After reading a bit about Usenet, it seems to me as if the whole Fediverse seems to be just a reinvention of Usenet.

What’s the big difference?

  • Madiator2011@lm.madiator.cloudEnglish
    8725·
    1 year ago

    Note: Generated with GPT-4 (dont hate me :) )

    The Fediverse (with ActivityPub as its main protocol) and Usenet are both decentralized systems for distributing content across networks of computers. They’re used for communication and often form the backbone of various social media platforms and discussion forums. However, they have significant differences in terms of their origin, architecture, protocols, and usage. Let’s take a look at the distinctions between them:

    1. Origin & Era:

      • Usenet: Originated in 1979, Usenet was one of the earliest Internet systems for public discussions. It was the predecessor to many modern forms of online discussions, such as web forums and bulletin boards.
      • Fediverse/ActivityPub: The concept of the Fediverse (a portmanteau of “federation” and “universe”) emerged in the 2010s. It’s an ensemble of interconnected servers that are used for web publishing (like blogging, microblogging, video hosting) and file hosting. ActivityPub is one of the newer protocols that allows different services on the Fediverse to communicate with one another.

    2. Architecture:

      • Usenet: Uses a store-and-forward model where messages are propagated from one server to another, but not all servers retain all messages. It’s based on a newsgroup system where you can post articles that are then propagated to other Usenet servers worldwide.
      • Fediverse/ActivityPub: Is based on a federated model where each instance (or server) can communicate with others, but they are independent in terms of governance, content, and users. Each instance can apply its own policies and rules, and users of one instance can follow and interact with users from another.

    3. Content Structure:

      • Usenet: Organized around newsgroups, which are somewhat equivalent to today’s forums or bulletin boards. Each newsgroup covers a particular topic, and people post messages and replies in a threaded manner.
      • Fediverse: More diverse in content structure. Different software on the Fediverse serves different purposes. For instance, Mastodon is for microblogging (similar to Twitter), PeerTube is for video hosting, and Lemmy (which you mentioned) is more like a link aggregator or discussion platform (similar to Reddit).

    4. Protocols:

      • Usenet: Primarily uses the Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP) for distributing, querying, and retrieving news articles.
      • Fediverse/ActivityPub: Utilizes ActivityPub, which is a decentralized social networking protocol. It allows user activity to be shared and understood across different services and platforms.

    5. Moderation & Control:

      • Usenet: Largely unmoderated and has been known for both the free exchange of ideas and for spam or unwanted content.
      • Fediverse: Each instance has its own moderation policies. This means one instance might be heavily moderated, while another might be more lenient.

    6. Modern Relevance:

      • Usenet: While still operational, Usenet has declined in mainstream popularity and is now mostly a niche platform.
      • Fediverse: Gaining traction, especially among those who value decentralization, privacy, and are disillusioned with mainstream social media platforms.

    In summary, while both Usenet and the Fediverse offer decentralized ways of communication, they stem from different eras, are based on different architectures and protocols, and are used in different ways today.

      • inspxtr@lemmy.world
        7·
        1 year ago

        Yeah it felt like it, at least. The first difference about origin and era threw me off; people in general are not interested in it and would probably not list the facts like that.

        It felt uncomfortable and disingenuous reading it. I would have preferred if it ended with either “This is written by Chat-GPT” or “I used Chat-GPT then edited it”. Like the TLDR/Peertube bot on Lemmy, at least they sign it with their identity when they’re bot accounts.

        • Square Singer@feddit.deOP
          21·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, the point of the question was not “You know, Usenet is older than Fediverse”. I actually stated exactly that in the question.

        • manitcor@lemmy.intai.techEnglish
          11·
          1 year ago

          as time goes on i think techs that mark human made content will be more practical.

          the only reason that read as “off” is because the poster did not put any time into it, prob just a simple question in a default chat somewhere. well made systems tuned to thier use are going to be surprisingly effective.

          • inspxtr@lemmy.world
            1·
            1 year ago

            as time goes on i think techs that mark human made content will be more practical.

            I hope it does not lead to the dead internet theory

      • manitcor@lemmy.intai.techEnglish
        3·
        1 year ago

        i think it may have been. might as well, even if you put in time writing its likely to be assumed AI anyway, esp as it improves.

      • kescusay@lemmy.world
        21·
        1 year ago

        Definitely. Humans don’t write that way unless they’re paid to. It reads like bland marketing material.

    • Square Singer@feddit.deOP
      91·
      1 year ago

      This looks like written by ChatGPT, and it is in many ways straight up off-topic or wrong.

      • Origin/Era: yeah, duh. That was already stated in the question.
      • Architecture: It doesn’t actually show any differences, it just doesn’t talk about different parts of the architecture. Usenet is also federated and Fediverse instances also don’t store all messages.
      • Content structure: This is the closest to an actual answer. But from what it seems, the default use case of the Usenet is identical to Lemmy.
      • Protocols: Stated in the question. NNTP is also federated.
      • Moderation: This is straight-up wrong. There are moderated and unmoderated newsgroups, same as there are moderated and unmoderated instances/communities on the fediverse.
      • Modern Relevance: This whole section is irrelevant to the question.
      • Madiator2011@lm.madiator.cloudEnglish
        34·
        1 year ago

        Sorry I should marked it as AI :) From my experience usenet is more uncesored compared to fediverse. The most issue with fedi is that there is no tru replication system (mayby except sometimes data might be cached on other instance).

    • Varyag@lemm.ee
      71·
      1 year ago

      Don’t. Use your own words or don’t even respond to the thread.

    • Treczoks@kbin.social
      1·
      1 year ago

      Well, we had posts, discussions, and even media in USENET back then. The only real differences I see are that fediverse is more modern and media-aware, and that people actively battle spam/bots/trolls, which in my time on usenet was not really an issue, though.