Gregory's Server@smitty hell yeh
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16 comments
@smitty I remember back when we pushed hard against walled gardens. And then the rise of Facebook and Gmail meant that both email and the web became synonymous with just these two things. And mobile service providers even offered free data to access them in exchange for a cut of the revenue. Still do. I am v new here, but I used to belong to a microblogging service called Phlog, back in 2003. I was user #3. What a ride! https://twitter.com/alanb/status/1488754580100116481?s=20&t=OXA_nJPHw7lze3-EFOv8NA  @sarb At least Email is still a Federated system. If you choose to use gmail.com, it doesn't stop me from using my own domain and still being able to interoperate with you. That's really where the problem is: breaking that interoperability between domains of control. Luckily, email became well enough established before large instances like Gmail came around, otherwise it probably would be a walled garden too. @smitty Too true, email you can disaggregate to a large extent. But so many people don't because it's easy. And hence the training wheels required for Mastodon. many people have never experienced an ecosystem like this before. I did for decades, but haven't in a long time, and I'm REALLY rusty. Heck knows what others feel like... @smitty @sarb I remember that was literally what services such as Microsoft Network (MSN) were all about in their first iterations and what Exchange server was originally for. Their idea was you would access everything through their network and stay on their network for the most part with proprietary systems for messages and "web" and a "gateway" that they could charge you for to access other networks such as AOL, Compuserve, or "internet messages". @PeaEyeEnnKay @smitty I know! Remember when the person who knew how to interface with the Exchange server was the person who you had to suck up to the most in order to get anything down outside the internal network? @sarb @smitty I was 'that guy' but we were running Netware and Solaris in the backend on a dual bonded ISDN with Socks proxy and as I was the only person who knew how it all worked I was free to give people unfettered access to the internet and show them how to hide from company snooping as much as possible. Exchange was something I was 'looking at', mostly with disdain. @smitty @sarb greetings. Regarding to email is a federated system, I read recently this sad article about the difficulties you might face with it: He faced huge problems with Mail distribution after some spam mail events and the upcoming ban for it by so called "big players". I cannot compare. Did you notice something similar? @sarb I owe my entire career (and, lets be honest, LIFE) to BBSes. I got started when I was 10, was running my own by 12, and haven't stopped running it, even to today. It's what got me started in system administration and networking. I literally have no idea what I'd have done to make money if it weren't for BBSing when I was a kid. @smitty OMG this convo reminds me that when I arrived in NZ in 2005, the shared flat I was in was still using dial-up internet. 2005! We had to take turns with it and we had time limits. And mobile data was so expensive and crappy coverage, I had to go to internet cafes to stay in touch with folks outside of NZ. Which was everyone. I didn't know anyone here then. WOW |
@sarb Right?! 🙂