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Cake day: March 19th, 2025
  • mutual_ayed@sh.itjust.workstoFediverse@lemmy.world•Ditch the DIY Drama: Why Use Fedify Instead of Building ActivityPub from Scratch?English
    31·
    14 days ago

    The Allure of the Fediverse and the Challenges of ActivityPub Implementation

    The fediverse—a decentralized social web powered by protocols like ActivityPub—is an exciting space to explore. If you’re considering building the next great federated app, connected to platforms like Mastodon, Lemmy, Pixelfed, and more, you might be tempted to implement ActivityPub from scratch. While this approach offers total control, it’s a daunting task due to the complexity of the standards involved.

    The Challenge: Data Modeling with ActivityStreams & JSON-LD

    At its core, ActivityPub relies on ActivityStreams 2.0 vocabulary and JSON-LD syntax. This combination introduces significant complexity:

    1. Understanding ActivityStreams Vocabulary:
      You need to model actions and objects (e.g., posts as Note or Article, profiles as Person or Organization, and actions like Create, Follow, Like, Announce) using the precise terms defined in the specification.

    2. JSON-LD Specifics:
      JSON-LD has unique rules that complicate direct JSON manipulation:

      • Missing vs. Empty Arrays: A property being absent is often semantically identical to it being present with an empty array.
        // No name property
{ "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams", "type": "Note", "content": "…"}

// Equivalent to:
{ "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams", "type": "Note", "name": [], "content": "…"}
      • Single Value vs. Array: A property can hold a single value or an array.
        // Single value
{ "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams", "type": "Note", "content": "Hello"}

// Equivalent to:
{ "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams", "type": "Note", "content": ["Hello"]}
      • Object References vs. Embedded Objects: Properties can contain either embedded objects or URI references.
        // Embedded object
{
  "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
  "type": "Announce",
  "actor": { "type": "Person", "id": "http://sally.example.org/", "name": "Sally" },
  "object": { "type": "Arrive", "id": "https://sally.example.com/arrive", /* ... */ }
}

// Equivalent to:
{
  "@context": "https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams",
  "type": "Announce",
  "actor": "http://sally.example.org/",
  "object": "https://sally.example.com/arrive"
}

    Fedify: Simplifying ActivityPub Development

    Fedify, a TypeScript framework, abstracts the complexity of ActivityPub development. It handles the heavy lifting, allowing you to focus on what makes your app unique.

    Example Code with Fedify

    Fedify simplifies federation logic:

    // Handle follow
federation.on(Follow, async (ctx, follow) => {
  // Implement follow logic
});

// Handle post activity
federation.on(Create, async (ctx, activity) => {
  // Implement post activity logic
});

    Web Interface and Logs

    When running your app:

    Web interface available at: http://localhost:8000/

    Logs example:

    .lhr.life/r/2 | ╰─────────────────┴───────────────────────────────────────╯

    Conclusion

    Building a federated app with ActivityPub is challenging, but tools like Fedify make the process manageable. By abstracting away the complexity of JSON-LD and ActivityStreams, Fedify allows developers to focus on creating innovative applications for the fediverse.

  • mutual_ayed@sh.itjust.workstoTechnology@lemmy.world•*Permanently Deleted*English
    91·
    14 days ago

    How are C-level execs going to justify the bloated AI budget if they cannot point to a research study now? Actual research takes time they don’t have as the 1st quarter is almost over.

    How will the researchers get more grant money to spend on inefficient transform models if they have to waste time and resources conducting peer reviewed study? I need my name on 10 papers this year or I’ll lose my faculty position.

    Better yet, why not have AI draft a self report form and email it out to all of the students in my department and publish the results of that as research? I’m a genius.

    -Yu

    /s