How are new Lemmy instances first integrated into the network? - eviltoast

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)?

  • burtek@programming.devEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    Would you say it makes sense to have accounts on the 2-3 instances that you’re most interested in rather than 2 account and being dependent on federation?

    • Spzi@lemm.eeEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      There’s no general answer, it depends on your personal preference.

      If you want to have most content available, register on an instance which has an according policy; which federates with anybody and is federated by everybody (both directions can make a difference).

      The downside however is, this also opens the door to all sorts of bad actors, including bots and spam.

      So I personally tried to strike a balance and am so far quite happy on lemm.ee.

      This tool is pretty handy to make informed decisions: https://fba.ryona.agency/ It allows you to check federation status both ways.