Federation in social networks

The last thing we need at this stage is bike-shedding, especially at this very weak point-in-time where we don't have true open-source alternative for social systems.

I see Mastodon now mentioned in The Verge, Wired, etc. with some sponsors. Honestly, that's something the technically-OK but always-horribly-of-style GNU solutions will ever achieve.

Exposure, communication, and a good hip style is mandatory for a free-software social service to succeed, and it seems Mastodon hits the three remarkably. I guess being a Ruby-on-Rails project, where such community has excellent Web expertise and "hip" factor, is directly correlated to why they've been able to achieve the three factors.

So yes, YMMV, but I would really appreciate being less cynical and bike-sheddy about the whole affair. Society is in a dire need for something like this.