Mastodon Flagship Fork Aethy Avoids Shutdown
Image Credit: Banner from Aethy
Known for its Not Safe For Work (NSFW) content, Aethy has avoided the dreaded shutdown fever that has affected other instances like Mozilla Social & Moth Social (the latter which also took down the Mammoth app & their Fediverse subscription service).
Earlier reports of Aethy's uncertain future was leaving fans of the site demoralized, although it appears that the site has found a new lease on life after locating a new owner to run the instance.
A NEW OWNER FOR AETHY HAS BEEN FOUND! 🎉
The vibes are flawless, and the agreement has been signed!
Over the next week we will be transferring all necessary services (domain, server, mail etc) to the new owner.
Once all that's been done, the Big Official announcement will be made.
There will also be NO restriction on LSC due to the new owner's local laws not criminalizing fictional works 🥳
EDIT: Our rules on realistic 3D will remain; by no restrictions we mean within our current rules. (Punkbot on Aethy)
It is still unclear who the new owners are, although @punkbot@aethy.com will probably reveal that after the holidays. Regarding expenses, Aethy's were more or less typical for a hyperactive ActivityPub instance.
Here's the cost breakdown for running Aethy:
- Server hosting: $72 per month
- Domain name: $14.76 per year
- Email: $48 per year
- Storage: ~$30 per month
- Translation Services: ~$40 per month
- CDN: $280 per year
- PO Box (DMCA Requirement): $166 per year (About Aethy, Financials)
Aethy is the Flagship instance of Ruffy, the latter which is a fork of Mastodon.
Image Credit: Ruffy icon from Ruffy.
For those wondering what distinguishes Ruffy from Mastodon, their Patreon page sums up the differences between the Fediverse platforms.
Support the development of the open source fork of Mastodon, Ruffy! Ruffy is an open source project allowing people to create their own federated social network. Each social network is capable of talking to one another in order to create a network of community websites. Ruffy is a fork with a focus on improvements to the interface which allow for more of a focus on blog-style and art content. With features that allow for longer posts, more image uploads, and better readability, Ruffy is perfect for social networks focused on creative content! (Ruffy on Patreon)
Although @Ruffy@aethy.com is not as popular as other Mastodon forks, they appear to have struck gold by powering Aethy, the latter of which is a top 20 Fediverse instance according to Fediverse Observer (**note: ** @fediverseobserver@fediverse.one tracks the user activity of most Fediverse platforms, even controversial ones).
Also, since Ruffy is a fork of Mastodon, users can log into the site via a standard Mastodon mobile app.
Why Does An NSFW ActivityPub Instance Survival Even Matter‽
Many people probably do not care about Aethy's survival, and more Fediverse users than not would celebrate its demise based on its content.
However, the fact that a platform whose funding options are more limited (as it is advertiser-unfriendly and folks may shy away from publicly supporting Aethy) was able to obtain the resources to stay online should encourage safe work sites struggling financially in these turbulent times.
Hopefully, we will witness more members of instances contributing towards their favorite Fediverse community, as it will help the Fediverse avoid the fate of email providers (in which the masses gravitate towards a few strong players).
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