StatusNet, Identi.ca, and another blow to the AGPL

Until this message, I had been considering a move to identi.ca or maybe
adding it, but keeping twitter.

-Dave H.

On 12/28/2012 02:53 PM, name at domain wrote:
> What will you do when Identi.ca goes away? Are you going to use Pump.io
> instead?

This story is a few years old, but may give some reasons as to why someone would pick Apache over GPL: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10229817-16.html

> the new software will be licensed under Apache 2.0.

It's a shame they are moving away from copyleft altogether. Technical superiority is perhaps one of the largest reasons why people use free software (sadly). Copyleft is pragmatic idealism - it means someone can't just take free software and trick users into using a proprietary derivative. Mac OSX and iOS, Windows TCP/IP networking, and Google Chrome are good examples of proprietary software that came as a result of permissive licensed software.

The good thing about the Apache license is that it is (obviously) still free software, and freely available to anyone who wants freedom. People who are capable of running their own server are perhaps more likely to value their freedom over technical superiority.

I don't use any form of social networking, but decentralised social networking is definitely better. As I understand it, I can easily run my own StatusNet or OStatus-compatible server and communicate with people using identi.ca, pump.io or another OStatus-enabled site. It still definitely beats Twitter, Facebook and other centralised networks.

tegskywalker writes:

> I recently read a story at …about how the owner of StatusNet is
> ceasing development of the software and that the existing Identi.ca
> accounts will be migrated over to their new platform, Pump.io.

Here is the official source. [1] One of the comments of an anonymous
user reads:

"we will be doing an account registration freeze before deploying the
new major version, and drop unused accounts in the process"

To which Even Prodromou seems to agree:

"THANK YOU for the succinct summary Probably the big thing that's
different is that pump.io is much smaller and simpler than
StatusNet. I'm trying to push some features out to the edge."

> When I was looking for top software that used the Affero GPLv3
> license, StatusNet was one I could count on one hand and now that is
> being phased out.

The source code is still available and free software. There might be a
fork. Don't forget that most free software licenses have the clause
"without any warranty". ;)

> Maybe people like the StatusNet owner see the Apache license as a way
> to get more corporate support and put more money into his company,
> e14n.

There is nothing wrong with getting more money. It depends on the means
by which you achieve it. It will still be free software. The Apache 2.0
license is not as strict as the AGPL, so the public relies on the good
intentions of the authors of the software released under the Apache 2.0
license.

> What will you do when Identi.ca goes away? Are you going to use
> Pump.io instead?

The option to run your own node still exists. There are other services
and free software that support the oStatus federation protocol that I've
heard about, but haven't tested.

Simply put, the main developer of a software package stops developing
and supporting it, and starts a new one from scratch. The package could
live on, but it depends on the public (users). After all that is one of the
reasons why free software licenses exist. Somebody might fork it or
continue develop it.

[1]
http://status.net/2012/12/18/upcoming-changes-in-the-status-net-service

Curiously, that happened not much before the launching of GNU/consensus: https://savannah.gnu.org/forum/forum.php?forum_id=7469

The statusnet software is still going to be kept under the same licence (which, beyond the obvious reasons, is good because OStatus lets you interact with identi.ca, friendica, etc. etc.) I federated (set up my own statusnet instance that can talk to other OStatus networks like identi.ca : http://www.shopfounta.in/statusnet/1111aether) a while ago because I felt bad for 'freeloading' off identi.ca. Just do that and you won't have to worry about what others are doing.

Trust me, speaking as an idiot, it's idiot proof to set up. It took me about a day but that's only because I have zero computer training and a crappy webhost who won't give me root for less than a gadzillion dollars. Y'all could probably do it in an hour while hammered drunk. http://gitorious.org/statusnet/mainline/blobs/master/INSTALL

Hello there!

I'm a developer who's been doing a lot of work on my own fork of StatusNet, https://freesocial.org/ (see http://www.ohloh.net/p/freesocial for dev-stuff)

As may have been pointed out, but deserves repetition, is that this is the Status.net _service_ being migrated to that company's new software project (the company is changing forms as well).

Despite this, of course StatusNet software source code will still remain free, available and working from code repositories. And it is definitely not the end of free social networking. Other than this, there are several projects working with the open protocol OStatus for federated social networking.

Also - last but not least - GNU Social (essentially the same codebase as StatusNet) is still very much alive! It is an FSF endorsed social networking project and has had a recent boost of encouragement in the mailing lists (much as a result from the Status.net thing):
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/social/2012-12/msg00043.html

And I know that I personally prefer many of the design decisions, both code and license related, in the GNU Social project as opposed to Pump.io.

I found this lengthy article on the subject:

https://lwn.net/Articles/544347/

I agree that ultimately, Identi.ca just felt like a Twitter clone. Although it's free and federated, I didn't feel it reached it's potential because there was only one site to sign up to. Start my own server? Not an option financially for me, atm, and I don't know of any free-to-join alternatives. OStatus is great, but isn't setting a huge example yet.

Pump.io doesn't seem like a step backward to me. Sounds to me like a new chapter in future OStatus history, because the more OStatus experiments out there, the better. The backslide to Apache is disappointing, since AGPL clearly protects your freedom on a server much more effectively, but I guess you have to accept SOME non-GNU licenses online or you'll hardly use anything (for now).

I'm more interested in this off-hand reference to "free Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider[s]" AppFog and OpenShift. Is it actually possible for someone to set up their own social networking instance while hardly paying a cent? If Pump.io accounts will eventually be run by individuals on their own free servers, I see the future of federated social networking being very interesting, and if I could set up my own StatusNet instance right now completely gratis, I may just jump on the chance.