MinekPo1 Slams Protocol Merge: ActivityPub and ATProtocol Too 'Fundamentally Different' for Simple Patch
The immediate focus is on coordinating the 'Fediverse Canvas 2024,' with organizer otter structuring timelines from July 12-15. Developers seeking guidance for building integrations, like Teknevra's Pinterest alternative Echo, are explicitly warned against starting from scratch, advised instead to use established tools.
Debate rages over merging ActivityPub and ATProtocol. MinekPo1 argues the protocols are 'VERY different on a foundamential level,' making a merger impossible without massive overhauls, preferring a bridge or dual support. Conversely, others remain open to workarounds, with abeorch suggesting using Friendica to handle dual protocol support. Multiple developers were simultaneously advised by utopiah and silverpill not to build solutions from scratch and to avoid using JSON-LD.
The group consensus leans toward acknowledging interoperability as the goal, but rejecting an easy merge. The deep technical chasm between the protocols, likened by MinekPo1 to merging 'Rust and Kotlin,' is the acknowledged fault line, pushing practical efforts toward utilizing existing federation tools rather than attempting monolithic protocol unification.
Key Points
Merging ActivityPub and ATProtocol is fundamentally impossible due to core differences.
MinekPo1 asserted the protocols are 'VERY different on a foundamential level,' suggesting deep changes are required.
Developers must reuse existing libraries rather than rebuilding platform solutions.
utopiah warned against building solutions like Echo from scratch, emphasizing reliance on maintained federation tools.
Using JSON-LD in new development is actively discouraged.
silverpill gave a direct technical warning, advising against the use of JSON-LD.
The goal is interoperability via bridging or dual support, not a single unified protocol.
The consensus acknowledged this goal, though the technical viability of merging remains hotly contested.
The 'Fediverse Canvas 2024' event is actively being organized and structured for collaboration.
otter took charge of organizing the event with clear timelines.
Source Discussions (3)
This report was synthesized from the following Lemmy discussions, ranked by community score.