I'm left wondering if maybe all the years I spend tinkering with Linux servers and self-hosted infrastructure are just about to pay off big time now that there is a massive move for governments and institutions to take control of their infrastructure... You still pretty much need a human to spin and maintain infrastructure, wire things securely, and monitor... Now I just need to wait until someone rebrands sysop into something cool sounding like Sovereign Re-orchestration Professional, or Reacquisition Specialist... Data Nationalisation Champion

So the "news" here is they're hosting their own PDS? I think that was the main point of Atmosphere and Bluesky was just a popular gateway to get people into it.

Unless I'm missing something else...

But ... they have a "Follow us on BlueSky" link that goes to bsky.app not esky.something?

This is great. The entire idea of AT is that users can move their data for any reason. We want more of this.

But I do think it's always worth pushing back a bit on this idea:

> "The way Bluesky is funded is at odds with the idea of decentralisation because the platform relies on venture capital and operates under a shareholder model."

Large decentralized infrastructure like the internet, DNS, email, and the web was largely built by VC-backed companies.

The most important open source project, Linux, is funded by major tech companies through the Linux Foundation, with $311 million last year.

Corporate incentives do create conflicts, so it makes sense to be paranoid and skeptical. But the idea that companies can't contribute to open and decentralized systems is exactly the wrong lesson to learn.

We want more VC-backed startups working on open social networks and protocols. It would be great if many of them were in Europe.

Honest question: Bluesky was touted as the next distributed, uncensorable, truly-free social network, but in practice I see all posts from right-of center users obscured, much more than old Twitter or, in practice, any other social network (look at the Babylon Bee account, which is a satirical website leaning to the right, censored to oblivion: https://bsky.app/profile/realbabylonbee.bsky.social). Will Eurosky be the same? If yes, why ATProto is "cool" if, in practice, the social networks built upon it are the most sectarian places on the Internet?

And what does this do safety/privacy-wise?

Nothing, except make it more available.

This is why I often argue against (or at least want to point out the dangers of) the ATProto/Bluesky model.

It's an absolute boon for people who want heavy surveillance, government or otherwise.

The looseness and "unreliability" of protocols like Mastodon ironically make them safer.

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> "Since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, we have been missing a digital village square where public debate can take place in (relative) safety."

The ironic thing is Twitter is actually the square of public debate and Bluesky is just a echo chamber just like Reddit. Just try having a debate on these platforms. You will literally get banned, your post deleted or muted.