Fosstodon

Nicholas BernhardThe book is looking good! Overscan will be published on Friday, August 9. Featuring short stories by myself, <a class="u-url" href="https://pixelfed.social/@atgonzalez@mastodon.social" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@atgonzalez@mastodon.social</a>, and others! Pixel art on the cover by <a class="u-url" href="https://pixelfed.social/@dinchenix@mastodon.art" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@dinchenix@mastodon.art</a>. Pre-order your EPUB or paperback at <a href="https://nantucketlit.com/overscan" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://nantucketlit.com/overscan</a> Something I should mention: I am not using Amazon to print these books. I am doing my own printing and binding (I'll have to give you a tour of my garage someday). <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/diy?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#diy</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/nantucketlit?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#nantucketlit</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/freeculture?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/physicalmedia?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#physicalmedia</a> <a href="https://pixelfed.social/discover/tags/fediverse?src=hash" class="u-url hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fediverse</a>

nantucketlitThe book is looking good! Overscan will be published on Friday, August 9. Featuring short stories by myself, <a href="https://mastodon.social/@atgonzalez" class="u-url mention">@atgonzalez</a>, <a href="https://polymaths.social/@amin" class="u-url mention">@amin</a>, <a href="https://writing.exchange/@NylaWoethief" class="u-url mention">@NylaWoethief</a>, and others! Pixel art on the cover by <a href="https://mastodon.art/@dinchenix" class="u-url mention">@dinchenix</a>. Pre-order your EPUB or paperback at <a href="https://nantucketlit.com/overscan" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no">https://nantucketlit.com/overscan</a> Something I should mention: I am not using Amazon to print these books. I am doing my own printing and binding (I'll have to give you a tour of my garage someday). <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/diy" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#diy</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/nantucketlit" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#nantucketlit</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/physicalmedia" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#physicalmedia</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/fediverse" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#fediverse</a>

vgrassEmergence of governance in open communitiesHow the Fediverse is growing to meet its challenges[German language version of this text will be published in FIfF-Kommunikation, the journal of the <a href="https://www.fiff.de/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung</a> (FIfF e.V.)] ToC The dead live longer Multi-layered self-regulation Gab: the Nazis are coming Threads and Bluesky: Federation Washing? Conclusio: Small is Beautiful Literatur The social media landscape has been undergoing a tectonic shift since Elon Musk took over Twitter and Donald Trump took over the USA. The Fediverse emerged at a time when the previous phase of decentralised social networks – the blogosphere – was being supplanted by globally centralised platforms such as Facebook (2004), YouTube (2005) and Twitter (2006). With them came the problems: surveillance-based advertising, election manipulation by Cambridge Analytica, addictive design, enshittification of previously useful services (Cory Doctorow), techno-feudalism (Yanis Varoufakis).In contrast, a counter-movement for the recentralisation of the Internet (Kahle 2016, Berners-Lee et al. 2016) is emerging and for sovereignty in Europe, which is becoming painfully aware of its comprehensive technological dependence on the US.The perception of a crisis is giving rise to a new digital universe, the decentralised and federated Fediverse. For many migrants from toxic environments, it feels like a friendly neighbourhood where reason and civilised conversation prevail. Of course, this is not a genetic trait, hard-coded into Mastodon & Co. But how does an open community oriented towards the common good, a bustling field of players and technologies, organise itself? How does the governance of complex socio-technical systems unfold?Resilient structures of self-organisation, so the theory goes, are the result of experiences of conflict. Current external or internal conflicts as well as structural problems (onboarding, money, etc.) trigger a collective reflection that challenges open communities to emerge from a lack of structure. The solutions, as I would like to show with examples, can be of technical or social protocols, usually a combination of both.The dead live longerDistributed and federated protocols have been around since 1999 with XMPP. According to official historiography, the Fediverse began in 2008 with the decentralised OpenMicroBlogging protocol and the platform Identi.ca, a free version of Twitter based on it, both developed by Evan Prodromou.In January 2016, the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) presented the ActivityPub protocol to improve the interoperability of the various decentralised platforms in the Fediverse. Prodromou is again co-author. Also since 2016, Eugen Rochko has been developing the microblog Mastodon, which is now the star among the decentralised platforms with around ten million users. In addition to Mastodon, the microblog Misskey, the photo platform Pixelfed, the link aggregator Lemmy and the video platform Peertube are also popular in the ActivityPub universe (FediDB: Software, April 2025).As already mentioned, the development is motivated by criticism of the techno-feudalism of the mega-platforms. The current lead author of ActivityPub, Christine Lemmer-Webber, notes that no companies are involved in the team developing the protocol, which is very unusual for technical committees. In addition, the team identifies predominantly as queer, which leads to functions in the protocol and in the clients that help users and administrators to protect themselves from ‘unwanted interaction’ (Klemens 2023).Mastodon is run by a non-profit limited company. The community excludes venture capital as well as surveillance advertising, which has made the mega-platforms the richest companies in the world. Mastodon per default does not even include a function for displaying adverts. But how is a global community that is essentially financed by collecting donations supposed to build an alternative to this overwhelming power and lure people out of the lock-in by the mega-companies?As the Fediverse contradicts all business logic, experts predicted that it would soon come to an end (Woźniak 2025). The opposite is the case. At Berlin Fediday 2024, Prodromou (2024) reported on growth by all criteria: ActivityPub is being implemented by more and more platforms (WordPress, Ghost.org, Flipboard, Threads). The number of users is growing continuously, as are the bridges to other protocols, applications, content, publications and institutions of self-organisation: the SocialCG (Community Group) for ActivityPub at the W3C, the online conference FediForum, the moderator community IFTAS, Mastodon’s non-profit offshoot in the USA. He answers the question of his presentation title ‘Is Bigger Better?’ with a resounding yes.A week later, Prodromou announced the creation of the Social Web Foundation (SWF), whose mission is a ‘growing, healthy, sustainable and multipolar Fediverse’. Shortly afterwards, the foundation became a member of the W3C as a community front-end for ActivityPub: ‘We collect requirements and design potential extensions to the ActivityPub protocol and guide them through standardisation’ (SWF 2025).Multi-layered self-regulationThe Fediverse is, of course, also subject to external regulation through laws, etc. The focus here is on the area in which the Fediverse players are free to regulate themselves. The Fediverse project unites them on the basis of a normative conviction: a different, decentralised, federated Internet is possible. Civil society and the public sector can collectively create an online environment in which people treat each other in a civilised and respectful manner. Common values are initially shared tacitly. As the community grows and becomes more diverse, but especially when conflicts challenge these values, they are made explicit in rules of conduct, mission statements, etc. and operationalised with mechanisms for their implementation and enforcement.Projects usually start with minimal ad hoc organisational structures and move on to more permanent forms as required. Regulation arises in order to solve problems, e.g. a legal form must be established in order to open a bank account and thus collect donations. Internal dynamic lead to the problem of the Benevolent Dictator For Life (BDFL). A free software project is started by a man (is there really not a single woman in the Wikipedia list of BDFLs?), becomes popular, grows into a community of co-developers and users, in which the founder remains at the top, respected for his valuable contributions. A meritocracy that, if left unchecked, becomes dysfunctional. The term was coined for Linus Torvalds and his Linux kernel. In the Fediverse, this currently affects Matt Mullenweg from WordPress, Daniel Supernault from Pixelfed and Loops and Eugen Rochko from Mastodon, for example. The latter announced in January 2025 that he would retire from management and concentrate on development. A new non-profit company is to be founded to which he will transfer the Mastodon brand and the copyrights to the code. This means that Mastodon’s independence no longer depends on a single person (Mastodon 2025).Gab: the Nazis are coming2016 was a breakthrough year for the Fediverse. It was also the year of Brexit and Trump’s first presidential election. And behind both, the Alt-Right movement emerged onto the research radar from image boards like 4Chan. An Internet-native movement that only half-jokingly boasts of having voted Trump into office and promotes “Fashy”, a “fashionable fascism” (Cramer 2017).Gab was launched in August 2016 as a social network for radical free speech. Co-founder Andrew Torba cited ‘the total left-wing monopoly of Big Social’ as the motive. Especially during the 2016 election, Facebook and Twitter censored conservative voices. Gab started on its own technology as a mixture of Twitter and Reddit.Gab was soon banned from the app stores for hate and pornography. In October 2018, a white supremacist killed eleven people in a synagogue in Pittsburgh. The perpetrator had posted his anti-Semitism on Gab for almost a year. As a result, payment services, web hosts and cloud providers also blocked Gab. To circumvent this block, the creators decided to migrate Gab to a fork of Mastodon in July 2019, making it accessible with every Mastodon app.Mastodon founder Rochko spoke out on the same day. He explained that the licence (AGPLv3) does not allow certain uses or users to be excluded as long as it is complied with. At the same time, he expressed his disgust at Gab,<blockquote>“which uses the pretense of free speech absolutism as an excuse to platform racist and otherwise dehumanizing content. Mastodon has been originally developed by a person of Jewish heritage and first-generation immigrant background, and Mastodon’s userbase includes many people from marginalized communities.</blockquote><blockquote>Mastodon’s decentralized approach that allows communities to self-govern according to their needs has enabled those marginalized communities to create safe spaces for themselves where previously they were reliant on big companies like Twitter to stand up for them, which these companies have often failed to do.” (Rochko 2019)</blockquote>It was precisely decentralisation and federation that brought about a social protocol as a solution. On the one hand, many Mastodon admins had already decided to block Gab, including mastodon.social, which is operated by the Mastodon gGmbH itself. On the other hand, rules have been made explicit for the servers listed on joinmastodon.org, which is also operated by the gGmbH. With the Mastodon Server Covenant, server operators commit to<blockquote>1. Active moderation against racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia,</blockquote><blockquote>2. Daily backups,</blockquote><blockquote>3. At least one other person with emergency access to the server infrastructure,</blockquote><blockquote>4. And to give users at least 3 months of advance warning in case of shutting down. (Mastodon: Covenant)</blockquote>There is no technical switch against Nazis. Although there have been discussions about inserting code into the clients to prevent them from logging into Gab servers, such changes can be easily reversed. The copyright licence also does not allow Nazis to be excluded from using one’s own software. There is a long debate about banning use for military purposes, for example (Kreutzer 2006). In practice, restrictions on use by licence violate the definition of free software and have not become established.Nazis can set up their own Fediverse servers. However, the Federation’s code of conduct, the Covenant, ensures that these instances remain isolated, like Gab and Truth Social, and do no harm in the Federation. For newcomers, this level is less visible than the policies of the individual instances. However, it is crucial for the information space as a whole.Regulations are only as good as their enforcement. Block lists for accounts and instances are maintained as tools for the daily work of admins and moderators (e.g. Oliphant). The moderators have joined forces in the IFTAS (Independent Federated Trust & Safety) forum.Looking back at research on “alternative social media” (ASM), Robert W. Gehl (2025) notes that the widespread assumption that ASM are progressive had a blind spot: they can just as easily be used by the political right. The deplatforming of right-wing radicals on the mega-platforms increased the pressure to build their own places for radical freedom of speech. Now the research has turned into the opposite and reduced ASM to ‘alt-right social media’. However, Gehl sees an advantage in the fact that an aspect that was largely missing from the earlier literature has since been addressed: governance. ‘Much of the earliest scholarship focused on how technical elements such as free and open source software and decentralized architectures would shift power away from corporate social media to end users, but had less to say about how those users might govern themselves.’ (ibid.)Threads and Bluesky: Federation Washing?The next invasion of the Fediverse threatened to come from one of the mega-platforms that the alternative was up against. Meta wanted to capitalise on the Twitter exodus following Musk’s takeover and planned a text-based companion app to Instagram. Threads launches with fanfare on 5 July 2023. Thanks to Instagram’s more than two billion users, the new service gained 100 million users within five days, except in Europe, where a data protection clarification delayed the launch until December. Threads also began integrating the ActivityPub protocol in December 2023 (The Verge 2023).The bridge from Instagram to the Fediverse has triggered even more heated debates than Gab, including reciprocal death threats. Above all, there were fears about the well-known strategy of embrace, extend, extinguish. From this camp, the tried and tested instrument used against Gab was brought up: a campaign for the collective exclusion of threads from the federation, which was followed by many instances.Conversely, Fediverse stakeholders welcomed threads because they see interoperability between platforms as a major step forward. ‘We’ve been advocating for this for years,’ wrote Rochko (2023) on the day of the threads launch. In his blog post, he addresses accusations (data tracking, advertising, being overwhelmed by huge servers, embrace-extend-extinguish, moderation). However, he describes the lock-in of the social graph as the biggest problem, which prevents users from switching platforms if they do not want to lose all their contacts.<blockquote>“The fact that large platforms are adopting ActivityPub is not only validation of the movement towards decentralized social media, but a path forward for people locked into these platforms to switch to better providers. Which in turn, puts pressure on such platforms to provide better, less exploitative services. This is a clear victory for our cause, hopefully one of many to come.” (ibid.)</blockquote>Prodromou also welcomed the mega-platform’s access so that the Fediverse can quickly grow and become a powerful alternative. If there are problems, every site and all users are free not to connect to the newcomers. ‘Choice is part of the strength of the Fediverse.’ (Prodromou 2024)Another invasion came from Twitter, specifically from its co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey. In 2019, he launched an initiative that gave rise to the AT Protocol and Bluesky Social. The platform with the look and feel of the original Twitter was launched in 2023. In January 2025, Bluesky claimed to have 30 million users (BNO News 2025).Technically, the AT protocol allows decentralisation. In fact, the system is currently neither decentralised nor federated, as Lemmer-Webber (2024) discusses in detail. Furthermore, venture capital financing, not least from blockchain circles, raises doubts about sustainable freedom.Conclusio: Small is BeautifulThe mega-platforms must continue to be rendered less hazardous through legal regulation. Buying oneself free is not an option. Rather, building alternatives is crucial. Decentralisation from above leads to a Fedi-Washing that only looks like it. The inherently decentralised network of protocol-connected nodes that has grown over the years and organises itself from below is sustainable. Last but not least, the Fediverse offers an opportunity for Europe. Many of the developers and more than twice as many Fediverse servers are in the EU (8,818) than in the USA (4,275) (Fediverse Observer, April 2025).The non-profit nature and small size of the communities are clearly positive features of the Fediverse. Kissane & Kazemi (2024) have investigated how governance is organised on individual servers and between servers. Their conclusion: ‘Fediverse governance as we encountered it in our research conversations is emergent, unevenly distributed, and often reactive.’ The majority of Fediverse servers are operated by individuals or small groups. Medium-sized servers offer uniquely favourable conditions for community self-governance according to local norms and allow for very direct, context-dependent moderation that is superior to that of centralised platforms. ‘The Fediverse’s combined emphasis on the sovereignty of local norms and a federated form of network diplomacy can offer a real and optimistic challenge to the dead end of centralized content moderation at scale’ (ibid.).To summarise: local, manageable communities form the basis, create diplomatic networks and grow organically into a fediverse that is more than the sum of its parts. Small is Beautiful as a prerequisite for Bigger is Better.LiteraturBerners-Lee, Tim et al. (2016). Solid: A Platform for Decentralized Social Applications Based on Linked Data, 2016, <a class="" href="http://emansour.com/research/meccano/solid_protocols.pdf" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://emansour.com/research/meccano/solid_protocols.pdf</a>.BNO News (2015). Twitter alternative Bluesky hits 30 million users, 28.01.2025, <a class="" href="https://bnonews.com/index.php/2025/01/twitter-alternative-bluesky-hits-30-million-users/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://bnonews.com/index.php/2025/01/twitter-alternative-bluesky-hits-30-million-users/</a>.Cramer, Florian (2017). Meme Wars: Internet culture and the ‘alt right’, at FACT Liverpool, 07.03.2017, <a class="" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiNYuhLKzi8" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiNYuhLKzi8</a>.FediDB: Software (o.J.). <a class="" href="https://fedidb.org/software" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://fedidb.org/software</a>.Fediverse Observer (o.J.). Server nach Land, <a class="" href="https://fediverse.observer/stats" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://fediverse.observer/stats</a>.Gehl, Robert W. (2025). A Brief History of Alternative Social Media Scholarship, 07.02.2025, <a class="" href="https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/2025/02/07/asm-scholarship-history.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.socialmediaalternatives.org/2025/02/07/asm-scholarship-history.html</a>.Kahle, Brewster (2016). Locking the Web Open: A Call for a Decentralized Web, Juni 2016, <a class="" href="https://archive.org/details/LockingTheWebOpen_2016" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/LockingTheWebOpen_2016</a>.Kissane, Erin & Darius Kazemi (2024). Findings Report: Governance on Fediverse Microblogging Servers, <a class="" href="https://fediverse-governance.github.io/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://fediverse-governance.github.io/</a>.Klemens, Ben (2023). Mastodon – and the pros and cons of moving beyond Big Tech gatekeepers, Ars Technica, 02.01.2023, <a class="" href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/01/mastodon-highlights-pros-and-cons-of-moving-beyond-big-tech-gatekeepers/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/01/mastodon-highlights-pros-and-cons-of-moving-beyond-big-tech-gatekeepers/</a>.Kreutzer, Till (2006). Open-Source-Software zwischen Moral und Freiheit, iRights, 15.08.2006, <a class="" href="https://irights.info/artikel/open-source-software-zwischen-moral-und-freiheit/6219" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://irights.info/artikel/open-source-software-zwischen-moral-und-freiheit/6219</a>.Lemmer-Webber, Christine (2024). How decentralized is Bluesky really?, 22.11.2024, <a class="" href="https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://dustycloud.org/blog/how-decentralized-is-bluesky/</a>.Lemmer-Webber, Christine (2025). Toot, 19.01.2025, <a class="" href="https://social.coop/@cwebber/113856458328842294" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://social.coop/@cwebber/113856458328842294</a>.Mastdon: Covenant (n.d.), <a class="" href="https://joinmastodon.org/covenant" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://joinmastodon.org/covenant</a>.Mastodon (2025). The people should own the town square, 13.01.2025, <a class="" href="https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/01/the-people-should-own-the-town-square/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/01/the-people-should-own-the-town-square/</a>.Prodromou, Evan (2024). A Bigger Better Fediverse, presentation at Berlin Fediday 2024, 14.10.2024, <a class="" href="https://berlinfedi.day/2024/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://berlinfedi.day/2024/</a>.Rochko, Eugen (2019). Gab switches to Mastodon’s code. Our statement, 04.07.2019, <a class="" href="https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/07/statement-on-gabs-fork-of-mastodon/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/07/statement-on-gabs-fork-of-mastodon/</a>.Rochko, Eugen (2023). What to know about Threads, 05.07.2023, <a class="" href="https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/07/what-to-know-about-threads/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2023/07/what-to-know-about-threads/</a>.SWF (2025). The Social Web Foundation announces its membership in the World Wide Web Consortium, 11.2.2025, <a class="" href="https://socialwebfoundation.org/2025/02/11/the-social-web-foundation-announces-its-membership-in-the-world-wide-web-consortium/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://socialwebfoundation.org/2025/02/11/the-social-web-foundation-announces-its-membership-in-the-world-wide-web-consortium/</a>.The Verge (2023). Threads is officially starting to test ActivityPub integration, 13.12.2023, <a class="" href="https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/13/24000120/threads-meta-activitypub-test-mastodon" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/13/24000120/threads-meta-activitypub-test-mastodon</a>.Woźniak, Michał “rysiek” (2025). Eight years on, Mastodon stubbornly survives, personal blog, 05.04.2025, <a class="" href="https://rys.io/en/177.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://rys.io/en/177.html</a>.<a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://vgrass.de/tags/fediverse/" target="_blank">#Fediverse</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://vgrass.de/tags/free-culture/" target="_blank">#FreeCulture</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://vgrass.de/tags/internet/" target="_blank">#Internet</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://vgrass.de/tags/media-science/" target="_blank">#mediaScience</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://vgrass.de/tags/public-sphere/" target="_blank">#publicSphere</a>

Jectoons :krita: :debian:"of course i'd help you hide a body", by Amelie Shypilova, is now available to read on the site!<a href="https://fodongo.jectoons.net/comic/of-course-id-help-you-hide-a-body-by-amelie-shypilova/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://fodongo.jectoons.net/comic/of-course-id-help-you-hide-a-body-by-amelie-shypilova/</a>Their work is always so whimsically jarring, I can't get enough of it. Hope you enjoy it too!Please consider getting issue 17 of <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/Fodongo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Fodongo</a>! 🪿 <a href="https://geesegoose.ca/product/fodongo-a-free-culture-comics-zine-issue-17-download/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://geesegoose.ca/product/fodongo-a-free-culture-comics-zine-issue-17-download/</a> :patreon: <a href="https://patreon.com/jectoons" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://patreon.com/jectoons</a> :ko_fi: <a href="https://ko-fi.com/jectoons" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://ko-fi.com/jectoons</a> 👾 <a href="https://jectoons.itch.io" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://jectoons.itch.io</a>You can also subscribe via OpenCollective and get the zines sent to you via email! ➡️ <a href="https://opencollective.com/fodongo/contribute/zine-subscription-experimental-84682" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://opencollective.com/fodongo/contribute/zine-subscription-experimental-84682</a>Thanks for reading and supporting <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/indieartists" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#indieartists</a> and <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a>!

nantucketlitI’m excited to be selling copies of the book Father’s Day by Sefton Eisenhart at Trident Books in Boulder, one of Colorado's best bookstores. You can find copies in the Zines section up front. Get your signed, limited edition copy today! <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/nantucketlit" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#nantucketlit</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/physicalmedia" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#physicalmedia</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/colorado" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#colorado</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/boulder" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#boulder</a>

John ColagioiaOn my blog: Naming Things <a href="https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/20/naming.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/20/naming.html</a> Using known structures and standards to make fiction look more plausible. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/fiction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fiction</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#writing</a>

ShaadraY'all should check this game out. <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/3775050/DOGWALK/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://store.steampowered.com/app/3775050/DOGWALK/</a>It's a short game where you go for a dog walk and you're the dog!It's had a unique development. The studio behind the 3D graphics application Blender made it. They usually make short animations to showcase what Blender can do, but this year they did a game!<a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/BlenderStudio" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#BlenderStudio</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/godotengine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#godotengine</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/3dmodeling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#3dmodeling</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/gamedev" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#gamedev</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/foss" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#foss</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/opensource" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#opensource</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/creativecommons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#creativecommons</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/blender" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#blender</a>

John ColagioiaOn my blog: Free Culture Book Club — Trois écoles, part 2 <a href="https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/19/trois-ecoles-2.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/19/trois-ecoles-2.html</a> This week sees the second part of a French science fiction novel. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/bookclub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#bookclub</a>

Kalvin :kupi:Progressive Creative Honour LicenceRadical freedom meets radical responsibility ✊Introducing the Progressive Creative Honour Licence: Maximum freedom with ethical guardrails. Use freely - unless you harm others. No attribution required, but human dignity is non-negotiable. <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/licenseinnovation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#LicenseInnovation</a>• Main link:- <a href="https://bookstack.kupiapps.my/books/progressive-creative-honour-licence-the-most-left/page/pchl-tml-202507182123" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://bookstack.kupiapps.my/books/progressive-creative-honour-licence-the-most-left/page/pchl-tml-202507182123</a>• Backup link: <a href="https://paper.wf/progressive-creative-honour-licence-the-most-left/progressive-creative-honour-licence-the-most-left" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://paper.wf/progressive-creative-honour-licence-the-most-left/progressive-creative-honour-licence-the-most-left</a><a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/openlicense" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#OpenLicense</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/progressivelicense" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ProgressiveLicense</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/leftistvalues" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#LeftistValues</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/creativecommons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CreativeCommons</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/ethicalsharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#EthicalSharing</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#FreeCulture</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/antioppression" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AntiOppression</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/digitalrights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#DigitalRights</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/copyleft" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Copyleft</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/contentfreedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ContentFreedom</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/humandignity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#HumanDignity</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/nohate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NoHate</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/creativefreedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CreativeFreedom</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/licenseinnovation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#LicenseInnovation</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/ethicalremixing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#EthicalRemixing</a>

Kalvin :kupi:<blockquote>With the help of the AIs, I pioneered this, which the AI itself called its "progressive" license, lol. What do you guys think? I should publish this license faster than spending time worrying about what others or I think.</blockquote><blockquote>I named it "Progressive Creative Honour Licence" because the license is evolving to adapt to the current circumstances, both online and offline, especially moral issues. I use the date and time as the version name.</blockquote>Progressive Creative Honour Licence: The Most LeftVersion: PCHL-TML-2025.07.18.21.23You are free to:<ul><li>Use this work for any purpose</li><li>Copy, remix, modify, distribute, and commercialize it</li><li>Use it without attribution</li></ul>No permission is required. Honour Clause — You May NOT:Use this work in any way that:<ul><li>Violates personal privacy (e.g., doxxing, exposing private information)</li><li>Promotes cyberbullying, targeted harassment, or public shaming</li><li>Spreads hate, bigotry, or discrimination of any kind</li><li>Intentionally defames or harms the reputation of individuals or groups</li><li>Supports or contributes to misinformation, disinformation, or malicious deepfakes</li><li>Encourages or enables illegal, abusive, or violent behavior</li></ul> Revocation ClauseViolation of the Honour Clause immediately revokes this licence. You must cease all use and distribution of the work. PhilosophyThis licence promotes radical creative freedom while defending human dignity. It is rooted in progressive, anti-oppressive, leftist values. Freedom of expression must never come at the cost of another’s safety or humanity. DisclaimerThis work is provided “as is,” without warranties. The original creator is not responsible for misuse or harm caused by others. Licence Name: Progressive Creative Honour Licence: The Most Left Version: PCHL-TML-2025.07.18.21.23 Inspired by: Creative Commons Zero (CC0 1.0) <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/openlicense" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#OpenLicense</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/progressivelicense" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ProgressiveLicense</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/leftistvalues" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#LeftistValues</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/creativecommons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CreativeCommons</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/ethicalsharing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#EthicalSharing</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#FreeCulture</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/antioppression" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#AntiOppression</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/digitalrights" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#DigitalRights</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/copyleft" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Copyleft</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/contentfreedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ContentFreedom</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/humandignity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#HumanDignity</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/nohate" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#NoHate</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/creativefreedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CreativeFreedom</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/licenseinnovation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#LicenseInnovation</a> <a href="https://gotosocial.kupiapps.my/tags/ethicalremixing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#EthicalRemixing</a>

nantucketlitI've overhauled the Apple II ebook for Overscan. I figured out how to insert DOS instructions into BASIC programs, so all the parts of the book can flow together seamlessly.I will be discussing the making of this ebook at <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/init" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#init</a>-hello on July 27 in Baltimore. Is anyone interested in previewing the disk image? Email me at njb@nantucketebooks.com and I'll send it to you. <a href="https://nantucketlit.com/overscan" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no">https://nantucketlit.com/overscan</a> <a href="https://oldbytes.space/@init_hello" class="u-url mention">@init_hello</a> <a href="https://polymaths.social/@amin" class="u-url mention">@amin</a> <a href="https://polymaths.social/@rl_dane" class="u-url mention">@rl_dane</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/freesoftware" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#freesoftware</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/nantucketlit" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#nantucketlit</a>

Jectoons :krita: :debian:<a href="https://sunny.garden/@pestojaguar" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@pestojaguar</a> Hi! I edit and publish a <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/comics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#comics</a> zine called " <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/Fodongo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Fodongo</a> ", where a bunch of amazing artists draw 3-page black and white comics released under Free-Culture Licenses! There's currently 16 issues available to download for free (or pay if you want), and issue 17 came out today (and will be free in about 5 weeks). [All revenue is distributed among artists, too!]You can check them out at <a href="https://geesegoose.ca" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://geesegoose.ca</a> and <a href="https://jectoons.itch.io" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://jectoons.itch.io</a> :)Thanks for the initiative! Have a great day!

Jectoons :krita: :debian:Hi friends! Today marks the release of issue 17 of <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/Fodongo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#Fodongo</a>! We have some great comics waiting for you, by Amelie Shypilova, <a href="https://pixelfed.art/jam" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@jam</a> , <a href="https://mastodon.art/@BootlegPotato" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">@BootlegPotato</a> and myself.You can get the zine here: 🪿 <a href="https://geesegoose.ca/product/fodongo-a-free-culture-comics-zine-issue-17-download/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://geesegoose.ca/product/fodongo-a-free-culture-comics-zine-issue-17-download/</a> :patreon: <a href="https://patreon.com/jectoons" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://patreon.com/jectoons</a> :ko_fi: <a href="https://ko-fi.com/jectoons" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://ko-fi.com/jectoons</a> 👾 <a href="https://jectoons.itch.io" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://jectoons.itch.io</a>You can also subscribe via OpenCollective and get the zines sent to you via email! ➡️ <a href="https://opencollective.com/fodongo/contribute/zine-subscription-experimental-84682" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://opencollective.com/fodongo/contribute/zine-subscription-experimental-84682</a>Thank you so much for reading and supporting independent artists and Free-Culture! <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/zine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#zine</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/indie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#indie</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/mastoart" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#mastoart</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/noai" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#noai</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/drmfree" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#drmfree</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://comicscamp.club/tags/comics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#comics</a>

John ColagioiaOn my blog: 30M — Weekly Series <a href="https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/13/30m-weekly-series.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/13/30m-weekly-series.html</a> Looking at what Free Culture could do with Save Our Feeds kind of money. #3#0#million <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/art" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#art</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/indie" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#indie</a>

nantucketlitNew blog post: An interview with writer Sefton Eisenhart about his new short story Father's Day. <a href="https://nantucketlit.com/blog/2025/07/2025-07-11_an_interview_with_father%E2%80%99s_day_author_sefton_eisenhart.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no">https://nantucketlit.com/blog/2025/07/2025-07-11_an_interview_with_father%E2%80%99s_day_author_sefton_eisenhart.html</a> Also published via RSS, Atom, and JSON Feed. <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/nantucketlit" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#nantucketlit</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/interview" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#interview</a> <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/physicalmedia" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#physicalmedia</a>

John ColagioiaOn my blog: Free Culture Book Club — Trois écoles, part 1 <a href="https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/12/trois-ecoles-1.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/12/trois-ecoles-1.html</a> This week sees the start of a French science fiction novel. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/bookclub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#bookclub</a>

Arne BabenhauserheideCulture enriches us: don’t let others claim what your love <a href="https://www.draketo.de/politik/kommentare#your-fandom-culture" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.draketo.de/politik/kommentare#your-fandom-culture</a><a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/fandom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#fandom</a> <a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/otaku" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#otaku</a> <a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/anime" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#anime</a> <a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/games" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#games</a> <a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/culture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#culture</a> <a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/CreativeCommons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CreativeCommons</a> <a href="https://rollenspiel.social/tags/FreeCulture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#FreeCulture</a>

John ColagioiaOn my blog: Free Culture Book Club — Soul Space <a href="https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/05/soul-space.html" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/07/05/soul-space.html</a> This week sees a Christian mysticism science-fiction role-playing game setting. <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#freeculture</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/bookclub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#bookclub</a>

LFA :emacs: :tux: :freebsd:I'm not alone, almost everyone is very disappointed with the Creative Commons Signal proposal."This is all so *very* wrong" <a href="https://github.com/creativecommons/cc-signals/discussions/21" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://github.com/creativecommons/cc-signals/discussions/21</a>"You are burning the trust of your actual supporters" <a href="https://github.com/creativecommons/cc-signals/discussions/31" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank">https://github.com/creativecommons/cc-signals/discussions/31</a><a href="https://hostux.social/tags/CreativeCommons" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#CreativeCommons</a> <a href="https://hostux.social/tags/ccsignal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ccsignal</a> <a href="https://hostux.social/tags/ai" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#ai</a> <a href="https://hostux.social/tags/llm" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#llm</a> <a href="https://hostux.social/tags/FreeCulture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#FreeCulture</a> <a href="https://hostux.social/tags/culture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#culture</a>

nantucketlitTomorrow, I will be announcing a *new book* from Nantucket Lit. I am immensely proud of this book, because this is a book for the Fediverse. In fact, it exists *because* of the Fediverse. Three of the people involved in the book, not including myself, are on the Fediverse and involved in Free Software. It is also a <a href="https://fosstodon.org/tags/freeculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="tag">#freeculture</a> book, using a Creative Commons license. So, if you're here on the Fedi, you'll want to check your timeline tomorrow, because this one is for you.

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