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How are new Lemmy instances first integrated into the network? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 year ago by Kalcifer@lemmy.world to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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I was told that I should post this here.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/932750

Say you decide to self-host a Lemmy instance. When you create that instance, do you immediately need to download and store all the data that has ever been posted to all federated Lemmy instances? Or perhaps you only need to download and store everything that is posted to the federated Lemmy instances from that point forward? Or better yet, do you only store what the users on that instance do (i.e. their posts, and posts to the communities hosted on that instance)?

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[-] hawkwind@lemmy.management 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

When you create that instance, do you immediately need to download and store all the data that has ever been posted to all federated Lemmy instances?

Run my own instance. @Candelestine@lemmy.world is right but there are more details. Federation is not a "sync." When your instance needs to fetch from another instance it will, but it does not get history. You can get a specific comment or post from any time however.

Or perhaps you only need to download and store everything that is posted to the federated Lemmy instances from that point forward?

This is not by default either. Only communities that your users subscribe to will be updated by their "origin" instances.

Or better yet, do you only store what the users on that instance do (i.e. their posts, and posts to the communities hosted on that instance)?

This does happen, but it also stores what your users do on remote instances as well as "copies" of what they interact with. Images (currently the only media hosted by lemmy servers) are linked to thier "origin" as well. So you are storing text of posts and comments.

[-] captain_samuel_brady@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

So let’s say I’m on lemm.ee and I decide that I want to see “All.” Does that mean I’m only seeing what other users on lemm.ee are subscribed to?

[-] hawkwind@lemmy.management 2 points 1 year ago

That is exactly what that means and it's frustrating to say the least, because it's not clear that's what's happening.

[-] Ducks@ducks.dev 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes this was unclear to me until I set up my own instance is may be a big deal breaker to the average user. If you can't view "All" and really see all communities on all federated instances then there is no ability to surf Lemmy. At the very least it should have all communities of instances from either a list or user subscriptions.

edit: if you can share your script that would be amazing, I was thinking of having to do the same thing...

[-] captain_samuel_brady@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago

I’m not really sure how this is supposed to work long-term, then. I can’t imagine anyone wants to be on an instance with only a fraction of the content available. It makes perfect sense when subscribing, but surfing All loses its appeal. I understand the challenges, but I hope there’s a creative solution at some point. It seems like folks will gravitate to the instances with the most stability and users.

[-] hawkwind@lemmy.management 2 points 1 year ago

I think you're right. People will gravitate to the most stable large instances because their "All" will be as close to 100% as possible without doing anything special. I wrote a script to seed instances and update subscriptions, but it uses a single account that is subscribed to everything so that other users can see everything. That's not something that would normally happen. Maybe that needs to be part of the base software?

[-] briongloid@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago

Knowing that instances only pull posts/comments that occur after the first subscription, it will become less and less viable to choose a small instance if Lemmy doesn't add the option of adjustable pull settings.

[-] TurnItOff_OnAgain@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Just so I am understanding the feeds...

Subscribed - just the stuff you are subscribed to

Local - just the stuff in your instance

All - the stuff you subscribe to, the stuff in your instance, and stuff that people in your instance follow from other instances

That correct?

[-] hawkwind@lemmy.management 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Correct. All also includes communities fetched but not subscribed to, however these are more like stubs. They are in your database but not being updated with activity since no one is subscribed. At least that’s my understanding.

[-] TurnItOff_OnAgain@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks for the info!

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this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2023
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