the tech company cloudflare has unveiled the Wildebeest project, an "easy to deploy" open source server that will allow users to set up and run their own servers compatible with Mastodon.
Mastodon is the non-profit organization in charge of developing decentralized open source software. This means that any user, whether an individual or an entity, can create their own "mini social networks" through servers, which are capable of being interconnected and communicating with each other to form a universe known as 'fediverse'.
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In fact, this is one of the main features that Mastodon stands out from other social networks, for example, one of its main competitors, Twitter, which is a fully centralized platform managed by the company Twitter, Inc.
In this framework, the American Internet security and server services company Cloudflare has presented Wildebeest, an open source and "easy to implement" server built on the Cloudflare Supercloud, which will allow users to manage their own server in the 'fediverse'.
This is because Wildebeest is compatible with the open source decentralized protocol for implementing distributed social networks ActivityPub and with Mastodon. In this sense, the service is very useful if you want to create a new Mastodon community, attract other users with a common theme and develop your own rules of use on said social network.
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Thus, the user will not have to depend on third-party servers or comply with the policies of another server, according to Cloudflare in a statement. Similarly, another aspect to highlight is that the user will have "complete" control over their data, personal information and content.
However, the company explains that in order to create their own server the user needs to own or rent a server or VPS “somewhere”. In addition, you must install and configure the software, the database, and the public web server. You even have to configure and protect your network against attacks and deal with updates. “It's a lot of technical and scripting work before it can go livesays Cloudflare.
However, Wildebeest pursues two objectives. First of all so that the user can quickly deploy their Mastodon-compatible server on Cloudflare and connect it to Fediverse “in minutes”. On the other hand, the user does not have to worry about maintaining the service or protecting it from abuse or attacks, “Cloudflare will do it for you automatically”, assures the company.
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Wildebeest is not a managed service, instead the data and code runs in your cloud under a Cloudflare account. It should also be noted that it is open source, which means that it continues to evolve with more features, and “anyone can expand and improve it”.
In particular, Wildebeest includes support for ActivityPub-compliant APIs such as WebFinger, NodeInfo, WebPush, and of course Mastodon. It is also compatible with Mastodon's most popular web clients like Pinafore.
Following this thread, it provides a simple read-only web interface for browsing timelines and user profiles. You can also post, edit, boost or delete the posts (toots in case of Mastodon).
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Separately, Cloudflare has indicated that most Wildebeest services offer a free plan, but that users will need to subscribe to an Imaging plan (to cost-effectively maintain an imaging infrastructure) and, in some cases, to an Imaging plan. Workers Unbound plan, depending on the user's server intent.
With all this, the creators of Wildebeest have stated that it is a server compatible with Mastodon "minimally viable at this time”, but they have assured that they will continue “improving it with more features and supporting it over time”. Additionally, they encourage developers to contribute pull requests or feedback.
