It would tie in better with the email analogy, and it could show that they all just provide access to the same network.

What do you think?

  • Like the wind...@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    16·
    3 months ago

    I think instance is okay as a term, but defining it as a provider could be helpful. I don’t think the fediverse is that complicated anyway, it could be summarized in a paragraph for a baby

  • XNX@slrpnk.netEnglish
    13·
    3 months ago

    Servers are a better word for it imo. It is what it actually is and average people already understand servers from discord

    • unhrpetby@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      5·
      3 months ago

      Discord servers are just groups. Lemmy “instances” are actual separate instances of Lemmy communicating.

      • XNX@slrpnk.netEnglish
        7·
        3 months ago

        I know. What im saying is the word server isnt too technical and is both easier to understand and technically correct

  • freamon@preferred.socialEnglish
    9·
    3 months ago

    As a term, ‘instance’ is already baked into code, databases, and APIs.

    If I wanted to use an API to block ‘lemmy.world’, for example, I’d call ‘site/block’ with the relevant ‘instance_id’. That’s already 2 different terms for the same thing (‘site’ and ‘instance’), which isn’t great, but adding ‘provider’ into the mix means you’re now saying “if you want to block a ‘provider’, use the ‘site’ endpoint with the ID for the ‘instance’”, which is arguably worse.

  • confuser@lemmy.zipEnglish
    91·
    3 months ago

    I agree, let’s make it more friendly to people wanting to start a fediverse provider as a business so a big company can’t come in and gobble up everyone

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.socialEnglish
    6·
    3 months ago

    I wouldn’t even mention anything about servers or how it works, since most anyone I would even tell about Lemmy won’t understand the technical details, nor would they care. It would only confuse them and push them away.

    Just hook them up with an instance they will fit into, and have them use the site. I really think that a lot of the other tech nerds here are overthinking it and trying to get non-tech minded people to switch by giving them technical details that do more harm and cause more confusion than simply having them use the site without knowing jack shit about it other than “it’s like Reddit but not shitty.”

    That’s really all you gotta tell most people; “it’s like Reddit (or Twitter if you’re trying to talk up Mastodon), but not shitty.”

    • irelephant [he/him]🍭@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      Sure, but then questions like “why do these subreddits have an @ symbol?” happen, or the dreaded default “local” sort causes problems.

    • MelonYellow@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      3 months ago

      I use this approach sometimes and it really works. Provided it’s the erm… simple type of crowd that doesn’t ask too many questions lol. They’ll wander around and figure it out. If they do, congratulations😂

  • MajorHavoc@programming.devEnglish
    5·
    3 months ago

    That’s fantastic. Provider avoids the mostly baseless FOMO (fear of missing out) that instance can invoke.

    I think provider more clearly communicates that the majority of the desirable content is going to be available the same through any provider.

  • JubilantJaguar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    3 months ago

    I like it. The reasoning’s good.

    I hate the term “instance”. It’s hopelessly geeky (it derives from object-oriented programming). It brings to mind nerds and gamers in basements.

  • Jupiter Rowland@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    3 months ago

    Go ahead. Try to force that upon Friendica that has called its instances “nodes” for almost 15 years now.

    Or Hubzilla that not only calls them “hubs” but also resists any and all cultural or technological influences from anything that wasn’t created by Mike Macgirvin.

    Also <insert Morpheus here> what if I told you that (streams) and Forte call them “communities”? You know, like Lemmy’s and PieFed’s “subreddits”?

  • hendrik@palaver.p3x.deEnglish
    3·
    3 months ago

    Sure, go ahead. Technically it’s not 100% correct. I mean lemm.ee wouldn’t be your provider, it’d be the people operating the server who provide the service to you… But I think it’s close enough. Only issue I can see is the term “provider” usually being used with commercial services. Like a cellphone provider or ISP. So I’m not sure if people start to think this costs $10 a month or something and is run by for-profit businesses… But we also use the word “provider” for free things, so I’m not entirely sure about that. But generally speaking I think we use different terminology because we don’t think of the Fediverse as a product.