I wrote the first line of code for /kbin on January 14, 2021. Around this time, I started working remotely and decided that the time I used to spend commuting to the office would be devoted to /kbin. Throughout this entire period, /kbin has been a hobby project that I developed in my free time. It was also when Lemmy started...
I heard that votes have been changed to behave closer to how people would expect, and boost is staying here as well. So I had an idea how to bring it all together in the interface....
The Lemmy devs are actively asking for donations and every Lemmy instance - apollo.town and vlemmy.net included links to the join-lemmy.org landing page with donation links, so I'm a bit more wary of the whole construct. Perhaps the instance admins mean well - but at the end of the day, they and their instances are soliciting links that finance tankies. That's a no-go for me personally. But each to their own.
Some of the Kbin criticism in those posts is valid, though.
Kbin is not "production ready" software and it's missing a lot of Quality of Life features for instance admins.
It's hard to deploy, hard to to troubleshoot, operate and update. It's not packaged. We users are missing moderation and migration tools necessary to deal with the federated nature of the content (moving instances, content filtering etc)
But such is life on the bleeding edge.
I fully understand if fedi-admins don't want to spend all their free time fiddling with the instance. Many of them are volunteers. It's their choice and no one can fault them for installing Lemmy instead.
Ernest has stated multiple times the project is just a prototype and it very clearly is. People are working on it though. The tracker isn't exploding with issues anymore and Ernest seems to be back working on pull requests instead of battling with the server load, There's 53 of them currently - and they're from multiple contributors. It's going to take some time, but seems there's good work being done - by multiple devs.
Starting a software flamewar between Lemmy and Kbin seems incredibly silly and unproductive though, so I'll just say this - the fediverse puts lot of decision making power into the hands of users. There is choice. So use the stuff that works for you personally. No need to build walls, throw FUD or talk down the other software product or act as a knight in shining white armor for the one you happen to use and prefer.
There's space for everyone and there's space for multiple software projects and products. There's no division.
The internet used to be more decentralised. There were lots of smaller websites, blogs, forums etc, which people discovered via word of mouth, search engines, and forgotten things like webrings. It's only recently that big monolithic social media platforms took hold.
Tech is often cyclical, we could now be swinging back to a more decentralised web, but with the benefit of newer technologies. Right now it's almost a new "wild west" as new platforms appear and new ideas like federation are experimented with. Some will rise, some will fall, some will go off in the corner and do their own thing. While all that happens it's going to be a bit messy, much like it was in the 90s with the initial rise of the web.
Think about things from the point of view of someone who has never used Reddit or the fediverse, but you've heard about them both from recent news articles and want to see what they are about....
I appreciate the concern, and it seems to me that kbin is no longer just one person ;) Currently, kbin is a team of wonderful people who handle development work, devops, project management, and more. Additionally, Piotr helps me with administering kbin.social. There will be significant changes here soon, things are happening quickly. But to be honest, I wasn't fully prepared for such substantial growth, and it will probably take some time before everything stabilizes. But... this is just the beginning ;) What's important is that the snowball starts rolling, regardless of whether kbin, Lemmy, or Mastodon gains the most users. We all win in this situation.
most of the time you'll be talking to a bot there without even realizing. they're gonna feed you products and ads interwoven into conversations, and the AI can be controlled so its output reflects corporate interests. advertisers are gonna be able to buy access and run campaigns. based on their input, the AI can generate...
I'm changing my stance on the whole Meta/project92 thing after reading this article. I think the entire* fediverse should block project92 by default. Later, some instances can re-evaluate whether to maintain those blocks, once we have a better idea of what the benefits and consequences of federating will be:...
Meta has shown repeatedly that they aren't trustworthy. This is like watching a wolf eat every one of your chickens in the coop and then swearing up and down that if you let it in the hen house, it won't touch the chickens in there. Absolutely zero chance that they aren't going to try to take over and steal data and control it. Why else are they trying to come in? These corporations don't make moves like this unless they see a potential profit. I vote block.
Over the last years I been thoroughly enjoying playing a mod of Ultima Online called Ruins & Riches. Ruins & Riches (formerly called UO Odyssey) is designed to provide a rewarding single-player RPG experience. Players of old Ultima games will find the world familiar, and a lot of the quests and lore draw upon the old games. The...
Apps are always nice, but lots of mobile websites, including the kbin one, are entirely functional as an app. In your browser you can just make a shortcut to them, and they'll appear on your home screen and act as an app....
If you are usually a reddit lurker and are on here, it would be cool if you can try and engage with communities for a bit, just to try and get the ball rolling :)
/kbin project management costs, financing, future plans (kbin.social)
I wrote the first line of code for /kbin on January 14, 2021. Around this time, I started working remotely and decided that the time I used to spend commuting to the office would be devoted to /kbin. Throughout this entire period, /kbin has been a hobby project that I developed in my free time. It was also when Lemmy started...
Assuming boost stays as some sort of a super-upvote/share combo alongside regular up/downvote buttons, here's a UI idea on how to merge it into one unified voting system. App animation + web block mockup (kbin.social)
I heard that votes have been changed to behave closer to how people would expect, and boost is staying here as well. So I had an idea how to bring it all together in the interface....
So, I guess Threads is officially spyware... Not at all shocked, but, Jesus that's a lot of data they're wanting. (media.kbin.social)
Inside Reddit's path to an IPO, where employees see 'thrash' from constant pivots and say more managers may leave amid a flattening (www.businessinsider.com)
Without Paywall: https://archive.fo/L402K
NEW: Update & Clarification on Votes, Boosts, Favorites, and Reputation Points on kbin (kbin.social)
Ernest just posted some comments clarifying recent changes to Votes, Boosts, Favorites, and Reputation Points:...
Kbin, FUD, and Tribalism - Where do we go from here? (kbin.social)
It finally happened: many Reddit 3rd party apps have officially shut down. With it comes an influx of users looking for a new place....
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The first flying car, 'Model A,' approved by the FAA and it's 100% electric (www.usatoday.com)
Alef Aeronautics' 'Model A' has a driving range of 200 miles and a flight range of 110 miles. The company plans to start delivering cars by late 2025.
Fediverse won't replace Reddit as long as Lemmy is the main platform being promoted (kbin.social)
Think about things from the point of view of someone who has never used Reddit or the fediverse, but you've heard about them both from recent news articles and want to see what they are about....
Hot take: 18 years of user contributions to reddit will serve as a base model for an AI that generates content and conversations. the reddit experience continues as a simulation, to harvest clicks, sales and ad revenue. (kbin.social)
most of the time you'll be talking to a bot there without even realizing. they're gonna feed you products and ads interwoven into conversations, and the AI can be controlled so its output reflects corporate interests. advertisers are gonna be able to buy access and run campaigns. based on their input, the AI can generate...
Reddit mods are calling for an ‘affordable return’ for third-party apps (www.theverge.com)
Should the Fediverse welcome its new surveillance-capitalism overlords? Opinions differ! (privacy.thenexus.today)
I'm changing my stance on the whole Meta/project92 thing after reading this article. I think the entire* fediverse should block project92 by default. Later, some instances can re-evaluate whether to maintain those blocks, once we have a better idea of what the benefits and consequences of federating will be:...
Ruins & Riches - a single-player Ultima Online experience. (kbin.dk)
Over the last years I been thoroughly enjoying playing a mod of Ultima Online called Ruins & Riches. Ruins & Riches (formerly called UO Odyssey) is designed to provide a rewarding single-player RPG experience. Players of old Ultima games will find the world familiar, and a lot of the quests and lore draw upon the old games. The...
While you're waiting on a kbin app, you should know the mobile site is entirely functional as a mobile app. Just make a shortcut for your home screen (kbin.social)
Apps are always nice, but lots of mobile websites, including the kbin one, are entirely functional as an app. In your browser you can just make a shortcut to them, and they'll appear on your home screen and act as an app....
I'd like to encourage people on the fediverse to comment/upvote/post more than when reddit
If you are usually a reddit lurker and are on here, it would be cool if you can try and engage with communities for a bit, just to try and get the ball rolling :)
Here's my final idea for a Kbin mascot, I call it the "Kbird" (K = Kakatuá), since someone shared a Fediverse flag resembling a pirate flag I thought a bird mascot would fit. (media.kbin.social)