@LeifB73 I suspect I could get one started. I wouldn't have the ability or patience though to deal with moderation and suchlike.
@seanddotmedotuk @LeifB73 there’s nitech.online. While it’s loosely based on the tech community, there’s no formal definition.
The biggest issue for any instance you set up is likely to be moderation. NI people will bring their own challenges of course, but the biggest headaches will probably just be standard assholes. Usually men.
@mo @LeifB73 I knew about you guys but assumed it was primarily for a tech community? (As you are closed, I can only guess what goes on behind those closed doors 😃) While I like to geek out now and again, I also like the idea of a general instance for nice local people with all sorts of interests.
Out of interest, do you have much admin work with such a small group of vetted users?
@seanddotmedotuk @LeifB73 it was born out of the tech community for sure, but I never think of it as tech only. I guess when I created it over 4 years ago, it was only really tech people trying Mastodon.
I think our tech background is probably more indicative of what we believe in, rather than what can be discussed. The people with admin privs are fairly left-leaning, and want it to be a safe space free from harassment and abuse.
@seanddotmedotuk @LeifB73 I think that’s what people should be gravitating towards when choosing an instance rather than an instance on the right “topic”. There’s no point being on a server that completely reflects your interests if the admins don’t support you.
@seanddotmedotuk @LeifB73 So far there’s not been much admin work in terms of dealing with people. It has been a headache to maintain technically speaking. Mastodon eats a lot of disk space and I’m trying to do some migrations soon that are proving tricky enough. It might be my own fault given how I set it up 4 years ago, but it’s definitely not straightforward.
@seanddotmedotuk @LeifB73 I’m not completely clear, but it is possible to clear out the posts from local and remote caches. What is a bigger problem is that the server caches avatars and header images from every account that has ever had a post seen by someone on the instance.
If you were to boost someone I don’t follow, I get a copy of their avatar and header, and it lives on my server forever. There are moves to get tools to clear those though!
@mo @LeifB73 it's like insurance, I guess. You only find out if it is bad when it's too late.