Jump to a federated social network
Linux Format|April 2023
Nick Peers reveals how you can get up and running with this free, decentralised and non-profit alternative to Twitter.
Jump to a federated social network

You might have noticed some rich guy bought Twitter and has been making changes. That’s caused many users to look for a new home that’s a little more laid-back, and the good news is the perfect alternative is non-profit, embraces everything Linux users love, and has quickly adapted to finding itself the centre of attention as its infrastructure scales up to meet the challenge of millions of new users.

Mastodon is its name, and while there are clear similarities with Twitter – both are a micro-blogging platform – there are differences, too, not least of all culturally. Mastodon comes with a slightly steeper learning curve, but don’t worry, that’s where we come in. Before you get started, here’s a quick primer to what Mastodon is and how it differs from the bird site.

The fediverse 

Unlike traditional social networks, Mastodon isn’t a single, centralised entity. Instead, it’s part of the fediverse, a huge network of independently hosted yet interconnected servers (often referred to as instances). In Mastodon’s case, each server communicates with each other through the open social networking protocol ActivityPub, which is also used by Nextcloud and other free and open alternatives to traditional platforms, such as Friendica, PeerTube and Pixelfed (offering alternatives to Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, respectively). Even Tumblr is planning to implement ActivityPub support.

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Create your first WebSocket service
Linux Format

Create your first WebSocket service

Mihalis Tsoukalos explains how to use the Go programming language to work with the WebSocket protocol.

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9 mins  |
April 2023
Fantastic Mr Firefox
Linux Format

Fantastic Mr Firefox

Nick Peers takes a trip down memory lane to reveal the story behind the rise - and slight fall - of Mozilla's popular web browser.

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9 mins  |
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Set up your terminal and email like it's 1983
Linux Format

Set up your terminal and email like it's 1983

Jump in the hot terminal time machine with Mats Tage Axelsson who emails from the command line using the latest technology.

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8 mins  |
April 2023
Universal layer text effects with GIMP
Linux Format

Universal layer text effects with GIMP

Posters use them, films and presentations are hard to imagine without them: text effects. Attract attention with Karsten Günther and GIMP.

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8 mins  |
April 2023
Jump to a federated social network
Linux Format

Jump to a federated social network

Nick Peers reveals how you can get up and running with this free, decentralised and non-profit alternative to Twitter.

time-read
9 mins  |
April 2023
Free our SOFTWARE!
Linux Format

Free our SOFTWARE!

Taking anything for granted is dangerous, so Jonni Bidwell and Mike Saunders revisit how the free software movement got started to help free us from proprietary tyranny!

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4 mins  |
April 2023
Master RPI.GPIO
Linux Format

Master RPI.GPIO

Les Pounder goes back to the early days of the Raspberry Pi - and his career with this classic library! -

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5 mins  |
April 2023
Waveshare Zero to Pi3
Linux Format

Waveshare Zero to Pi3

Transform your Pi Zero into a Pi 3, they promised Les Pounder, but it's more like adding on go-faster stripes.

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2 mins  |
April 2023
The Best OPEN SOURCE Software Ever!
Linux Format

The Best OPEN SOURCE Software Ever!

In an attempt to trigger controversy, Michael Reed and Neil Mohr unequivocally state these are the greatest free software apps ever. Probably. We’re just trying to be helpful.

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10+ mins  |
April 2023
Linux-Mandrake 7
Linux Format

Linux-Mandrake 7

Simplicity and a wide range of applications make this a great distribution for all Linux users.

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April 2023