Introducing Northsky - a non-profit Bluesky alternative
Phase one is to create a PDS that securely hosts data in Canada, away from political persecution of 2SLGBTQIA+.
Phase two and beyond will include our own AppView and improved moderation tools.
These networks will exist side by side with bluesky and allow interaction per usual. Source
https://northskysocial.com/Open linkView original on lemm.ee
13 replies
This is for Bluesky users who still want to be on Bluesky, but don't want their data stored under US jurisdiction, or don't want to rely on Bluesky's moderation.
So even though blusky isn’t federated, the protocol still allows for using different domains to interact on the platform? I need to study how it works better.
Edit: stupid autocorrect
They actually do use the word "federated" to describe ATProto, but most people here understand that word to mean "ActivityPub," so I wouldn't. You can read more about it here.
Reminder: there is no such thing as a "Bluesky instance." The way ATProto works is nothing like the way ActivityPub works.
Then where are the accounts that are not on sky.social?
The
.bsky.socialyou often see at the end of Bluesky usernames is not like the@mastodon.socialyou often see at the end of Mastodon usernames.On Bluesky, usernames have to be a domain. If you own your own domain, you can set your username to that domain, but if you don't, you'll usually be assigned one that ends in
.bsky.social. In the following example, the New York Times sets their username to @nytimes.com, because they own nytimes.com..
Their data is still hosted on one of Bluesky's PDSs, however.
A PDS is just a server that personal data, a Personal Data Server. Currently, the process of moving ones data off of Bluesky's PDS and onto another is cumbersome, and the only users who have done so are technically inclined and self-hosting their own PDS. There are only about a thousand of them (according to the graph below), but hopefully there will be more once the process is streamlined.
Since my business owns a domain I could change my bsky.social or my business domain? Would that affect people following me?
If your business owns a domain, you can set your handle to that domain. This blog post explains how to do so.
If you change your handle, users who follow you will still follow you. If you migrate to a different PDS, your followers will still follow you.
I got one for ya https://mastodon.social/
Speaking of hosting in Canada, I am surprised years ago why Blackberry having lost the hardware race didn't just provide an encrypted messager that ran on Apple and Android. They could have been 'the' messager app and had all the experience, personal and servers to pull it off. And most people would trust Canadian servers
wait was blackberry canadian?
I checked the FAQ and there's nothing on "why Bluesky?". A Canadian PDS and some better moderation tools seems a pretty meagre goal when they could be looking at getting their community off Bluesky.
Bluesky is actually pretty good, but the biggest issue currently is that there's too much power centralized in the hands of Bluesky PBLLC. The less we have to rely on Bluesky PBLLC while still having full functionality, the better.
Also, Northsky is planning on launching it's own AppView, meaning posts that would normally be hidden on Bluesky could still be available from Northsky's client.