I finally bit the bullet and spun up my own instance. I've picked a fun domain name that others might end up enjoying too, but for now it's just me, myself, and I.

It's running on #Snac2 on a Hetzner (ARM64!) instance in Germany, so the connection is a bit slow for me as I live in Asia, but should be fine for most everyone else I suppose. I could have put it on a Vultr instance, but this'll do for now.

Other than this.. nothing new to report? You may know me from the #BitBang #Mastodon instance, but since I've been wanting to give self-hosting a try, I figured now is as good a time as any to actualy try.

Now onto figuring out everything else surrounding self-hosting something like this 😅.

Do say hi, if you'd like!

#introduction #SelfHosted

The #illumosCafe #Mastodon instance has been upgraded to v4.4.4

#illumosCafeUpdates #illumosCafeServices #illumosCafeAnnouncements

The #BSDCafe #Mastodon instance has been upgraded to v4.4.4

#BSDCafeServices #BSDCafeUpdates

@MediaActivist Ah, yes, and leave to which Bluesky instance, Jay? Oh, right.

Good thing there's an existing already-federated (not merely theoretically federatable) replacement. Is there a means to migrate (posts, followers, followees, lists, etc.) from #Bluesky to a #Mastodon instance, or is Jay offering essentially the same option as Twitter?

Thanks to SeaweedFS, I've set up two replicas of the BSD Cafe's media. One is on a backup server (for disaster recovery purposes only, also containing the hourly zfs-autobackup backups), and the other is on a Raspberry Pi 4 running FreeBSD, which is one of my home backup servers - just one meter away from my desk.
I've also configured Nginx in a jail, so when I'm at home, the BSD Cafe's media is served directly from the local replica.
The performance is lightning fast.

#BSDCafe #SeaweedFS #S3 #Mastodon #SelfHosting #Homelab #FreeBSD #RunBSD

Guys we really need help and if anyone can contribute we will kindly appreciate it through our donation as we need some few bucks with the goal to the finishing on the house.

You all made it possible please let keep it going on with the help and boost on the kofi.

All work will be post on the kofi and #Mastodon

https://ko-fi.com/uggla/goal?g=23

#MutualAid #Fediverse #MutualAidRequest

Thanks and God bless. ❤️🤲

One thing I like to do every few days, is to go to the hashtag #Introduction and welcome the newcomers

#Mastodon #Confession #Welcome

new #mastodon client on the app store

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/glacial/id6745746223

I’ve started compiling a list on the Gaza Verified guide page of Mastodon instances that have publicly stated that they are sympathetic to the Palestinian plight and are a safe space for Palestinians:

https://gaza-verified.org/guide/

If you run a Mastodon server where Palestinians can feel safe creating an account without fear of it being shut down without reason, please reply to this post and let me know and I’ll add a link to your instance on the page.

Also, please take a look at the accounts on Gaza Verified and help them out if you can. Things are worse than ever with Israel forcing yet another displacement and destroying even more of Gaza in its ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

https://gaza-verified.org

Thank you!

💕

#Gaza #Palestine #GazaVerified #StopIsrael #StopTheGenocide #FreePalenstine #fediverse #Mastodon #solidarity

@tchambers

That’s bugged me since I started usin #Mastodon. The autocomplete for usernames doesn’t work reliably, so you go to a new tab and search. Then you try to copy the name you’ve found and the whole thing is clickable links that makes selecting it incredibly hard on a touchscreen and a minor challenge with a mouse. It’s not just missing the copy button, it’s making copying actively hard.

Announcing Gaza Verified

https://gaza-verified.org

I’ve been having video conversations over Signal with people from Gaza who have Mastodon accounts on the fediverse in an effort to vouch for their authenticity.

This week, I whipped up a site to formalise this and to enable them to add a verified link to their Mastodon bios. Hopefully this will cut down on the amount of time they need to spend proving that their accounts genuinely belong to a person suffering through genocide and famine in Gaza and help them with their fundraisers.

The first four accounts belong to:

• @Aseelsehwel
• @NouranKhaledGh
• @joynewacc
• @mohshbair

If you want to get on the site, please contact me. See the guide for more information: https://gaza-verified.org/guide

Please share and donate to their fundraisers if you can.

Thank you!

💕

CC @palestine

#Gaza #Palestine #FreePalestine #fediverse #mastodon #verification

#fediverse #activitypub

My friends, I'm so excited and happy to introduce a new project: the illumos Cafe!

The positive and constructive spirit of the BSD Cafe, created and maintained by all the friends who participated from day one in building a strong and friendly community, deserves to spread to other operating systems. Because there are other OSes that deserve attention, certainly more than they're getting right now.

Operating systems based on illumos (like SmartOS, OmniOS, Tribblix, OpenIndiana, etc.) are mature, stable, secure, and perfectly usable for a wide range of tasks. ZFS is native, zones are an excellent method for containerization, and bhyve and kvm coexist beautifully - and so much more, too much to list in a single post.

So from today, the illumos Cafe will stand alongside the BSD Cafe in creating a positive, respectful, and growth-oriented (but also relaxing!) environment, starting right here in the Fediverse with a Mastodon instance and a snac one.

I've written an introductory article about the project, including some technical details. I invite everyone interested to read it: https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/08/18/introducing-the-illumos-cafe/

Choose your table, take a seat and enjoy your time at the illumos Cafe!

#SysAdmin #IT #BSDCafe #illumosCafe #Community #OpenSource #OSS #illumos #SmartOS #OpenIndiana #ZFS #bhyve #kvm #Fediverse #Mastodon #snac #ITNotes

At EuroBSDCon 2025 in Zagreb: "Liberating the social web using *BSD" by Jeroen - @h3artbl33d - and Stefano Marinelli, see https://events.eurobsdcon.org/2025/talk/PJJLFV/

Schedule at https://events.eurobsdcon.org/2025/schedule/

To register https://2025.eurobsdcon.org/registration.html

#EuroBSDCon #EBC25 #BSDCafe #FreeBSD #NetBSD #OpenBSD #Networking #BSDCafe #RunBSD #Mastodon #Fediverse #OwnYourData #Security #Networking #Community

#CrazyFediverseAnalogies

Announcing FediMeteo – Weather in the Fediverse!

UPDATE: I have created an account for updates and other information on FediMeteo - follow the account @admin to stay updated!

UPDATE: Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland have just been added

Weather has always influenced our lives: from agriculture to outdoor activities, to extreme events that, thanks to modern technology, can now be predicted with greater reliability. Personally, weather plays a significant role in my daily decisions, which is why I decided to create a service tailored for the Fediverse.

FediMeteo uses Open-Meteo data to publish updates every 6 hours, including current weather conditions, forecasts for the next 12 hours, and predictions for the upcoming days. Each country is served by its own dedicated instance (e.g., it.fedimeteo.com for Italy), managed through snac to ensure simplicity and efficiency in publishing.

You can follow FediMeteo directly in the Fediverse (on Mastodon and compatible platforms), via RSS, or by visiting the dedicated page for your city (e.g., fr.fedimeteo.com/paris).

Currently supported countries include:
Austria, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, – with many more regions coming soon!

FediMeteo is hosted on a FreeBSD-based VPS, with each country isolated in its own jail to ensure security and scalability.

Visit the main site to explore the national instances and start following your local weather updates today:
https://fedimeteo.com

Happy weather monitoring to all! 🌦️

FediMeteo is dedicated to my grandfather, who every evening would give me the weather forecast based on TV, radio, and his personal experience. He would convince me that the weather would be bad, so he had an excuse to accompany me to school instead of me going alone.

#FediMeteo #Announcements #FreeBSD #FediMeteo #WeatherForecasts #Weather #Meteo #snac #Fediverse #Mastodon

Mastodon #research 🚀

I’m working on my master’s thesis at the University of Vienna, and I’d love your input! My research focuses on sustaining long-term user activity on Mastodon, contributing to a more active Fediverse. If you have a few minutes, please take my short survey:
👉 https://sosci.univie.ac.at/MastodonActivity/

Your thoughts will contribute to meaningful research. Feel free to boost this post so we can reach as many users as possible. Thank you so much! 🙌

#Mastodon #Survey #FediverseResearch

When I talk about the importance of going all in on the Fediverse, I speak based on experience.

At Opera we built a massive user community. When I quit, we had something like 35 million registered users and 35 million monthly visitors.

The new Opera management did not see the value of that. They believed it was cheaper and better to just use Facebook and that investing in your own community was a waste of money. So they closed down MyOpera and built a following on Facebook and Twitter instead. Then they got caught by the bait and switch when Facebook changed and you would no longer reach your audience, without paying. Later on Twitter changed as well.

This is important to explain to companies and institutions as they go shopping for social media sites to invest in. The best investment is clearly in your own site, being part of the Fediverse. It is not even all that expensive to do. It may take longer to build, but at least it is your own.

Not saying you cannot build a following on those other sites, but your long term strategy should be the Fediverse with your own server.

We try to lead the way here and thus we build Vivaldi Social. Not just for our selves, but to make a point and support the Fediverse.

#fediverse #Mastodon #Twitter #Threads #BlueSky #Vivaldi

Mastodon Follow Pack FAQ 1.0

What are Follow Packs?

They are just packaged topical lists of up to 35 accounts you can follow from your Mastodon or other Fediverse account. You can follow the entire pack by importing a file. And the entire pack loads into a list, so it becomes a feed for that subject. You can also just browse for accounts you might want to follow individually.

So, they’re like Bluesky Starter Packs?

Yes, but not quite as convenient. It’s not hard, but because Mastodon does not have a one-click way to do this, you need to download a follow pack file and then use Mastodon’s import facility. Instructions are provided in the directory and also below.

What Follow Packs are there?

Packs are being added all the time. Right now there are packs for Astronomy and Space, Climate, US Politics and Miscellany. For a current directory check out the Mastodon Migration FediBlog at: https://mastodonmigration.wordpress.com/2024/11/20/mastodon-follow-pack-directory-nov-20-2024/

How do I do do it?

Check out the latest directory at https://mastodonmigration.wordpress.com/2024/11/20/mastodon-follow-pack-directory-nov-20-2024/ . Basically determine which pack you want to follow and download the .csv then import the pack. Instructions are provided. Follows are loaded into a list in your account.

OK, but I don’t want to mess up my lists. What happens if I already follow an account in the pack?

That’s fine. The followed account will just be added to the new list, and if you already had that account in a list, it will now just be in both lists.

Can I then add more accounts to the list?

Sure! That’s the idea. Many of these accounts boost other great accounts in their topic area. You will quickly find additional accounts you will want to follow. When you do follow a new account add it immediately to the list by clicking the “…” button at the top of the profile and selecting “Add or Remove from lists”

What if I don’t like your pack list title?

Simply change it. Click on the list, then the gear icon and you can edit the list name and contents. Also, you can determine if you want to “Hide these posts from home” so they don’t clutter up your home feed.

What if I’ve been added to a list and I don’t want to be in it?

Every follow pack has a listed administrator. Message them to ask to be removed.

How do I know if my account is in a Follow Pack?

You can search through the directory. Also, whenever a new directory is posted all members of every pack are notified by being copied on the post.

What if I don’t want to follow accounts from Threads or Bluesky?

Any pack that contains Threads or Bluesky bridged accounts will have a special notice. Just don’t import one of them.

#FollowPack #StarterPack #MastodonMigration #MastoTips #Help #Directory #Guides #Mastodon #Fediverse #FediBlog

Follow Pack Notices

OPT-OUT NOTICE: If your account is listed in any Follow Pack and you do not want it to be, please message the pack administrator and refer to the pack from which you would like your account removed.

BRIDGE ACCOUNT NOTICE: Packs that include accounts that bridge outside the Fediverse will be identified with a special notice.

REPLIES ON MASTODON NOTICE: Replies include all named accounts. Please edit any replies to remove addresses you do not intend to send the reply.

Follow Pack Instructions

Download the pack .csv file and import into Mastodon to follow all accounts:

– Click on a FollowPack .csv file link to download
– Click on Preferences (gear) icon on bottom right
– On mobile or narrow desktop click top right “hamburger” button
– Click Import and Export >>> Import
– Import type dropdown: Select “Lists” (NOT “Following list”)
– Verify that ‘Merge’ is selected (IMPORTANT)
– Click Browse… button >>> Select “[file name] – list.csv”
– Upload >>> Confirm

______________________________

This post comes from the WordPress Mastodon Migration Blog: https://mastodonmigration.wordpress.com/

You can receive all new posts to this WordPress Blog on Mastodon by following Mastodon account:

https://mastodonmigration.wordpress.com/@mastodonmigration.wordpress.com

(Copy and paste above address into search to find and follow)

Important: Replies on Mastodon to this WordPress post by default include all named accounts. Please edit your reply to remove all addresses you do not intend to send the reply. Thank you.

#accountlist #activitypub #astronomy #Astrophysics #bluesky #Booster #Climate #ClimateScience #Dire #Directory #FediBlog #fediverse #followpack #followpackdirectory #GlobalWarming #guide #Guides #Help #mastodon #mastodonmigration #MastoTips #Media #Miscellany #mmfp #Politics #Random #socialMedia #Space #StarterPack #Threads #twitter #USPol #USPolitics #USPoliticsBoos #USPoliticsMedi #USPoliticsMedia #USPoliticsThreads

This afternoon, an acquaintance joined a Mastodon instance and asked me which "celebrities" are present in the Fediverse, as if it were important to determine the value of a social network based on that.

I told him that the most important user in the Fediverse is him. Just as it’s you, reading this. Someone who has decided to interact with others freely. Who has chosen to trust their administrator (or create their own instance) more than they trust those who run traditional, monolithic, centralized social networks.

So, I want to thank all the friends of BSD Cafe, whether local or not, for being here and making this place what it is. And I thank all my friends in the Fediverse, who make my timeline lively, interesting, intelligent, fun, and thought-provoking - every day, at any time.

#BSDCafe #Mastodon #Fediverse #SocialNetworks #SocialMedia #Community #Trust #OpenSource #DigitalFreedom #JoinTheFediverse

A small compendium of the Fediverse platforms I use/know well.

In the past few days, I revisited some of my old Fediverse instances since some friends asked me to help them set up a new one. I also took the chance to perform maintenance on some leftover instances. Here's my experience:

Akkoma: My oldest instance still running, opened in 2022. It was offline for a few months (3/4). I updated everything to the latest version and restarted it. I’m not sure why, but it’s extremely slow, with a heavy load on Postgres and many queries just to open the main page. I like Akkoma - I'll investigate further.

GoToSocial: I updated a friend's instance - GoToSocial itself was up-to-date, but the underlying system wasn’t. I noticed that once it exceeds 2000 followings, it becomes a bit slow. The database is PostgreSQL, but that's not the issue. The GoToSocial process becomes somewhat heavy on the VPS. Still, it's very usable and a software with great potential, in my opinion. The Mastodon API is implemented quite well and works with the major software.

Mitra: It seems well-built. The person had around 1000 followers and followings on a Mastodon account, which they moved from a large instance. No speed issues, though sending a message makes the server “heavy” for a bit, but it’s temporary. The Mastodon API is partially implemented, but the software is advancing quickly, and I find its native interface quite pleasant.

Snac2: I've always had a soft spot for Snac2. The lack of a database and some design choices make it an excellent solution for small instances. For example, sending posts to all known instances increases visibility and interaction. Its basic, JavaScript-free interface is very clear, though it might not be the best for those used to Mastodon. But the Mastodon API is improving version by version, and I think the developer is doing an excellent job. It struggles a bit with larger numbers, but that's due to the underlying file system, not the software itself. If "move" support (both in and out) were added, I would recommend it to anyone starting self-hosting for single-user or small community instances because "move" is one of the options that gives the most freedom in Fediverse software.

Mastodon: My “old” personal instance was stuck at version 4.1.x and had been offline for a few months. I updated the FreeBSD Jail and upgraded Mastodon to 4.2.12 and then to 4.3.0-beta1. No issues. I also helped a friend (who had an old Pleroma-based instance they barely used) migrate. This user has around 5000 followers and followings - Mastodon is running on FreeBSD on a VPS (arm64) for just over 3 euros a month, with no significant issues (apart from media storage, but that's not Mastodon’s fault). Mastodon is sometimes said to be heavy, and that's partly true, but its modularity ensures that even in cases of overload, queues may slow down, but navigation and the local timeline remain reasonably fast. I think this is a good thing for any larger-scale use of an instance.

In short, I think things are moving in the right direction, and the software is evolving nicely. Well done, devs!

#Fediverse #Akkoma #GoToSocial #Mitra #Snac2 #Snac #Mastodon #SelfHosting #InstanceManagement #FreeBSD #OpenSource

I want to launch a hashtag where, every Tuesday, I'll post a message and it would be great if it became a habit for many.

In a world full of conflicts, selfishness, and egocentrism, it would be nice to focus on the good that others do, what makes our lives better thanks to the contribution of others.

My first #ThankYouTuesday to the friends of #BSDCafe - both within the community servers and beyond - who have undoubtedly contributed to making my life better, more stimulating, and richer. So, I extend this gratitude to all those who, here in the fediverse or elsewhere, are present and positive, giving me inspiration and motivation.

Truly, thank you!

#ThankYouTuesday #gratitude #positivity #community #fediverse #mastodon

15 million users in the Fediverse, now.

No ad-blocker needed.
Zero ads.
My data stays on my server.
Interactions are genuine, driven by people's desire, not an algorithm pushing for conflict to boost engagement (and ad sales).
Nobody's here just because it's trendy. If you're here, you want to be here.
The best social media experience I've had in years.

Thank you to all of you, among these 15 million accounts, who have helped make this a wonderful place to be.

#Fediverse #Privacy #NoAds #GenuineInteractions #Decentralized #ThankYou #Mastodon