Could be anything associated with the Fediverse, Lemmy, Mastodon, Pixelfed etc.

  • simple@lemmy.mywire.xyz
    431·
    1 year ago

    This probably won’t work for everyone, but whenever I’m learning or trying out something new and unfamiliar, I always tend to follow the philosophy of “Just jump straight into the deep end and you have no choice but to swim”.

    So for those thinking of trying out Lemmy/Fediverse. I suggest trying to get your own instance running. It’ll get you more familiar with what Lemmy is and how it works (at least on a high level). Its also really rewarding when you get it all up and running, it becomes something more personal to you since you took the time and effort (instead of just clicking sign up on some instance).

    But again, that just how I prefer doing things. To each their own.

      • simple@lemmy.mywire.xyz
        12·
        1 year ago

        You don’t need any special hardware. I have my instance running on 1 CPU and 2GB of RAM just fine (granted, its just me there so there isn’t really any massive load).

        So yes, you can use your PC if you want. The only thing I’d say is that if you plan to have your instance federated (i.e. make posts from it, message people etc), you’d want to have it running all the time. Otherwise, if your PC is down and Lemmy isn’t running, your images and posts might not show up properly for people on other instances.

        Which is why most people prefer to rent a server or VPS (virtual private server, which is usually cheaper). Since you can have the server running 24/7.

        Other than that, you need a domain name. Again there are websites that can give you free domain names. But in my case I prefer to just buy a domain.

        If you check out https://join-lemmy.org/, there’s “Run a Server” option which goes over the steps.

        • rm_dash_r_star@lemm.ee
          1·
          1 year ago

          Which is why most people prefer to rent a server or VPS (virtual private server, which is usually cheaper). Since you can have the server running 24/7.

          That’s probably the best solution. You can rent a base VPS pretty cheap which is perfectly adequate if you’re not looking to support a lot of users. That way you get a static IP, high speed connection, and 24/7 uptime with no fuss.

        • hendrik
          1·
          1 year ago

          yeah, you should have a server for this. you will probably nnoy people when your instance goes offline, comes up again repeatedly. Also you’d need to fight with port forwarding dns etc on your local internet connection.

          • NaN@lemmy.blahaj.zone
            1·
            1 year ago

            I think it’ll also annoy people when your instance is invaded by spam bots.

            People should feel free to set one up, but I don’t think it is something most people should consider just because they haven’t figured out how to subscribe to a community on another instance. This seems more like a neat project for people who already know how to use the Linux command line than a tip for people who are thinking of joining an instance for the first time.

      • Evkob@lemmy.caEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        I’m no expert so don’t quote me on this, but if you’re planning on low user numbers (say yourself and a couple of friends) a Pi setup should be more than sufficient.

      • simple@lemmy.mywire.xyzEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Funnily enough, my first Lemmy instance was running on my Raspberry Pi. Ran fine actually! (You just need to make sure you’re running the ARM64 image)

        The only reason I switched to a VPS is because I had a very complicated setup for my RaspberryPi. Basically, I didn’t want to expose any ports on my home router to the internet. So I was using a VPN with port-forwarding. The problem was that the VPN randomly assigns the port to access the device. So I had to map whatever port they gave me to 443 (for SSL). It did work kind of. I had HTTPS working, but I would need to append the port to the URL (e.g. https://my-domain.com:57493), which didn’t work well with Lemmy for federation. So I just decided to get a VPS instead 😅

        TL;DR I had Lemmy running on a Pi, but my setup was too convoluted, so I switched to VPS.

    • _kato@lemmy.world
      2·
      1 year ago

      Same, been using Lemmy for a few days now and I’m still finding new things and new communities. There’s just this charm of finding out new stuff and discovering a new platform.

    • Adam@lemmy.adambowl.es
      2·
      1 year ago

      I’m also running my own instance (via DigitalOcean). Looks like it’ll cost me something like $5 per month. More than happy to be paying a nominal fee like that for having no admins control my experience

      FYI to anyone finding this, the Ansible deployment was genuinely very simple to get running. I spent a day frustrated with Docker and then tried Ansible and it did everything seamlessly: installed lemmy, postgresql, and let’s encrypt

      • simple@lemmy.mywire.xyz
        2·
        1 year ago

        Yeah it costs me about the same for my instance, I’m using https://1984.hosting/. I actually didn’t use the Ansible script for my setup, I just configured it myself with Docker. It was a little more involved, but I think I have a decent grasp of how it all fits together having configured it myself.

    • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠@slrpnk.net
      3·
      1 year ago

      I saw someone mention Jerboa for those used to RIF, and after a couple hours of light use, I gotta say it is indeed pretty similar so far.

      • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
        2·
        1 year ago

        As someone who came from RIF I couldn’t stand Jerboa. It was just too unintuitive. I’m currently using Connect for Lemmy, but honestly I’m just waiting and hoping Sync for Lemmy is going to fill the void that RIF left. Sync for Reddit probably would’ve been my go to app if I hadn’t discovered RIF before.

      • Lethocerus@lemm.ee
        1·
        1 year ago

        Coming from bacon reader, I find navigating Jerboa pretty easy and intuitive for the most part. Still confused on some of the deeper things like joining communities but I think I’m doing it right. I have it set so I can see the different groups I’ve joined or I can see the “wider world” of either my instance lemme.ee (I think).
        I’m trying to not be a reddit lurker and comment more since I’m not fighting 8000 comments that already contained what I wanted to say lol.

        • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠@slrpnk.net
          1·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, browsing the community list is something I had to tab over to my instance’s (slrpnk.net) web interface for, but the web interface was very good for mobile as well.

    • Nobilmantis@feddit.it
      2·
      1 year ago

      Good advice right there. I wish there was an android-style version of it, but for now Jerboa or the lemmy web app do a pretty good job

    • Elkaki123@vlemmy.net
      2·
      1 year ago

      But what I’m supposed to do with my fear of instances randomly closing down!!??

      It is the main reason on mastodon I’m on .social despite never browsing the local timeline since it is a disorganized mess, instead looking at other timelines I just hate the thought of loosing an account regardless of how meaningless it was, I had to migrate on mastodon once and it was a pain in the ass.

      • Nusm
        2·
        1 year ago

        But what I’m supposed to do with my fear of instances randomly closing down!!??

        “The edge is where we feel alive!”

  • das@lemellem.dasonic.xyz
    4·
    1 year ago

    Post! Interact!

    Coming from places like Reddit and Twitter, you’re a miniscule droplet in a wide ocean. It’s easy to lurk when you think nearly anything you say will be cared about by anyone.

    Here, the community is much smaller and everyone is keen to see new content. Your additions are great for everyone!

  • Walop@sopuli.xyz
    3·
    1 year ago

    If you are not running your own instance, and I don’t think everyone should go down that rabbit hole, have a moment to go through your options where to register. The distributed nature of Fediverse doesn’t work if everyone packs on the same server and the local feed is more useful if the content is culturally or ideologically local for you. Also keep in mind all this is still emerging and things are developing fast. There will be growth pains both technologically and what the rules for servers not being kicked out the greater Fediverse will be. Some servers have already been cut out for being extremist or allowing illegal content.

  • TomJoad@lemmy.tf
    3·
    1 year ago

    Devote big effort to selecting high-quality communities…

    One great way to explore communities is:

    1. Visit https://lemmyverse.net/communities - then input your home site (click the “house” icon up top).

    2. Now you can open any communities which fascinate you, and they will have 1-click Subscribe buttons.

    Once you have some great subscriptions, change your default sort to “Subscribed” and “New” … and lemmy is your paradise.

    The quality of Lemmy === The quality of your cultivated feed.

  • TeaHands@lemmy.world
    3·
    1 year ago

    Honestly after all the questions I’ve seen today relating to specific apps, that are themselves changing at a blistering pace, my top tip would be:

    Maybe stick to the website version for your first day until you grasp how the whole thing works. People responding to your questions might not be able to help you if you’re using an app that does things a nonstandard way. And the mobile website actually works perfectly fine so you’re not missing out on anything.

    Once you get the general gist, then add the extra complication of finding your way around an app.

  • rm_dash_r_star@lemm.ee
    3·
    1 year ago

    Subscribe to communities and set your default to Subscribed in profile settings. Biggest help for me was lemmyverse.net The community search function on Lemmy is pretty basic. It will probably improve over time, but lemmyverse.net provides more information and tools to filter/sort.

  • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
    2·
    1 year ago

    Pick an instance that won’t aggravate other instances, for example by having unruly users. If it’s hard to get in that’s probably a good thing.

  • incogtino@lemmy.zip
    2·
    1 year ago

    Once you understand that federation is a process managed by each instance it is easier to navigate communities

    Your account is on an instance (server) that will only see communities on other instances if someone on your instance has already subscribed to that community

    If you joined a large instance you might already see a lot of communities in your feed that you can subscribe to, but you might be missing some that exist but won’t show up in the search

    A solution is to use lemmyverse.net or a similar site. You set your home instance, then search for communities. It gives you links that open on your instance where you can subscribe to (or block) communities. You do this in a browser, and it immediately reflects in the apps

    e: If you are coming from reddit and just want to know what communities align with a particular subreddit, you can use sub.rehab then search for the community on lemmyverse