#NLnet Foundation and #NGIZero awarded grants to 47 #projects in the twelfth open call of the NGI Zero Commons Fund. Supported by the #EuropeanCommission and #SERI, projects span #hardware, #softwareengineering, #infrastructure and #applications to advance #digitalsovereignty. https://www.apc.org/en/news/47-open-source-projects-receive-nlnet-grants-boost-digital-autonomy?Fedizen.EU #Fedizen #Fediverse #ActivityPub #News

Fediverse Software Distribution (from https://fedidb.com)

#fediverse #activityPub #fediDB

Alt...

Fediverse Software Distribution

Week in Fediverse 2026-10-16

Servers

- GoToSocial v0.22.2
- Hollo v0.9.23
- snac v2.96
- Funkwhale v2.0.12
- Vernissage Server v1.44.0
- FitPub v1.3
- Hometown v1.3.1
- yukimochi/Activity-Relay v2.0.12
- Iceshrimp v2026.5.2
- NeoDB v0.19.8
- Forgejo v0.17.0
- NodeBB v4.16.3
- PieFed v1.8.5

Clients

- IceCubesApp v2.1.6
- Mastodon Bird UI v4.7.3-2026-10-11
- RaccoonForFriendica v1.1.3
- chan-fe v0.5.0

Tools and Plugins

- Poduptime v6.3.3
- FediFetcher v8.2.3
- Enable Mastodon Apps v1.7.0 (WordPress plugin)

For developers

- DrFed v0.1.0
- Fedify v2.4.4

Articles

- Some quick thoughts on Unit Testing ActivityPub
- Threads and the Fediverse: The Threat That Wasn’t

-----

#WeekInFediverse #Fediverse #ActivityPub

Previous edition: https://mitra.social/objects/01a12226-89dc-7182-949d-94663546af6c

Elgg can join the Fediverse! 🌐
 
There is an ActivityPub integration available for your Elgg instances: https://github.com/RiverVanRain/activitypub
 
FediDB stats: https://fedidb.com/software/elgg
 
Already running Elgg? Install the plugin, join the Fediverse, and help grow decentralized networks! 🚀
 
#Elgg #ActivityPub #Fediverse
 
https://github.com/RiverVanRain/activitypub https://pw.wzm.me/wall/v/23109

Has "Mastodon" become a category name, rather than a product / brand name? In a similar way "Jeep" became a category word for "all-terrain vehicle".

So often I see people use #Mastodon, where they refer more broadly to #fediverse. And I think "How about all the other fine #microblogging apps other than Mastodon?"

Look how many others there are: https://delightful.coding.social/delightful-fediverse-experience/#microblogging

What do you think: Has "Mastodon" become a category name?

#poll #SocialWeb #ActivityPub

#snac2 #fediverse #frugalfediverse

Accounts can be marked as cool; anytime a cool account posts something, a notification will be sent.

Fixed an issue in Direct Messages sent from the people page; these posts didn't explicitly mention the recipient, and that confused some implementations.

Fixed crash when sending an empty EmojiReact.

HTTP requests can now be forced to use IPv6 by setting the force_ipv6_requests configuration directive to true in server.json.

Fixed a socket buffering issue under OpenIndiana (contributed by aleteoryx).

Mastodon API: Added missing requested_by field in the relationships entrypoint (contributed by Uilebheist), implemented the followers entrypoint (contributed by Uilebheist), use Mastodon's RFC3339 format for markers (contributed by nowster), fixed posts with muted words not being filtered out, fixed editing of media alt texts.

Tweaked HTML to avoid elinks complaining about a missing '#top' fragment.

Fixed a bug that made deleting the notification email address impossible.

RSS timelines are now cached because fuckers hammer for them continuously (probably AI crap bots).

Added information to README.md on how to build and install on Illumos / OpenIndiana Hipster 2026.04 (contributed by aleteoryx).

Updated Russian, Brazilian Portuguese and Czech translations (contributed by koru, daltux, pmjv).

https://comam.es/what-is-snac

If you find #snac useful, please consider buying grunfink a coffee or contributing via LiberaPay.

#snacAnnounces #FrugalFediverse

#KidsAct

Deadline extended: EU Commission seeks feedback on #EUKidsAct until 3 December 2026:
→ https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/19418-Child-online-safety-keeping-digital-spaces-accountable-and-trustworthy-EU-Kids-Act-_en
#HaveYourSay

There are already 2327 comments.

Still not discussed enough: „ #AgeVerification in the #Fediverse: How the KIDS Act challenges #Mastodon “ Can/will #Activitypub , apps and instances adapt?
→ https://www.heise.de/en/background/Age-verification-in-the-Fediverse-How-the-KIDS-Act-challenges-Mastodon-11474306.html

I paid people to try and follow my README

Developers suck at writing documentation. We like to say RTFM but often there ain't no FM to R. At best we have a half-arsed collection of notes, some obsolete tips, and a link to a desolate forum full of people asking the same questions again and again. That's no way to treat our users.

I naïvely believe there's a better way. As I've written before, you should sit down and actually test your readme. Spin up a fresh Virtual Machine, go through what you've written, and see if it makes sense.

But it is really hard to ignore your own biases. Of course you know that certain commands require sudo and obviously when you wrote -foo you meant --foo and everyone knows that you have to reboot afterwards.

How do you get rid of those biases? I paid people!

As part of my NLnet grant application for ActivityBot, I said I wanted to test the install experience with real users and I was prepared to pay them €25 for an hour of their time. I stuck out the call on Mastodon, gathered a few people, and had a video call with them.

The format was simple. I explained that I was looking for feedback on the first-run experience. I knew that it wasn't perfect and actively wanted constructive criticism. I asked the volunteer to share their screen and, crucially, to speak aloud. Tell me what they were doing. What they didn't understand, what confused them, what delighted them, what frustrated them, etc.

I took notes by hand (fuck feeding the machine) and spent several hours being told what incorrect assumptions I'd made.

Amongst the highlights I discovered were:

• The link to the demo tool was wrong.
• Some people read a README in the terminal.
• What does it actually mean to rename a file?
• How do you rename a hidden file?
• Should a demo tool be available on the web or just the user's local machine?
• Why does some text explicitly need to be quoted and some not?
• My jokes aren't funny and are actively confusing.
• Some of the technical terminology needed explaining.
• The ordering of the different sections was confusing.
• I hadn't actually explained what the software would do.
• A whole section which was technically interesting to me was utterly confusing to everyone else.
• Not all web servers use permissions in the same way.

And on it went!

After each session I updated the README based on what people found difficult, then I re-tested it with the next person.

In total, I paid out around €150 to have a bunch of people criticise me to my face. Hey, cheaper than therapy, right?

I know someone is going to say "why not just ask an LLM to simulate a range of users?" The answer is very simple - I want to speak to real people. People are brilliant! They can make you laugh, you can see their cat when it wanders on to the call, they bring a unique perspective to the problem, and they're really happy when you give them a €25 voucher. Some will gladly do it for free and make you happy!

When I was doing technical writing for GOV.UK, all my beautiful prose was given a second-eye by another human. They eviscerated all my flowery phrases and turned the document into something more readable. They were the ones who caught the mistakes that no spell chequer could. They were able to have a proper conversation with me. More importantly, I could hear the frustration in their voice - that's the thing which lets you know a mistake needs to be corrected.

I don't claim that ActivityBot's README is now perfect - far from it - but it is now demonstrably easier to follow. Developers need to talk to real people. You don't have to pay them if you can't afford it - but find a few people who will talk aloud while they try to follow your instructions. I guarantee you that your README will become much better for it.

Alt...

A tiny lego Storm Trooper eats a chocolate coin.

🆕 blog! “I paid people to try and follow my README”

Developers suck at writing documentation. We like to say RTFM but often there ain't no FM to R. At best we have a half-arsed collection of notes, some obsolete tips, and a link to a desolate forum full of people asking the same questions again and again. That's no way to treat our users.

I naïvely …

👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/10/i-paid-people-to-try-and-follow-my-readme/
⸻
#ActivityBot #ActivityPub #developers

Week in Fediverse 2026-10-09

Servers

- Hollo v0.9.22
- PieFed v1.8.0
- Mitra v5.11.0
- Mbin v1.11.0
- Catodon v26.10.0
- NeoDB v0.19.6.3
- NodeBB v4.16.2
- Lemmy Development Update September 2026

Clients

- Tusky v33.0
- Pachli v3.9.1
- IceCubesApp v2.1.4
- Summit v1.87.0
- Pixelfed Mobile App v2.0.0
- Aria v1.5.15

For developers

- Fedify security updates: 2.0.30, 2.1.26, 2.2.15, 2.3.10, and 2.4.0

Protocol

- FEP-4f18: ActivityPub Network Time

-----

#WeekInFediverse #Fediverse #ActivityPub

Previous edition: https://mitra.social/objects/01a0fe1a-a0fe-7d20-895a-b18c4561484c

Tijd voor taart en slingers. We hebben zojuist succesvol het account van @NRC gemigreerd van mastodon.nl naar onze eigen server nrc.social. Tegen de vrijwilligers achter mastodon.nl zeg ik: dank voor de goede zorgen! I'll take it from here. Overigens blijft het devies dat we klein beginnen. Ik zal verslag doen van de ervaringen. https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2026/10/08/zojuist-is-het-account-van-nrc-naar-de-eigen-server-verhuisd-a4938498
#mastodon #opensocials #NRCserver #taart #activitypub

Pixelfed is not for sale. It never was.

I've turned down 6 and 7 figure offers, and I'd do it again tomorrow. Some things matter more than a beach and a Peach Bellini.

We're building something generational here. Something that outlives us if we get it right.

100M+ people. Ethically sustainable. Admins and creators get paid.

You deserve better, and we're going to build it together.

#activityPub #fediverse #together #notForSale

Week in Fediverse 2026-10-02

Servers

- PeerTube v8.3.1
- Hollo v0.9.20
- Mastodon v4.7.3
- Ibis v0.3.4
- Wafrn v2026.10.01
- Hometown v1.3.0
- Misskey v2026.10.0
- NeoDB v0.19.5
- Hatsu v0.3.5
- Wanderer v0.21.0

Clients

- Pachli v3.9.0
- Fedilab v3.45.0
- chan-fe v0.4.0
- PeerTube Mobile v2.3.0

For developers

- Fedify v2.4.0
- activitypub-federation-rust v0.6.6
- Fedipub v0.10.0

Protocol

- FEP-070c: Block synchronization across servers
- FEP-302f: QuantPub — federated personal metrics for quantified-self sharing
- FEP-6757: Content License Metadata in ActivityPub

Articles

- Why Does Nobody Use Lemmy?
- Fediverse News – Summer 2026

-----

#WeekInFediverse #Fediverse #ActivityPub

Previous edition: https://mitra.social/objects/01a0dbf1-5095-74a1-b198-2872b783a198

There's a new very lightweight Fediverse platform that's just been released called littleFedi. You can follow its new official account at:

🌱 @littlefedi_official

Its official website including download and source code is at:

🌱 https://littlefedi.org

LittleFedi is for techy people who want to create their own Fediverse server using as few resources as possible.

It's written by a group called "Little Computer People", its maintainer is @stefano

#Fediverse #ActivityPub #FOSS #SelfHosting

Wrote and submitted my first FEP!

FEP-070c: Block synchronization across servers

Just wrapping up the implementation in Pixelfed as we speak.

https://github.com/pixelfed/pixelfed/pull/7583

#pixelfed #blockSync #fep #activityPub

Y si iba a ser residencia de antiguos presidentes de la CAM, ¿dónde meteríamos al o a los siguientes? ¿Más millones de euros en áticos chulos y céntricos?

(Supongo que os habréis dado cuenta de lo bien que funciona #snac, el más mejor servidor #ActivityPub del mundo, y del que estreno nueva versión).

New on o.ee: ActivityPub Won by Being Boring

A reaction to Evan Prodromou's FediForum 2026 talk: ActivityPub succeeded because its core is deliberately ordinary: JSON, HTTP, inboxes, outboxes, and subject-verb-object activities. The hard parts now are signatures, trust boundaries, defederation, portability, and scale.

https://s.ee/8qbD

#ActivityPub #Fediverse #OpenStandards

Linked Data in HTTP Headers rather than in JSON (i.e., JSON-LD), etc

⁂

Many Fediverse servers will give you different content depending on the "Accept" header in the HTTP request.

If "application/activity+json" you get ActivityPub/ActivityStreams JSON-LD metadata. If something else, you get actual file/payload.

If we encoded Linked Data as HTTP headers (key-value pairs), we could include the Linked Data with the actual file/payload.

#ActivityPub #ActivityStreams #FediDev #LinkedData #JSONLD

I have seen the @Codeberg people say they don't want to be the only code-forge.

I.e., they don't want to replace GitHub. They want there to be many code-forges out there, including them.

I agree with this goal.

But — I think until we (at least) have federated pull-requests, this is less likely to happen.

And, I do know that there is an effort to add ActivityPub support to Forgejo, Gitea, and others.

https://forgefed.org

I think ForgeFed is important for this goal

#ActivityPub #Codeberg

PRs must not incorporate any material generated by or with the assistance of any so-called "generative AI" tool or LLM.

Quoted posts are now shown.

Added metadata to remote users in the people page (contributed by dandelions).

Fixed memory leak (contributed by dandelions).

Fixed user matching (contributed by rakoo).

Rendering visibility conditionally, with lesser reach if needed (contributed by byte).

Added a button next to a follow notification to follow back.

Fixed typo in man page (contributed by spky).

Updated Czech and German translations (contributed by pmjv and zen).

https://comam.es/what-is-snac

If you find #snac useful, please consider buying grunfink a coffee or contributing via LiberaPay.

#snacAnnounces #FrugalFediverse

RE: https://colours.bots.edent.tel/posts/68d87379-8e35-18be-b901-2730376a090d.json

Ok, I need some #ActivityPub help, please.

The reply to this will have links to the QuoteRequest the bot received, the QuoteAuthorization which it saves, and the Accept message it returns.

Can anyone figure out why the Quote permissions aren't showing on external servers?

#MastodonAPI

Added support for scheduled posts (for this to work correctly, users will have to set their time zone, see below).

The user can now select a working time zone. This will be used to correctly parse the local date and time of a scheduled post.

Fixed incorrect poll vote format, which was causing problems in platforms like GotoSocial.

Mastodon API: added support for /api/v1/instance/peers.

Added a new snac-admin helper script (contributed by shtrophic).

In the web UI, posts are separated by the <hr hidden> tag; it's invisible in graphical browsers, but it separates post clearly in text-based browsers.

Some Finnish, Spanish, Czech and Russian translation updates and fixes.

https://comam.es/what-is-snac

If you find #snac useful, please consider buying grunfink a coffee or contributing via LiberaPay.

#snacAnnounces

This release has been inspired by the song Pictures on the Wall by #MichelleGurevich.

You, people, are GREAT. Thank you very much.

De la mano del muchache creador de #snac, y su inagotable optimismo con el amor y la vida, nos llega ahora una instancia #activitypub para saber si llega o no llega el meteorito de las narices.

Week in Fediverse 2025-01-31

Servers

- Manyfold v0.99.0
- Misskey v2025.1.0
- snac v2.70
- Hollo v0.4.5
- Gancio v1.23.0
- NeoDB v0.11.4.3
- forgejo-contrib/federation: The place to organize development around federation for Forgejo

Clients

- Elk v0.16.0
- Pachli v2.9.2
- Dhaaga v0.14.1
- Alexandrite v0.8.18
- Pixelix v3.3.0
- PeerTube Mobile v0.6.0

Tools and Plugins

- poduptime v5.5.0

Protocol

- FEP-2277: ActivityPub core types

Articles

- Improving Snac Performance With Nginx Proxy Cache
- Fediverse Report #101

-----

#WeekInFediverse #Fediverse #ActivityPub

Previous edition: https://mitra.social/objects/019499d8-2a50-b1df-6908-393384df7e2d

Added support for subscribing to LitePub (Pleroma-style) Fediverse Relays like e.g. https://fedi-relay.gyptazy.com to improve federation. See snac(8) (the Administrator Manual) for more information on how to use this feature.

Added support for following hashtags. This is only useful if your instance is subscribed to relays (see above).

Added support for a Mastodon-like /authorize_interaction webpoint entry, that allows following, liking and boosting from another account's Mastodon public web interface. To be able to use it, you must reconfigure your https proxy to redirect /authorize_interaction to snac (see snac(8)).

Some fixes to accept Event objects properly (like those coming from implementations like https://gancio.org/ or https://mobilizon.fr).

Added some caching for local Actor objects.

Hashtags that are not explicitly linked in a post's content are shown below it.

Fixed broken NetBSD build (missing dependency in Makefile.NetBSD).

The user profile can now include longitude and latitude data for your current location.

Mastodon API: implemented limit= on notification fetches (contributed by nowster), implemented faster min_id handling (contributed by nowster), obey the quiet public visibility set for posts, other timeline improvements (contributed by nowster).

Reduced RSA key size for new users from 4096 to 2048. This will be friendlier to smaller machines, and everybody else out there is using 2048.

If the SNAC_BASEDIR environment variable is defined and set to the base directory of your installation, you don't have to include the base directory in the command line.

Fixed a bug in the generation of the top page (contributed by an-im-dugud).

Added support for Markdown headers and underlining (contributed by an-im-dugud).

https://comam.es/what-is-snac

If you find #snac useful, please consider contributing via LiberaPay: https://liberapay.com/grunfink/

#snacAnnounces

This release has been inspired by the song Nine Hundred Miles by #BarbaraDane.

Fixed regression in link verification code (contributed by nowster).

Added ipv6 support for the https frontend connection (contributed by hb9hnt).

New "Like by URL" operation (contributed by dheadshot).

Added support for a Mastodon-like /share link sharing URL, like the one provided by sites like https://mastodonshare.com/ and such. To be able to use it, you must reconfigure your https proxy to redirect /share to snac (see snac(8)).

New linux landlock (sandboxing) support for enhanced security (contributed by shtrophic). It's still a bit experimental, so you have to enable it explicitly by recompiling with the WITH_LINUX_SANDBOX directive (e.g. make CFLAGS=-DWITH_LINUX_SANDBOX).

Some search fixes regarding repeated matches.

The export_csv cmdline operation now exports the CSV files inside a user's export/ subdirectory instead of the current directory.

All CSV files to be imported must now be stored inside a user's import/ subdirectory instead of the current directory.

Mastodon API: more timeline paging tunings (contributed by nowster), post language selected in apps is properly set.

The command-line operation note new reads the LANG environment variable to set the post's language.

A new command-line operation, note_unlisted, allows posting "unlisted" or "quiet public" posts.

The maximum number of entries in users' RSS feeds and in outboxes can now be set via the max_public_entries variable in the server.json file.

Fixed broken support for Audio objects.

Made xmpp and mailto URLs clickable.

https://comam.es/what-is-snac

If you find #snac useful, please consider contributing via LiberaPay: https://liberapay.com/grunfink/

#snacAnnounces

This release has been inspired by the painting Judith Slaying Holofernes by #ArtemisiaGentileschi.

Added a new user option to disable automatic follow confirmations (follow requests must be manually approved from the people page).

The search box also searches for accounts (via webfinger).

New command-line action import_list, to import a Mastodon list in CSV format (so that Mastodon Follow Packs can be directly used).

New command-line action import_block_list, to import a Mastodon list of accounts to be blocked in CSV format.

https://comam.es/what-is-snac

If you find #snac useful, please consider contributing via LiberaPay: https://liberapay.com/grunfink/

#snacAnnounces

The server can now act as a proxy for all image, audio or video media coming from other account's posts (both from the Web UI and the Mastodon API). This way, other servers will see media requests coming from the server IP, not the user's, improving privacy. This is controlled by setting the proxy_media boolean field to server.json to true.

The strict_public_timelines option introduced in the previous release now works correctly.

Fixed a crash when posting from the links browser.

Fixed some repeated images from Lemmy posts.

Fixed a crash when posting an image from the tooot mobile app.

Updated FreeBSD rc script: the server process is now managed by the daemon(8) utility (contributed by @stefano@bsd.cafe).

RSS feeds are now in 2.0 version instead of 0.91.

https://comam.es/what-is-snac

If you find #snac useful, please consider contributing via LiberaPay: https://liberapay.com/grunfink/donate

#snacAnnounces

This release has been inspired by the song New Moon (Dark Phase) by #DuranDuran.

Migration from a Mastodon account to a snac one has been implemented. Please see snac(8) (the administrator manual) for more information.

Mastodon API: fixed timelines/public (it was showing less posts that it should).

Fixed over-zealous caching to the public timeline.

Some HTML tweaks and fixes to the web interface.

https://comam.es/what-is-snac

If you find #snac useful, please consider buying grunfink a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/grunfink

#snacAnnounces

This release has been inspired by the painting The Hands Resist Him by #BillStoneham.

Uhm, well, that's a completely reasonable collection of source code repositories. Software, everything written in basic #C by @grunfink

https://codeberg.org/grunfink

I'd like to use at least two of them: #sutter, the #gmi and #html static site generator and #snac2, an #ActivityPub instance.

#frugalSoftware #permaComputing #gemini

Support for custom Emojis has been added; they are no longer hardcoded, but read from the emojis.json file at the server base directory. Also, they are no longer limited to string substitutions, but images as external URLs are also supported (see snac(8) for more information).

Fixed a bug that caused some notifications to be lost when coming from a user in the same instance.

Added an additional check for blocked instances (sometimes, posts from blocked sites that were ancestors of legit posts were 'leaking' into the timeline).

On OpenBSD, if the disable_email_notifications server flag is set to true, unveil() is not called for the execution of the /usr/sbin/sendmail binary and pledge() doesn't set the exec promise.

https://comam.es/what-is-snac

If you find #snac useful, please consider buying grunfink a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/grunfink

This release has been inspired by the album Eternal Embers by #Meltt.

#snacAnnounces

Part 3 of "A Guide to Implementing ActivityPub in a Static Site (or Any Website)" is just out the oven!

In this blog post, I explain how to make your blog discoverable in the Fediverse as an account, and also address some of the annoying pitfalls I encountered.

Full article here: https://maho.dev/2024/02/a-guide-to-implementing-activitypub-in-a-static-site-or-any-website-part-3/

If you like it don't forget to follow the @blog !

#fediverse #activitypub #static-sites #hugo #azure #mastodon #web-development #social-web #webfinger #http