A Mastodon Instance for VCF - an Invitation
With support from the VCF Board I have created a new service for supporters of the Vintage Computer Federation: A VCF Mastodon instance. I have a direct invite to sign up below, or the public url if you just want to look around. I also have some Q&A words below that may help explain why we are doing this. Just go right to signup: https://social.vcfed.org/invite/QDJkojxi Take a look around: https://social.vcfed.org/public Why do we need this? Mastodon is a federated network of instances (servers) every person that wants to participate needs an account on an instance. Many instances have rules and themes around topics. I thought it would be interesting to have one centered around VCF, its supporters which acknowledges our charter and its goals. The Board agreed and we have created and then set up a server inside of VCF's AWS (Amazon) account. This hosts the Mastodon instance. Is VCF Leaving Twitter? No, VCF is exploring Mastodon in conjunction with continuing to use Twitter. Mastodon is an interesting federated technology and as such offers a unique and different way of engaging socially with others on the Internet. It complements Twitter and has some fun new ways of tracking events and postings, more like classic Twitter in terms of a straight non-influenced timeline. Why would I use VCF's Mastodon? There are a few reasons. One: we are here and offering accounts. Some of the larger M. instances have been overwhelmed with requests and are closed to new accounts. The VCF Mastodon Instance (VMI) is open and can allow an easy way for interested individuals to sign up and explore the fediverse with fellow VCF supporters. What did you just say? You can read more about the fediverse here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse It's another interesting technology that has been around for a while but gained recent notoriety as more people have joined up. Mastodon is just one front-end application that participates in the larger fediverse. I have already seeded it with some interesting retro federated sites so you should see postings when you visit. If you decide to join up and start to follow people who are of interest to you it will widen the Federated stream on the site. Please feel free to click on the link and sign up for an account. So far I've found it interesting and fun. You can decide for yourself. If you have questions about using it once you sign up ask me via Mastodon DM me via Masto----> @dillera@social.vcfed.org Again, the VCF Instance is here: https://social.vcfed.org/public Happy Holidays -andy diller Social Media Manager, not Director, at VCFederation
On Fri, 23 Dec 2022, Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
With support from the VCF Board I have created a new service for supporters of the Vintage Computer Federation: A VCF Mastodon instance.
I'm curious as to the need for another communications service. We already have the VCF Forums (which are becoming more active), and a VCF Discord (which is severely underused), and the mailing list. Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
This is different. It's not necessarily a form for all of us to communicate among each other, it is a public open environment where we can engage with the wider community. I don't think anybody is suggesting us abandoned the forums or the mailing list or anything like that, but I've been active on Mastodon for almost 2 years now, and it has a very strong feel of Usenet as it was 30 years ago. Open source, not run by a corporation, and very personal. I'm enjoying it. Happy to see we have a presence there, and I hope that VCF uses it at least at the beginning the same way we're using Twitter. On Fri, Dec 23, 2022, 5:41 PM Mike Loewen via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Fri, 23 Dec 2022, Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
With support from the VCF Board I have created a new service for supporters of the Vintage Computer Federation: A VCF Mastodon instance.
I'm curious as to the need for another communications service. We already have the VCF Forums (which are becoming more active), and a VCF Discord (which is severely underused), and the mailing list.
Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
On 12/23/22 18:12, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
but I've been active on Mastodon for almost 2 years now, and it has a very strong feel of Usenet as it was 30 years ago. Open source, not run by a corporation, and very personal.
That sounds great. But why not just use Usenet? ;) -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
On 12/23/22 18:37, Andrew Diller wrote:
Yeah no.
On Dec 23, 2022, at 6:28 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
That sounds great. But why not just use Usenet? ;)
slightly spammy since Green Card Lottery.
Yeah, but then so is everything else.
also usenet is good for uh, media, not talk
Huh? Have you actually *used* it? It's 100% about talk, but has been abused for media. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
I mean i used it for years with tin and stuff... when it felt useful. Lets say this- it's a lot easier to setup a masto instance or even a discord server than it is to seed your own newsgroup. -andy
On Dec 23, 2022, at 6:38 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Huh? Have you actually *used* it? It's 100% about talk, but has been abused for media.
I'd say it's about text, and what is in that text today is 99.999% for computers not humans!
On 12/23/22 18:59, Andrew Diller wrote:
I mean i used it for years with tin and stuff... when it felt useful. Lets say this- it's a lot easier to setup a masto instance or even a discord server than it is to seed your own newsgroup.
Ha! Nope. Running "newgrp" is as easy today as it was in 1993. To each his own I guess. I'm a busy person, and the real-time comms of social media is way too distracting and takes up waaaaay too much time, and time is short.
Huh? Have you actually *used* it? It's 100% about talk, but has been abused for media.
I'd say it's about text, and what is in that text today is 99.999% for computers not humans!
Again, nope. But yes, it's about text, and it's people talking to other people. Just like it was decades ago. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
I will have to pick your brain. I have that giant usenet archive from way back and wanted to extract it to a running INN server for a VCF exhibit but never got it working... Now I know who to ask for help. -andy
On Dec 23, 2022, at 7:36 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: Ha! Nope. Running "newgrp" is as easy today as it was in 1993.
Anytime, my friend. Think about resurrecting that exhibit idea; we can do it with a real-time feed. -Dave On 12/23/22 19:40, Andrew Diller wrote:
I will have to pick your brain. I have that giant usenet archive from way back and wanted to extract it to a running INN server for a VCF exhibit but never got it working... Now I know who to ask for help.
-andy
On Dec 23, 2022, at 7:36 PM, Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote: Ha! Nope. Running "newgrp" is as easy today as it was in 1993.
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Huh? Have you actually *used* it? It's 100% about talk, but has been abused for media. -Dave
I have helped a friend mount hundreds of 18TB HDDs in sleds for some Usenet service he does work for. It's pretty wild looking at a wall of many petabytes of LEDs flashing... thinking.... I wonder what they are reading on usenet right now. There is a semi-local hackerspace that launched on the Mastodon during the great evil Elon revolt, and immediately there was a user backlash because the network of servers they were on touched a server that had content the user didn't agree with. It was amusing. - Ethan
On 12/24/22 02:52, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Huh? Have you actually *used* it? It's 100% about talk, but has been abused for media.
I have helped a friend mount hundreds of 18TB HDDs in sleds for some Usenet service he does work for. It's pretty wild looking at a wall of many petabytes of LEDs flashing... thinking.... I wonder what they are reading on usenet right now.
Pics!
There is a semi-local hackerspace that launched on the Mastodon during the great evil Elon revolt, and immediately there was a user backlash because the network of servers they were on touched a server that had content the user didn't agree with. It was amusing.
ROFL -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
So, while this is amusing and snarky, folks should understand what mastodon is and how it works. Defederating a server because it has bad users or content is actually a key component of how Mastodon works. The network isn't completely flat. Unike Usenet, not all content is replicated across all servers (yes, I know some newsgroups can be filtered, that's not what i'm talking about). Servers / instances are identified by interest, social group, or topic. Some servers attract some really dreadful people. They are defederated / blocked. It's a very very different model. On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 10:07 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On 12/24/22 02:52, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Huh? Have you actually *used* it? It's 100% about talk, but has been abused for media.
I have helped a friend mount hundreds of 18TB HDDs in sleds for some Usenet service he does work for. It's pretty wild looking at a wall of many petabytes of LEDs flashing... thinking.... I wonder what they are reading on usenet right now.
Pics!
There is a semi-local hackerspace that launched on the Mastodon during the great evil Elon revolt, and immediately there was a user backlash because the network of servers they were on touched a server that had content the user didn't agree with. It was amusing.
ROFL
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave Shevett shevett@pobox.com
It sounds fantastic, what Twitter should've always been. It really makes me wish I was compatible with the whole real-time comms thing. -Dave On 12/24/22 10:12, Dave Shevett wrote:
So, while this is amusing and snarky, folks should understand what mastodon is and how it works. Defederating a server because it has bad users or content is actually a key component of how Mastodon works.
The network isn't completely flat. Unike Usenet, not all content is replicated across all servers (yes, I know some newsgroups can be filtered, that's not what i'm talking about).
Servers / instances are identified by interest, social group, or topic. Some servers attract some really dreadful people. They are defederated / blocked.
It's a very very different model.
On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 10:07 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
On 12/24/22 02:52, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >> Huh? Have you actually *used* it? It's 100% about talk, but has >> been abused for media. > > I have helped a friend mount hundreds of 18TB HDDs in sleds for some > Usenet service he does work for. It's pretty wild looking at a wall of > many petabytes of LEDs flashing... thinking.... I wonder what they are > reading on usenet right now.
Pics!
> There is a semi-local hackerspace that launched on the Mastodon during > the great evil Elon revolt, and immediately there was a user backlash > because the network of servers they were on touched a server that had > content the user didn't agree with. It was amusing.
ROFL
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave Shevett shevett@pobox.com <mailto:shevett@pobox.com>
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Note that all Mastodon accounts have their own personal RSS feeds. If you do RSS, you can subscribe to it and read at your leisure :) So, go to whatever RSS reader you have and subscribe to https://fosstodon.org/@roygreenhilt.rss - that's me :) VCF's would be https://social.vcfed.org/@admin.rss No realtime needed! Read at your leisure :) On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 10:17 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
It sounds fantastic, what Twitter should've always been. It really makes me wish I was compatible with the whole real-time comms thing.
-Dave
On 12/24/22 10:12, Dave Shevett wrote:
So, while this is amusing and snarky, folks should understand what mastodon is and how it works. Defederating a server because it has bad users or content is actually a key component of how Mastodon works.
The network isn't completely flat. Unike Usenet, not all content is replicated across all servers (yes, I know some newsgroups can be filtered, that's not what i'm talking about).
Servers / instances are identified by interest, social group, or topic. Some servers attract some really dreadful people. They are defederated / blocked.
It's a very very different model.
On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 10:07 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
On 12/24/22 02:52, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic wrote: >> Huh? Have you actually *used* it? It's 100% about talk, but has >> been abused for media. > > I have helped a friend mount hundreds of 18TB HDDs in sleds for some > Usenet service he does work for. It's pretty wild looking at a wall of > many petabytes of LEDs flashing... thinking.... I wonder what they are > reading on usenet right now.
Pics!
> There is a semi-local hackerspace that launched on the Mastodon during > the great evil Elon revolt, and immediately there was a user backlash > because the network of servers they were on touched a server that had > content the user didn't agree with. It was amusing.
ROFL
-Dave
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave Shevett shevett@pobox.com <mailto:shevett@pobox.com>
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave Shevett shevett@pobox.com
Ok THAT is cool. Thanks for the pointer! -Dave On 12/24/22 10:25, Dave Shevett wrote:
Note that all Mastodon accounts have their own personal RSS feeds. If you do RSS, you can subscribe to it and read at your leisure :)
So, go to whatever RSS reader you have and subscribe to https://fosstodon.org/@roygreenhilt.rss <https://fosstodon.org/@roygreenhilt.rss> - that's me :)
VCF's would be https://social.vcfed.org/@admin.rss <https://social.vcfed.org/@admin.rss>
No realtime needed! Read at your leisure :)
On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 10:17 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
It sounds fantastic, what Twitter should've always been. It really makes me wish I was compatible with the whole real-time comms thing.
-Dave
On 12/24/22 10:12, Dave Shevett wrote: > So, while this is amusing and snarky, folks should understand what > mastodon is and how it works. Defederating a server because it has bad > users or content is actually a key component of how Mastodon works. > > The network isn't completely flat. Unike Usenet, not all content is > replicated across all servers (yes, I know some newsgroups can be > filtered, that's not what i'm talking about). > > Servers / instances are identified by interest, social group, or topic. > Some servers attract some really dreadful people. They are defederated > / blocked. > > It's a very very different model. > > On Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 10:07 AM Dave McGuire via vcf-midatlantic > <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> > <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>>> wrote: > > On 12/24/22 02:52, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic wrote: > >> Huh? Have you actually *used* it? It's 100% about talk, but has > >> been abused for media. > > > > I have helped a friend mount hundreds of 18TB HDDs in sleds for some > > Usenet service he does work for. It's pretty wild looking at a > wall of > > many petabytes of LEDs flashing... thinking.... I wonder what > they are > > reading on usenet right now. > > Pics! > > > There is a semi-local hackerspace that launched on the Mastodon > during > > the great evil Elon revolt, and immediately there was a user > backlash > > because the network of servers they were on touched a server that > had > > content the user didn't agree with. It was amusing. > > ROFL > > -Dave > > -- > Dave McGuire, AK4HZ > New Kensington, PA > > > > -- > Dave Shevett > shevett@pobox.com <mailto:shevett@pobox.com> <mailto:shevett@pobox.com <mailto:shevett@pobox.com>>
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
-- Dave Shevett shevett@pobox.com <mailto:shevett@pobox.com>
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Again, thanks DaveS for some relevant points: If you do come across any content that is objectionable please click on the report button. We'll see it and can make the changes necessary to de-federate some sites that are consistently spewing garbage. -andy
On Dec 24, 2022, at 10:12 AM, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Servers / instances are identified by interest, social group, or topic. Some servers attract some really dreadful people. They are defederated / blocked.
It's a very very different model.
Is there a BBS I can dial into to read the VCF messages / forums online ? On Sat, Dec 24, 2022, 12:27 PM Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Again, thanks DaveS for some relevant points:
If you do come across any content that is objectionable please click on the report button. We'll see it and can make the changes necessary to de-federate some sites that are consistently spewing garbage.
-andy
On Dec 24, 2022, at 10:12 AM, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Servers / instances are identified by interest, social group, or topic. Some servers attract some really dreadful people. They are defederated / blocked.
It's a very very different model.
Not now, but I hope to have one working early in 2023. It will be running on a MacSE using subtext: https://jcs.org/subtext <https://jcs.org/subtext> I have one running in my house now that is available via telnet: $ telnet qix.diller.org <http://qix.diller.org/> login as guest and you can at least see it running. That is on MacSE running System 6.0.8. I'm not sure about sync'ing forum messages to it, but who knows anything is possible with enough effort. It may be more interesting to run a INN server (with Dave's help) and have a usenet/forum gateway. Lots of thing could be done if there are some people willing to help -andy
On Dec 24, 2022, at 3:15 PM, John Heritage via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Is there a BBS I can dial into to read the VCF messages / forums online ?
On Sat, Dec 24, 2022, 12:27 PM Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Again, thanks DaveS for some relevant points:
If you do come across any content that is objectionable please click on the report button. We'll see it and can make the changes necessary to de-federate some sites that are consistently spewing garbage.
-andy
On Dec 24, 2022, at 10:12 AM, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Servers / instances are identified by interest, social group, or topic. Some servers attract some really dreadful people. They are defederated / blocked.
It's a very very different model.
On December 24, 2022 4:28:28 PM Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
It may be more interesting to run a INN server (with Dave's help) and have a usenet/forum gateway.
You bring up a server, with my help if needed, and I'll send it a news feed. Does the forum provide an RSS feed, or some other push implementation? If so, we should be able to put together a gateway to Usenet. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Dave gets it :) But yes, DaveS is very much right on track with what is being offered today Mike. Two things have happened: 1. There is a "VCF" official Mastodon account now, just like twitter where certain things can be posted and people who are on Mastodon can follow and keep track, just like twitter. These people may have left twitter. Nothing posted there will be exclusive to Mastodon. I didn't want to create an official VCF account (presence) on _another_ Mastodon instance, which is the genesis of this whole endeavor. 2. There is the VCF Mastodon Service- offered for supporters here - this is for you all to use as you will (within our TOS) to explore Mastodon if you want to. You will at least be in the same server as other VCF supporters which may be something you want. If you don't want this you can ignore it and your life will not be impacted. Hope this helps and thanks DaveS for the words... -andy
On Dec 23, 2022, at 6:12 PM, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
This is different. It's not necessarily a form for all of us to communicate among each other, it is a public open environment where we can engage with the wider community. I don't think anybody is suggesting us abandoned the forums or the mailing list or anything like that, but I've been active on Mastodon for almost 2 years now, and it has a very strong feel of Usenet as it was 30 years ago. Open source, not run by a corporation, and very personal. I'm enjoying it.
Happy to see we have a presence there, and I hope that VCF uses it at least at the beginning the same way we're using Twitter.
On Fri, Dec 23, 2022, 5:41 PM Mike Loewen via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Fri, 23 Dec 2022, Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
With support from the VCF Board I have created a new service for supporters of the Vintage Computer Federation: A VCF Mastodon instance.
I'm curious as to the need for another communications service. We already have the VCF Forums (which are becoming more active), and a VCF Discord (which is severely underused), and the mailing list.
Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
I really like the decentralized aspect of things. With suits all too willing to try to control the narrative by controlling the medium these days, this sort of thing (as much as I still personally prefer Usenet ;)) is right on time. -Dave On 12/23/22 18:34, Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
Dave gets it :)
But yes, DaveS is very much right on track with what is being offered today Mike.
Two things have happened:
1. There is a "VCF" official Mastodon account now, just like twitter where certain things can be posted and people who are on Mastodon can follow and keep track, just like twitter. These people may have left twitter. Nothing posted there will be exclusive to Mastodon. I didn't want to create an official VCF account (presence) on _another_ Mastodon instance, which is the genesis of this whole endeavor.
2. There is the VCF Mastodon Service- offered for supporters here - this is for you all to use as you will (within our TOS) to explore Mastodon if you want to. You will at least be in the same server as other VCF supporters which may be something you want. If you don't want this you can ignore it and your life will not be impacted.
Hope this helps and thanks DaveS for the words...
-andy
On Dec 23, 2022, at 6:12 PM, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
This is different. It's not necessarily a form for all of us to communicate among each other, it is a public open environment where we can engage with the wider community. I don't think anybody is suggesting us abandoned the forums or the mailing list or anything like that, but I've been active on Mastodon for almost 2 years now, and it has a very strong feel of Usenet as it was 30 years ago. Open source, not run by a corporation, and very personal. I'm enjoying it.
Happy to see we have a presence there, and I hope that VCF uses it at least at the beginning the same way we're using Twitter.
On Fri, Dec 23, 2022, 5:41 PM Mike Loewen via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Fri, 23 Dec 2022, Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
With support from the VCF Board I have created a new service for supporters of the Vintage Computer Federation: A VCF Mastodon instance.
I'm curious as to the need for another communications service. We already have the VCF Forums (which are becoming more active), and a VCF Discord (which is severely underused), and the mailing list.
Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
-- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Hi Andy - er.... what's VCF's mastodon account? I may have missed it in the thread here. (BTW, I'm @roygreenhilt@fosstodon.org - I picked the username when I was testing out Mastodon ages and ages ago, and it's sort of stuck now) -d On Fri, Dec 23, 2022 at 6:34 PM Andrew Diller <dillera@gmail.com> wrote:
Dave gets it :)
But yes, DaveS is very much right on track with what is being offered today Mike.
Two things have happened:
1. There is a "VCF" official Mastodon account now, just like twitter where certain things can be posted and people who are on Mastodon can follow and keep track, just like twitter. These people may have left twitter. Nothing posted there will be exclusive to Mastodon. I didn't want to create an official VCF account (presence) on _another_ Mastodon instance, which is the genesis of this whole endeavor.
2. There is the VCF Mastodon Service- offered for supporters here - this is for you all to use as you will (within our TOS) to explore Mastodon if you want to. You will at least be in the same server as other VCF supporters which may be something you want. If you don't want this you can ignore it and your life will not be impacted.
Hope this helps and thanks DaveS for the words...
-andy
On Dec 23, 2022, at 6:12 PM, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
This is different. It's not necessarily a form for all of us to communicate among each other, it is a public open environment where we can engage with the wider community. I don't think anybody is suggesting us abandoned the forums or the mailing list or anything like that, but I've been active on Mastodon for almost 2 years now, and it has a very strong feel of Usenet as it was 30 years ago. Open source, not run by a corporation, and very personal. I'm enjoying it.
Happy to see we have a presence there, and I hope that VCF uses it at least at the beginning the same way we're using Twitter.
On Fri, Dec 23, 2022, 5:41 PM Mike Loewen via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
On Fri, 23 Dec 2022, Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
With support from the VCF Board I have created a new service for supporters of the Vintage Computer Federation: A VCF Mastodon instance.
I'm curious as to the need for another communications service. We already have the VCF Forums (which are becoming more active), and a VCF Discord (which is severely underused), and the mailing list.
Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/
-- Dave Shevett shevett@pobox.com
@admin@social.vcfed.org <mailto:admin@social.vcfed.org> -andy
On Dec 23, 2022, at 6:55 PM, Dave Shevett <shevett@pobox.com> wrote:
Hi Andy - er.... what's VCF's mastodon account? I may have missed it in the thread here.
(BTW, I'm @roygreenhilt@fosstodon.org <mailto:roygreenhilt@fosstodon.org> - I picked the username when I was testing out Mastodon ages and ages ago, and it's sort of stuck now)
-d
On Fri, Dec 23, 2022 at 6:34 PM Andrew Diller <dillera@gmail.com <mailto:dillera@gmail.com>> wrote: Dave gets it :)
But yes, DaveS is very much right on track with what is being offered today Mike.
Two things have happened:
1. There is a "VCF" official Mastodon account now, just like twitter where certain things can be posted and people who are on Mastodon can follow and keep track, just like twitter. These people may have left twitter. Nothing posted there will be exclusive to Mastodon. I didn't want to create an official VCF account (presence) on _another_ Mastodon instance, which is the genesis of this whole endeavor.
2. There is the VCF Mastodon Service- offered for supporters here - this is for you all to use as you will (within our TOS) to explore Mastodon if you want to. You will at least be in the same server as other VCF supporters which may be something you want. If you don't want this you can ignore it and your life will not be impacted.
Hope this helps and thanks DaveS for the words...
-andy
On Dec 23, 2022, at 6:12 PM, Dave Shevett via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
This is different. It's not necessarily a form for all of us to communicate among each other, it is a public open environment where we can engage with the wider community. I don't think anybody is suggesting us abandoned the forums or the mailing list or anything like that, but I've been active on Mastodon for almost 2 years now, and it has a very strong feel of Usenet as it was 30 years ago. Open source, not run by a corporation, and very personal. I'm enjoying it.
Happy to see we have a presence there, and I hope that VCF uses it at least at the beginning the same way we're using Twitter.
On Fri, Dec 23, 2022, 5:41 PM Mike Loewen via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org <mailto:vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org>> wrote:
On Fri, 23 Dec 2022, Andrew Diller via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
With support from the VCF Board I have created a new service for supporters of the Vintage Computer Federation: A VCF Mastodon instance.
I'm curious as to the need for another communications service. We already have the VCF Forums (which are becoming more active), and a VCF Discord (which is severely underused), and the mailing list.
Mike Loewen mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us <mailto:mloewen@cpumagic.scol.pa.us> Old Technology http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/ <http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/>
-- Dave Shevett shevett@pobox.com <mailto:shevett@pobox.com>
When you sign up please use either the email you are subscribed to the list with, or put your name (there is a chance to do that) in the box about why you want to use it. This is just to ensure we are signing up VCF membership at this point. thanks, -andy
On Dec 23, 2022, at 2:34 PM, Andrew Diller <dillera@gmail.com> wrote:
With support from the VCF Board I have created a new service for supporters of the Vintage Computer Federation: A VCF Mastodon instance.
participants (6)
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Andrew Diller -
Dave McGuire -
Dave Shevett -
Ethan O'Toole -
John Heritage -
Mike Loewen