@Mark_Harbinger @lippyduck Yep, just walk away.

@Mark_Harbinger @lippyduck Calling something “public and democratic” just because it’s government-owned is self-evidently ridiculous.

If that were true, then the CIA would somehow be “public and democratic.”

Your logic collapses under its own weight.

@Mark_Harbinger @lippyduck You’re flat-out wrong if you think “public” only means government-owned.

In the corporate world, a public company is a company listed on a stock exchange, with shares that anyone can buy and sell. That’s why Apple, Microsoft, and Toyota are all called public companies—they’re subject to SEC filings, shareholder votes, and disclosure rules precisely because they’re open to public investment.

Meanwhile, in the government sector, public refers to state-owned institutions like schools, hospitals, and broadcasters.

And outside those spheres, the word just means open and accessible: public parks, public events, public records.

Your definition fits in one narrow lane, but it collapses everywhere else. Language depends on context, and in finance, “public company” is the industry-standard term worldwide.

Pretending otherwise is like insisting “bank” only ever means the side of a river—technically possible, but absurd in practice.

@Mark_Harbinger@mastodon.social @lippyduck@mstdn.social If by “public” you mean government-owned servers—yes, those exist. The EU itself runs an official Mastodon instance:

ec.social-network.europa.eu

But if by “public” you mean government-run servers where every citizen can freely register—that’s something people in a democracy need to demand. And some have. The snag is validation: governments are risk-averse and won’t roll this out without real political pressure.

Still, the technology makes it entirely feasible. Which is why calling the Fediverse “techno-feudal” misses the point—unless you believe that only government-operated platforms count as public space.

I don’t share that belief. Governments aren’t necessarily interested in running a public square.

@Mark_Harbinger@mastodon.social @lippyduck@mstdn.social Ultimately, calling the Fediverse “a techno-feudal fiefdom” is just lazy.

If you’ve got the technical chops, you can run your own server. A Raspberry Pi and a bit of time is all it takes. If you don’t, you can still join a co-op and have a real say in governance.

Let’s not ignore the obvious. You’re posting from a non-profit’s server—kept alive almost entirely by donations. That’s the opposite of feudalism.

I’ve written more about this here:

https://atomicpoet.org/@atomicpoet/posts/Axu4vvUjM8jprpoxSC

@Mark_Harbinger@mastodon.social @lippyduck@mstdn.social There’s actually a few co-operatively owned Fediverse servers operating. I, myself, am starting one up for PeerTube.

No matter how you slice it, there is a cost for running a Fediverse server. Which is also true of anything on the Internet. And also life.

Just want to point out that my push for more topical conversations on the Fediverse has worked.

The trick? Cross-posting from Akkoma to Piefed.

That way, folks on Twitter-likes (Mastodon) end up chatting with folks on Reddit-likes (Lemmy)—without realizing they’re in the same thread.

The result is a wide net that pulls in a broad mix of voices, all talking about the same topic.

When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (2019) by Billie Eilish on CD.

A phenomenal debut—shockingly mature for someone who was still a teenager when it was recorded. Critics peg it as “pop,” but that label feels reductive. The record pulls from jazz, indie rock, and hip hop in equal measure. The songwriting is sharp, but it’s the technique that really stuns.

This is one of the rare cases where the CD outshines the vinyl. The low-end is so deep and clean that vinyl just can’t contain it. People call the album “loud,” but that misses the point—the production is meticulous. Billie’s voice may be whispered, yet those whispers cut through the heaviest layers of sound with absolute clarity.

@recordpics@piefed.social

Desktop Linux market share just broke past 6%—and I’m part of that shift.

I finally made the move this year, pushed by two things:

1. Proton making more of my game library playable
2. Microsoft deciding my perfectly good PC isn’t worthy of Windows 11 while also pulling the plug on Windows 10.

My landing spot? Pop!_OS. Turns out it’s not only capable, but actually more user-friendly than Windows. That’s just the cherry on top.

https://puri.sm/posts/the-quiet-revolution-gnu-linux-crosses-6-desktop-market-share-and-its-just-the-beginning/

@lippyduck@mstdn.social @Mark_Harbinger@mastodon.social Ah! Well, if you’d like to see this in practice, here’s a post that originates on my Akkoma server. Notice the handle tagged at the end:

https://atomicpoet.org/@atomicpoet/posts/AxmB7zcsrlJkcH5mL2

Which resulted in the post being crossposted to Piefed:

https://piefed.social/post/1215534

Which automagically gets federated to Lemmy:

https://a.lemmy.world/lemmy.world/c/videogames@piefed.social

You can also see it on mastodon.social if you search for @videogames@piefed.social—but it won’t look as nice as on Piefed or Lemmy.

@lippyduck@mstdn.social @Mark_Harbinger@mastodon.social Actually, this wasn’t posted on Mastodon at all—I don’t use Mastodon. I use Akkoma.

You’re seeing it on your Mastodon account because Mastodon isn’t a closed system. It’s part of the Fediverse, which lets different platforms talk to each other. So my messages don’t “work on Mastodon”—you’re receiving them because Mastodon and Akkoma can communicate.

Same idea with Lemmy and Piefed. They’re not Mastodon add-ons. They’re their own platforms that can talk across the Fediverse.

@Mark_Harbinger @lippyduck Mastodon doesn’t officially support communities yet, and treats them almost like user accounts. You could subscribe but you’d have to replace the `!` with `@`, and functionality would be limited. That’s why I ask.

@lippyduck @Mark_Harbinger Hold on. You’re trying to subscribe from your Mastodon account?

@Mark_Harbinger@mastodon.social Find a Lemmy or Piefed server and do the following:

1. Hit the search bar.
2. Type the topic you want—movies, photography, whatever.
3. Look for results that start with !. That’s a community. Example: !movies@lemmy.world or !movies@piefed.social.
4. Click in, hit subscribe, and you’re set.

@Mark_Harbinger No, because it doesn’t work like hashtags but instead as topical communities. It’s exactly like Reddit or the forums of old.

I know a lot of you still think of the #Fediverse as just “Mastodon”.

But it’s far more than that. There’s an entire ecosystem of federated message boards that’s already proven popular: #Piefed, #NodeBB, #Lemmy, #Mbin, and #Discourse.

Even the classics like #Friendica and #Hubzilla have solid forum features baked in.

If you’re only here for the microblogging, you’re missing a key piece. Communities built around interests are something #Twitter never offered, and #Bluesky still doesn’t.

So if you’re looking to replace your #Facebook Groups, the Fediverse already has you covered.