How does the existence of few large servers negate the need for streamlining sign ups or easy scaling? Reddit has 1.2 billion monthly active users. You really think those 3 servers would be enough if all of reddit decided to migrate? How would those needed new servers be created, and by whom? At a certain point, with real scale automation is a necessity.
I used to see non-stop NSFW stuff about a year ago, but it seems better now.
Only android app development as far as I know, and it’s got a long way to go.
I’m not saying that we should remove the option to choose servers. But as soon as you tell someone “you have a pick a server”, their eyes glaze over. I fully understand how fundamental servers are to the fediverse, but users should not be forced to pick one if they don’t want to (which I believe most people will not want to). Forcing people to make their own servers for their families to simplify the process is also not really a solution. What I am suggesting is some sort of scaling system for the fediverse, which will default to grouping people by locality. Again, the mechanism behind this is tbd, but I know that it is possible to quickly spin up servers on demand, and so it should be possible to auto set up servers with some default settings for people who don’t care to deal with browsing through a list of servers with names such as “Patriot Nest” or “doodeman.org”. It just confuses people and creates friction to them joining the fediverse. Indecision paralysis is a real thing, and some people just don’t want to bother with it. Also, without this mechanism, we end up with super servers like the .world that we see on most fediverse platforms, which quickly become overloaded when the fediverse sees a surge in interest. If the fediverse wants to scale in a meaningful way, something has to change. I would argue that this would make the fediverse even more decentralized than it is, because we would see a proliferation of servers based on locality, rather than congregating based on interest, or all grouping up into one default world server for those who don’t care.
The functionalities you mentioned “work”, if you know how to do them. It is very difficult to figure out how to do them though, and there are no tutorials that I know of. The barrier to entry for regular people is still very high to use what should be basic functionalities. I think marketplace needs to happen, because people want it. If groups worked, that could serve the function of marketplaces in the mean time, but again, I don’t really see a way to browse for groups, only manually search for them.
I think it’s a bit of a semantic argument whether the servers are the site or the platform is the site. Each of the servers are running the same basic software, with some variations between them. There is a github for friendica, the software. That software is hosted on servers, with a friendica logo displayed on the top. Doesn’t really matter either way, the point remains, people have a desire for alternatives, and right now this is the best one I know of, but it is still severely lacking, to the point that I am not able to recommend it to them. I am for sure hoping to help out however I can. That includes coding. I’m not a web engineer though, so I can only do so much for now. There is a sense of urgency though, so I will do my best.
If it’s a perennial problem that you keep hearing about, maybe there’s something to it. I will note, I did not once ask “why servers”. I’m fine with servers and I get servers. The issue I see is that while most nerdy tech type folks can easily wrap their heads around the concept, most lay people cannot. That’s not to say that picking a server of your liking should go away, but for the onboarding process for the masses, which I would think most proponents of the fediverse would want to include, the process needs to be a lot more seamless. Automated stuff in the background that keeps the decentralization, but doesn’t bother the user with the need to worry about it. It’s simply improving the user experience. I realize it’s work, but I think it’s work worth doing.