The FSF is now on Bluesky | Hacker News Reader

The FSF is now on Bluesky

fsf.org

35 pointskristianpaul6 comments

>We can't advocate that you sign up for a Bluesky account like we do with Mastodon or PeerTube since signing up for Bluesky means loading the registration page's nonfree JavaScript.

This Stallman energy always makes me chuckle. Ever since I read the GNU/Linux copypasta.

https://stallman-copypasta.github.io/

I love RMS and his work. But I'd love to run Chimera Linux (BSD userland) just so I could "um actually" about it not being "GNU Linux".

"Why did we sign up? Simply put, we have to continue to reach people where they are. Bluesky is a decent choice for us that evades many of the issues of other, more problematic networks. "

Has Bluesky turned negative user "growth" around?

Last I checked a few months ago, their metrics were still in a slow decline. Many of the good sites that tracked this have gone offline

Based on the stats I've seen, active users did drop a bit from peak, but things have long since stabilized.

I personally use BlueSky and don't use X. Ignoring the Musk factor for a moment, X pushes app use and requires you to log in. It is also filled to the brim with ads and promoted posts. BlueSky doesn't require an app at all (sure, everything I stated could change down the road, but we can't measure things on a "possibly/maybe", we need to compare what the platforms currently do)

What holds Bluesky back is exactly things like these: Big accounts refusing to migrate from X (or use both). The more big folks that migrate, the more folks will switch.

> active users did drop a bit from peak

from something like nearly 20M to around 1M, a bit more than a bit, user measurements should be easier, but they are often presented in bias to make things look better than reality (imo)

Sites which track users across many websites (imperfect, but still a useful relative signal) report ~25% drop over the last year. Took a look after asking to see for myself.

> What holds Bluesky back is

(imo)

technical:

- super slow development for the most requested features

- defaulting to public, anyone in the world can read what you write (people want privacy in comms/social)

- control over the protocol in practice

non-technical:

- several own goals by the leadership

- group think in the development ecosystem

- taking Bain Capital money and hiding it from everyone for 10 months (this is the exact opposite of their supposed ethos)

- significant political / activist community, which is giddy to dogpile if you talk about something they do not like (eg. Ai)

I was personally attacked several times in the "atmosphere" for having different views, and by the CTO here on HN, who picked one critique among pros/cons I listed in an attempt to troll me, or get under my skin. (too online like behavior)

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