It would tie in better with the email analogy, and it could show that they all just provide access to the same network.
What do you think?
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Servers are a better word for it imo. It is what it actually is and average people already understand servers from discord
“Average people” don’t even know what Discord is
Servers are a better word for it imo.
Agreed. When I explain Lemmy to my friends I describe instances as “servers.”
Discord servers are just groups. Lemmy “instances” are actual separate instances of Lemmy communicating.
I know. What im saying is the word server isnt too technical and is both easier to understand and technically correct
I’m afraid that when I say „my Lemmy provider” people will think I’m referring to my drug dealer.
Lemmy and Molly (foss) are the most addictive. 🤣🤣
“Psst… Hey, you. Wanna buy some SoMe?”
Call them States … like states within a federation.
I like server better
would confuse me because when I hear “provider” I think ISP before anything else
I think instance is okay as a term, but defining it as a provider could be helpful. I don’t think the fediverse is that complicated anyway, it could be summarized in a paragraph for a baby
I was thinking the same. Provider is easier to understand, and used in daily life contexts.
- I changed my Internet provider
- This electricity provider offers better service
How would the word be used in our context? The Fediverse provider?
But I think I associate the word with money related activities and I’m not a fan of that.
“I recommend feddit.uk as a Lemmy provider for people living in the UK”
“Feddit.org is a good provider for German speakers”
I would think the jargon would be “I chose fedia.io as my Lemmy provider,” or similar for other federated platforms.
Oh god no. That’s like “I chose Burger King as my McDonald’s provider.”
But Burger King and McDonalds are the same type of entities.
Fedia.io and Lemmy are different. Your example would be “Lemmy as a Piefed provider”, or “Feddit.org as a feddit.uk provider”
Fine, “I choose Burger King as my hamburger provider but I expect to be able to access a Big Mac from Burger King unless they are defederated.”
Ok, have it your way then
Yes, thats what I was thinking.
I was thinking about other decentralised networks people may use, and they all seem to use the word “provider”:
- Email provider
- Internet provider
- Usenet provider
That’s what resonates for me.
We don’t have email
instances, and email providers similarly block un-desired content, but there’s not a big fuss about missing out on specific types of spam. Lol.Similarly Internet service providers actually also block big blocks of malware providing domains, and accidentally sometimes block some great piracy resources. People who care learn to use a VPN or switch providers. Everyone else doesn’t have to think about it.
I’ll argue that The Fediverse also carries extremely similar switching cost as an email or Internet provider. For an average user, “Let folks you care to inform know where you moved, and maybe copy over some favorite bookmarks.”
Sure, different providers do try to bring different lenses on the same federated content, but most people aren’t served well by thinking about it on day one.
I think shifting to the term
provideris a lot more honest to the user about what to expect.
Provider has the connotation of being a paid provider for services. While it’s a technically accurate analogy, I prefer the more abstract comparison of considering the fediverse a meeting place rather than a paid service since it’s a mostly volunteer and self hosted network compared to email.
I disagree. Gmail is my email provider. I don’t pay for it. (Yeah I know they are taking ad revenue.)
Instance is unnecessary jargon.
It’s probably too late for that now, but I do think that’s a better name
I like it. The reasoning’s good.
I hate the term “instance”. It’s hopelessly geeky (it derives from object-oriented programming). It brings to mind nerds and gamers in basements.
I thought it was just an instance of the lemmy software, for example?
Yes, I know what an instance is, but I never thought that was what people meant.
It brings to mind nerds and gamers in basements.
Which is pretty much the main users of Lemmy lol
I agree, let’s make it more friendly to people wanting to start a fediverse provider as a business so a big company can’t come in and gobble up everyone
