Imagine a Bluesky-like network that you could post to through any blogging tool that can create an RSS feed. Imagine the new tools that could be created. All of a sudden a whole world of writing tools opens up.#
It should happen faster than the proprietary format that Bluesky defined, because RSS is so well understood in the developer world. Lots of software out there for reading and writing. I have a couple of toolkits of my own, for JavaScript, MIT licensed. In use in deployed software so they work pretty well. (Knock wood.) #
Also it would create an incentive for competitors to follow suit, and if they do we suddenly have a strong and simple and broadly understood basis for interop. It's a brilliant competitive move, if they really intend to give users choice, to not lock them in. It challenges their competitors to follow suit. I don't doubt that Mastodon would do it. And Threads might even do it if they're feeling competitive with Bluesky. They've already chosen ActivityPub as a basis for interop, but that's been slow to develop. RSS is so simple and well understood it should take a small fraction of the time to adapt.#
Bluesky has already pioneered in providing excellent outbound RSS support. I helped them do it, a while back, before the huge onslaught of users. #
The fact that so many users loved the idea is enough to have made it worthwhile to suggest it. But I wouldn't be tremendously surprised if they actually did it. #
Last update: Monday November 18, 2024; 9:39 AM EST.
You know those obnoxious sites that pop up dialogs when they think you're about to leave, asking you to subscribe to their email newsletter? Well that won't do for Scripting News readers who are a discerning lot, very loyal, but that wouldn't last long if I did rude stuff like that. So here I am at the bottom of the page quietly encouraging you to sign up for the nightly email. It's got everything from the previous day on Scripting, plus the contents of the linkblog and who knows what else we'll get in there. People really love it. I wish I had done it sooner. And every email has an unsub link so if you want to get out, you can, easily -- no questions asked, and no follow-ups. Go ahead and do it, you won't be sorry! :-)