to concentrate in the rewrite. Many people were skeptical because it's a huge project - which is true. So let me tell you that finally #Iceshrimp's rewrite will be entering beta soon - meaning, probably before the month is through!
This will practically be a brand new fedi platform, with a UX similar to Firefish (at least initially), with great Mastodon API support for compatibility with existing apps, hopefully with much better performance and a cleaner codebase. I'll keep you posted on how things progress!
Just curious, with the recent demise of #Firefish -- are the forks like #Catodon#Iceshrimp etc viable / sustainable alternatives? Do they share a common base, so one could expect updates into the future if they to cease to exist?
#Catodon is looking for a co-lead dev! They need to be comfortable with git, and able to manually install a Catodon server without scripts. All races, genders, sexual orientations welcome. No fascists or sexists. If you think you're up to the task, have some time and would like to be part of a team effort, let's talk! Find us on matrix, at #catodon:matrix.org .
man man man ist das Anstrengend mit jemanden aus dem "Mastodon-Netzerk" zu diskutieren, der davon überzeugt ist, das mastodon die besseren Features hat als alle anderen Fediverse Dienste.
Ich frage mich nur, was soll das sein?
Die Software, die die BenutzerInnen am meisten einschränkt, soll also die bessere sein?
Soooo... I've always been transparent about the project, so I have to give you all an update, as we're in a somewhat tough spot. A few weeks ago we made this public call for a co-lead dev, but we didn't get much interest. In the meantime, our lead dev got tangled up more and more in other obligations irl and now has close to zero time, which means development on #Catodon has practically halted at this point. We had made and announced a lot of plans, but at the moment things have been put on ice until we figure out what to do next. We will make an official announcement, I just wanted to give this another shot - we are looking for someone to work together as equals on this. If interested in leading an ambitious fedi project as a developer, just drop me a line, let's chat to see if this could work.
I really want to apologize to anyone who might be affected by this. In the meantime, Catodon code will be kept up-to-date with upstream Iceshrimp, and catodon.social will be taken care of and will keep running, so even if you're running a pre-release Catodon installation you're safe - it's basically Iceshrimp with a few changes at this point. I'm trying to make the best out of this situation, I'm trying to consider our options, and hopefully we'll have some (better) news soon.
Donc… J’ai toujours été transparent sur le projet, donc je dois vous donner à tous une mise à jour, car nous sommes dans une situation un peu difficile. Il y a quelques semaines, nous avons lancé un appel public pour un co-lead dev, mais nous n’avons pas eu beaucoup d’intérêt. Pendant ce temps, notre lead dev s’est empêtré de plus en plus dans d’autres obligations irl et n’a maintenant presque plus de temps, ce qui signifie que le développement de #Catodon s’est pratiquement arrêté à ce stade. Nous avions fait et annoncé beaucoup de plans, mais pour le moment les choses ont été mises en attente jusqu’à ce que nous trouvions quoi faire ensuite. Nous ferons une annonce officielle, je voulais juste donner une nouvelle chance à ce projet - nous cherchons quelqu’un pour travailler ensemble d’égal à égal sur ce projet. Si vous êtes intéressé par la direction d’un projet fedi ambitieux en tant que développeur, envoyez-moi un message, discutons pour voir si cela peut fonctionner.
Je tiens à m’excuser auprès de toutes les personnes qui pourraient être affectées par cette situation. En attendant, le code de Catodon sera maintenu à jour avec Iceshrimp, et catodon.social sera pris en charge et continuera à fonctionner, donc même si vous utilisez une installation de Catodon pré-version, vous êtes en sécurité - c’est essentiellement Iceshrimp avec quelques changements à ce stade. J’essaie de tirer le meilleur parti de cette situation, j’essaie de considérer nos options, et j’espère que nous aurons bientôt de (meilleures) nouvelles.
Hello there! If you are on #Iceshrimp, #Firefish or #Sharkey, there's a new security patch out so your server admin should update the software immediately. #Catodon has also merged the patch from upstream #Iceshrimp and catodon.social has been updated :catodon:
There needs to be apps for #iceshrimp, #misskey, #sharkey, #catodon, and any other misskey forks that support reactions and full push notifications on iOS. While the webapp im using on my iceshrimp instance is okay, it cannot be a permanent solution.
Or, it would be great if @IceCubesApp supported push notifications for iceshrimp/misskey forks, but i'm guessing its a server side issue :P
We've experimentally changed the default reaction on catodon.social to a heart (from a star). The star is familiar to fedi users because of Mastodon's "favorite" and is somewhat the current standard, but is not necessarily universally understood as a "like" button outside of the current userbase - I remember when I first came to fedi, I wasn't sure if it was more of a "like" or more of a bookmark (where you can later visit a page with your favorite posts). Facebook uses a thumbs up for the same function and Twitter, Instagram and Threads use a heart. So I think that a heart would be a more obvious and expected like button for new users. We'll leave it like this for a few days, to see how it feels in practice and see what feedback we get - although this isn't a change with the current fedi users (who are already familiar with the star and may not see an issue with it) in mind, but mostly considering future members of #Catodon communities. And after all, we all could use a little more love in our day to day lives! :BlobCat_HeartHug:
Alright, I think we now have a better idea of what's happening with #Firefish, so I might as well give a small update. Kainoa quit, and left the project to naskya, who is a person I appreciate very much, as they've always been kind and polite and willing to help. I also think they're very devoted to Firefish, and basically were the last person actively caring about the project. As far as I know, they intend to keep maintaining and developing Firefish, and a new stable version will finally soon be released. This is great news, as you don't need to worry that your server is running unmaintained and vulnerable software. So, alarm off everybody, no need to abandon ship.
As for us, we're standing by our decision to rebase #Catodon to #Iceshrimp. The changes we want to do are long term plans, but we've started redesigning some things and, whenever we are ready, I hope we'll show you something worth your attention. So yeah, firefish, iceshrimp and catodon are all alive and valid options (the first two to be precise, for the time being). All projects share code fixes and I think we're on very good terms, here in our corner of the fediverse. Enjoy the ride.
After giving this a lot of thought and discussing with the wonderful people that build Iceshrimp, #Catodon will rebase to #Iceshrimp. We feel that it's the right decision for the road ahead, as Iceshrimp is another #firefish fork that focuses in improving performance and they have already done some amazing improvements, like full Mastodon API support. With Firefish's future uncertain, we think it's better to stay closer to an actively maintained project. The two projects will stay distinct, as we have different design goals, but we have a common codebase so we feel this makes sense.
Just to be clear on all fronts and to answer the obvious question in advance, yes, Iceshrimp is also currently doing a full rewrite in C#, which is a few months away, and we haven't decided if we'll adopt this yet - it's a strong possibility, but we're keeping our options open. We're confident they're doing a great job, still, we'll weigh what the best decision for Catodon is on this when it's ready and the time comes.
Just wanted to let you know that this might push Catodon's development back a little, as it's sort of a structural change, but we feel that it's worth it, and that it might be better for the broader community. Catodon development will resume once rebasing to Iceshrimp is finished, and then we'll have better foundations to build this on.
Recently I've seen posts that #Firefish project is in trouble? Its flagship server being unavailable, and people are impatient about new releases. Sad if true, though I hope its death is slightly exagerrated. Anyhow, I've learnt that people are migrating to other Misskey forks (mainly #IceShrimp, #Sharkey, and #Catodon) And Iceshrimp devs are rewriting the JS backend on C# 😯
If Firefish is going to come back, Kainoa won't have a hand in it. They quietly handed over the keys to the repo to a maintainer... who has publicly stated they aren't a programmer and are just looking after commits. Not exactly a signal things are starting back up.
Unless there is an announcement soon about someone taking up development again, I think it's safe to say Firefish is over as a Fedi platform.
Optimism wants to say that someone will, but at this point even if someone does it'll be playing catch-up to the current state of affairs. It isn't possible for someone to come off of the street and say "I'll do it" and go back to the pace that was happening last summer immediately. (But it's not impossible for me to be wrong and six months from now someone does. I'm just not banking on it happening. Even the Firefish name itself might be too damaged in reputation to even take back up.)
#Iceshrimp, #Sharkey, and #Catodon are #Misskey derivatives who are continuing onward with things. All three of them have disassociated with FF completely so it seems Misskey still has a future with non-Japanese users. (Iceshrimp even spent time on a new non triangular logo to further separate from Firefish.) Server admins who wanted to consider a Firefish instance but shied away from the drama last fall may want to follow those projects instead.
If your fedi server is still on Firefish, don't be surprised if an announcement "were taking signups on our new Plombus server, in X months Fleeb will be decommissioned" comes down sometime soon. Internet services without recent updates are asking for trouble from exploits and vulnerabilities. Also, without an active FF developer to fix standing issues (or a skilled DB admin on your instance's behalf to whittle the database and schema to fit the new system as well as possible) a cut-over migration where users don't lift a finger isn't in the cards like the Calckey to Firefish migration last September. It likely will be up to you to decide to either move your account Mastodon style (no post migration, just your follower lists and a link back to the prior server) or to just start fresh.
It's almost time. We're super-excited. #FediGroups is entering public testing now, before a full live launch.
Many of us have used other Boosting Groups, but they only work well if you follow from Mastodon accounts. We know there is a wider fediverse. FediGroups works with all the favourites, including #Mastodon, #Firefish, #Iceshrimp, #Catodon, #Sharkey, and more. One big happy family 👪
One feature I miss from #Twitter is explanations for ongoing trends on the platform. It saved me the research step to know what chronically online quirk is now “it” and avoids misunderstanding one thing for another.
It was nice for quickly getting an overview of a currently discussed topic before going through a wall of posts and not understanding anything which really helped with my #ADHD.
I’m kinda playing with the idea of switching instances, but I’m holding back because I don’t wanna lose my posts here.
I wish #Mastodon supported #NomadicIdentity like #Firefish (and maybe #Catodon as well?), but those two supporting it wouldn’t help much in my case as I’m not sure they would work with @ivory and don’t seem to offer any mobile clients besides Feditext which is in beta.
Firefish did claim to support the Mastodon API so it should work with Ivory, right?
[Fédivers] Des news de Catodon (lemmy.blahaj.zone) French
catodon.social/notes/9rl77swzw25jjq7x