 Microsoft’s official @dotnet sent its first Mastodon post today. Pay attention to the domain: dotnet.social. Which means Microsoft is officially connected with a Mastodon community server. @dotnet account was registered in November, but it became active today. Clearly, Microsoft sees the Fediverse as core to marketing to developers. I wonder what other brands they’ll bring to the Fediverse as well. https://dotnet.social/@dotnet@dotnet.social/109990127969245035 151 comments
 @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews Where's that Ballmer developer video! I think I've posted it too many times now!  @atomicpoet That server is not affiliated with Microsoft, it says so clearly: ".NET Community on Mastodon; not affiliated with Microsoft." @atomicpoet @dotnet That account is affiliated, but not the server. You said: "Which means Microsoft is operating their own Mastodon community server." They are not running that server.  @atomicpoet @Ciantic @dotnet They joined a community server. They posted about it an hour ago and said so themselves, thanking the community member by handle who set up the instance. @Ciantic is correct. @LouisIngenthron @Ciantic @dotnet The owner of dotnet.social is @styx31. Guess who he works for? @LouisIngenthron @Ciantic @dotnet @styx31 @styx31@dotnet.social When an employee runs the server, and an official account lives there, I tend to think there’s a relationship. @atomicpoet @Ciantic @dotnet The admin @styx31 works for Microsoft Tech Group France which is sponsored by Microsoft. @user8e8f87c @atomicpoet @dotnet @styx31 Yeah it's cool either way. .NET community has run multiple weird efforts, they aren't that picky about who is doing the effort. Coziest was in the early .NET Core 1.0 days when they had some own hatched-together Slack alternative written in SignalR that eventually went unmaintained and was killed off. All core devs like @davidfowl I think were hanging around there before .NET Core 1.0 was released.  @Ciantic @atomicpoet Maybe a VS Code plugin, completely in Microsoft newspeak: "Collaborate online with your dev team like never before." Followed by pushing GitHub issue notification etc. over ActivityPub. @Ciantic @atomicpoet But look at the account @dotnet: Which I neither see as a good or bad thing. Just wanted to point it out :blobfoxdetective: @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews Does not appear to be an official MS server. But the account did verify with the official .NET blog. @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews End of year, the Fediverse will look very different than today. @DarkWraithLord @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews  @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews So, Chris, did I get this right, the account is an official MSFT account, but the server says " .NET Community on Mastodon; not affiliated with Microsoft." Is that changing and it's becoming officially a Microsft owned server? @tchambers @dotnet @fediversenews From a pure intellectual property perspective, how do you not claim ownership of that brand? @atomicpoet @tchambers @dotnet @fediversenews I don't know. I think this is a clever play for them. A way to say "we want to be a part of this community too" rather than "we want to own this community and you can't be a part of it without our permission.  @tchambers @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews I guess you’d have to ask @styx31, who runs the instance and does not appear to be personally affiliated with Microsoft. @tchambers @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews @styx31 .NET is an open source project, so someone unaffiliated with MSFT and running dotnet.social is similar to me running phpc.social or someone running ruby.social. (Though, arguably I guess I’m affiliated with PHP in an official capacity.) Other people are noting that dotnet.social is not “officially” affiliated with Microsoft. But why would Microsoft put the official @dotnet at dotnet.social if there’s no relationship? Who are they trying to kid? We see you, Microsoft 😉 @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews Why would they not? They can migrate any time if they need to, but this makes it easier for their marketing crew. Most brand accounts are just accounts, not whole servers. @LouisIngenthron @dotnet @fediversenews Look at when the account was created. Look at when the first message was sent. Clearly, there’s been affiliation for a long time. @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews What does the account being created months ago have to do with whether or not they're affiliated? I don't see where you're making that leap. It makes sense they'd want to claim the name they'd eventually use early, even if they weren't prepared to commit to engaging yet. That doesn't mean they're affiliated with the server. And that's on top of the fact that they've now expressly said they are not affiliated with it. 🤦♂️ @LouisIngenthron @dotnet @fediversenews Well, I don’t believe them. You don’t think Microsoft’s lawyers will send a cease and desist if their intellectual property weren’t violated? You think Microsoft would park their official account there for 5 months if there weren’t some sort of relationship? The reason it’s probably not “official” is because Microsoft likely doesn’t want blowback. @LouisIngenthron Surely you’re not unaware of how much of the Fediverse community views Microsoft, right? @atomicpoet Not all of it apparently. I regularly interact with developers on here and haven't heard a hint of anti-Microsoft sentiment. There are plenty of us .NET developers on Mastodon. And anyone who hates Microsoft is free to defederate from dotnet.social. @LouisIngenthron Maybe not all, but if I were Microsoft, I’d be worried about Fediblock. @atomicpoet Mostly because Fediblock is an easily-manipulated relic that needs to go the way of the dinosaurs. Mastodon has outgrown it. @LouisIngenthron I mean, that’s what someone from QOTO would say. But marketers, especially of big companies, tend to be very paranoid of blowback and exercise caution. I’m not saying that Microsoft owns dotnet.social. But non-affiliation? I don’t buy that. And clearly whoever owns dotnet.social works in lockstep with Microsoft’s marketing department—otherwise they wouldn’t put the account on that server. @LouisIngenthron And lawyers were not involved? No higher ups signed off? @atomicpoet What do either of those things have to do with your attempt to establish a relationship between the server and the company? @LouisIngenthron That’s my point. A lawyer probably signed off, and someone with authority gave it a stamp of approval. @atomicpoet *What* is your point? Lawyers probably signed off on creating Twitter accounts (because Twitter actually has an EULA, unlike dotnet.social). Does that mean that Microsoft is in cahoots with Twitter too? @LouisIngenthron Does a Microsoft employee own Twitter? Is Twitter a Microsoft product? @atomicpoet Which has what exactly to do with lawyers signing off on the account? You're bouncing all over the place here.  @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews not the slickest registrar out there (the rest of the whois is privacy lockdown).  @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews We just block them. Corps are going to try to monetize budding Fediverse so expect this. Btw they have all the $$$ in the world.  @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews > By why would Microsoft put the official @dotnet at dotnet.social if there’s no relationship? Because they’d need some instance regardless, and that one is as good a fit as it gets? @chucker @dotnet @fediversenews While they said nothing for 5 months? Why all the quiet? As I said, I’m skeptical. Big multinational companies don’t do things without strategy. @atomicpoet @chucker @dotnet @fediversenews Maybe the person who runs the server created the account as a placeholder for the .NET Foundation community team to use when they wanted it. @ramsey @chucker @dotnet @fediversenews Maybe. But zero affiliation when the official account lives there? @atomicpoet @ramsey @dotnet @fediversenews the affiliation probably goes as far as “person who runs the account works at MS and got the approval to use it ‘officially’” @atomicpoet @chucker @dotnet @fediversenews I think you’re over-sensationalizing something that’s not very sensational. @chucker @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews Yes, this is what happened. I'm on the team. We've been posting from personal accounts for a while and wanted to set up a team account, and joined on an established community server. We've had Twitter accounts for years (dotnet, aspnet, etc.) and don't own the Twitter server, either. Flattering to hear we're smart enough to plan that many months ahead, though! @jongalloway @chucker @dotnet @fediversenews No one’s ever claimed you owned Twitter. But how is there no affiliation with dotnet.social? Explain that. @atomicpoet The point was that we have team accounts on social networks we don't own. Other teammates have chatted with the dotnet.social admin (I think to ask if it was cool to join the server). You can read more about the server in its about link. If you're certain it's some kind of conspiracy, I'm not going to try to dissuade you, it sounds very exciting and I don't want to spoil the fun.  who cares what microsoft does today, tomorrow, or literally ever? they initiate mass layoffs for no reason other than to punish the working class. they are scum and should be treated as such  @jollyrogue @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews why? If we’re serious about the fediverse, this is a great development. It would be lovely to sit here and look down on folks, but ultimately these are *allies* - don’t want to hear from them? Mute them. Be happy. They don’t play nice? Folks will defederate. But otherwise, the more this place grows, the more power is decentralized. @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews I feel bad for whomever ends up managing the teams mastodon account  @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews Damn, Microsoft always wants money for something on my computer. One Drive, Restore, then they screw with my photos. Not fond of Microsoft. Here I am on Microsoft. It is like the two duopoly, except one could go to apple instead of Linux, but requires an apple. @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews oh boy. Having worked at a Microsoft company in the past, I'm not exactly thrilled about this. Can't we just "silence brand" these mega corporations like Tumblr does? @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews oh, great... that's just so great. Perhaps they will bring along some of that fabulous closed source philosophy that has shaped the systems world so heavily in the last 30 years. Cant wait to see what they bring to the fediverse. Culture, alone. @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews Hey, Chris. Going to channel a t-shirt I saw in the late 90's. "Microsuck". Entirely fvck Microsoft. They really just want to eat your liver. This is not helpful, but...   @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews Jesus, even Microsoft is here now. This is overwhelming. @atomicpoet Microsoft is very reliable about skating where the puck is demonstrably going. At least in my world of front end development, digital advertising, cloud computing, GitHub, AI something something, and now Mastadon. Yep, here comes the big brands. At least the vanguard.  @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews have they been attacked by open source absolutists yet? Or furries? @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews Why does the Borg need me to sign in on their thing when I click follow?  @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews To be recognized by such a large brand is a step in the right direction. @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews They should have used the .msn domain! But yeah, it is clearly an aim to developers and not the entire #Microsoft ecosystem. @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews maybe tell them I don't have neither version 'TPM' module and Win 10 20H2 works but Win 11 won't.  Czy https://dotnet.social to coś czego należy się obawiać? Pierwsza próba kiedy BigTech próbuje położyć rękę na tym projekcie i później go ubić tak jak kiedy google sforkowało diasporę po to aby po przejęciu uższykodników zrobić to co google robi ze wszystkimi fajnymi projektami? Czy może to tylko zwykłe objawy mojej paranoi? :D @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews And yet @mozilla is still taking so long to start their own instance. 😩  @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews On their instance they write clearly: "< / code > .NET Community on Mastodon; NOT affiliated with Microsoft." In the meantime, the owner of the instance has answered here that it's private: https://mastodon.online/@styx31@dotnet.social/109992452716390528   We have a ton of F# programmers here on SDF. I don't see this as a problem, as long as they post interesting stuff and don't advertise 24/7 (but that's just me). @atomicpoet @dotnet @fediversenews Une très bonne occasion d'exploiter la force du fediverse en bloquant le domaine @dotnet.social 😋 @atomicpoet @dotnet Thanks for sharing this, Chris. I have followed the discussion and I think that even that if there were no affiliation between MS and the instance - like some are saying - then we should be discussing the fact that powerful corporations are using community-sustained resources like our mastodon servers to position their brands.This I find ultimately irreverent.
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Gregory's Server
@atomicpoet@mastodon.social @dotnet@dotnet.social @fediversenews@venera.social I'm waiting for Riot Games to join the Fediverse