I recently saw Frank McCourt speak about DSNP and have simultaneously been following the move to Mastodon. Mastodon could really use an algorithm and activitypub (its protocol) could use some extensions. I read some threads here mentioning activitypub and it sounds like DSNP is compatible with activitypub and is somewhat of an extension. Frank’s answer to a question relating these 2 things suggested that these are very different projects, but I actually think a complementary approach makes a lot more sense given the existing and growing Mastodon base.
Question: If we are considering building something on top of Mastodon that takes advantage of the growing user base there, could we use DSNP (based on compatibility with activitypub)? Or do you think of these things as separate projects and one needs to pick one or the other?
Thanks @raviiyer , this is a really interesting question - our contributors have been considering this as well.
While DSNP uses some of the data formats from the standard to avoid reinventing the wheel, the way the protocol works is entirely different than Mastodon.
The hope is that DSNP will make connecting and finding people easier than in a federated system, but in the future it might be possible to add ways for them to interact.
Best, Denise
Interesting question, in line with something I was thinking also but more with respect to the differences and similarities between DSNP and Self Sovereign Identity and the activities of Solid and companies like Inrupt. Forgive me my lack of indepth knowledge but I would really like to understand better how they align or differ and most of all in what way they could best be combined or form an alliance. It seems like the goals or vision to a large extent align so it would make sense to cooperate also? Thanks for clarifying.