EnglishMobster

joined 2 years ago
[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)
  • React.js

React is a JavaScript library that was created by Facebook.

It makes webpages pretty, basically. It makes things load really really fast while still looking clean and modern.

Dropbox, Paypal, Discord, Slack, Netflix, AirBnB all use React.

  • MySQL

Facebook didn't create MySQL, but they have contributed to it.

MySQL is a way of efficiently storing large amounts of data. Users, passwords, credit card info, anything that needs to store a lot of things will have at least considered MySQL.

Other places that use MySQL are Twitter, Pinterest, GitHub, YouTube, Spotify, and so on.

  • Memcached

Memcached was originally developed for LiveJournal, but Facebook has contributed to it.

It's a way to quickly store arbitrary data, and reduces how many API calls you need to make. This in turn makes running a large website cheaper, since you can just look up the data in your own memory rather than needing to make an API call.

YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, and Pinterest all use Memcached.

  • HHVM

HHVM was created by Facebook.

HHVM is what executes the Hack programming language (also made by Facebook). Hack is based on PHP (the same thing Kbin runs on), but is optimized in a different way and is more flexible than traditional PHP.

Slack and Wikipedia are the biggest users of HHVM.

  • Cassandra

Cassandra was created by Facebook.

Cassandra works basically as an alternative to NoSQL (mentioned above). It does much of the same job, but works a bit better making sure there's no single point of failure.

Uber, Netflix, Reddit, Spotify, and Twitter all use Cassandra.

  • Scribe

Scribe was created by Facebook.

Scribe aggregates logs from many many servers and helps engineers find problems in large networks.

The name is a little generic so it's hard to find examples, but I know that Dropbox uses Scribe internally and other large companies probably do too.

  • Hadoop

Facebook did not create Hadoop, but has contributed to it.

Hadoop is meant for solving problems that take a lot of data. Machine learning (ChatGPT etc.) is the classical example, but really it works well any time you need to process a lot of data.

Uber, Pinterest, Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, and Slack all use Hadoop.

  • Hive

Facebook created Hive.

Hive lets you query the results of work done by Hadoop (above). It provides an interface that is similar to MySQL but lets you access Hadoop data.

Uber, Pinterest, Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, and Slack all used to use Hive. It's largely dying out now because it can't keep up with modern data sets.

  • Apache Thrift

Thrift was created by Facebook.

It connects programs that were created using different programming languages. They can all share a data format through Thrift, which lets them talk to each other.

Thrift is used by Netflix, Evernote, Twitter, Uber, and reCAPTCHA.

  • Varnish

Facebook did not create Varnish, but has contributed to it.

It dynamically figures out what to load when you're on a website, so you can have a lot of stuff on one webpage but have it still load quickly.

GitLab, Pinterest, Twitch, and Udemy all use Varnish.


Literally you could not use the modern web without using these technologies. Meta has a loud voice in most of those techs, and outright controls a handful of them. That's been the case for most of the 2010s into the 2020s.

While I don't think Facebook necessarily has good intentions - they're a corpo, corpos are never your friends, Facebook especially has proven to be evil - they have proven to be good stewards of open-source technologies for over a decade now.

I wouldn't say I trust them with the fediverse. But I'm also not so quick to jump to EEE because they do have a fairly solid track record when it comes to web tech.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

And I am saying we should maintain the status quo. Rather than trying to persuade, you should go somewhere that already guarantees you get what you want.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

There's also the regulation angle. The Digital Markets Act is likely why they're federating: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en

Examples of the “do’s” - Gatekeeper platforms will have to:

  • allow third parties to inter-operate with the gatekeeper’s own services in certain specific situations
  • allow their business users to access the data that they generate in their use of the gatekeeper’s platform
  • provide companies advertising on their platform with the tools and information necessary for advertisers and publishers to carry out their own independent verification of their advertisements hosted by the gatekeeper
  • allow their business users to promote their offer and conclude contracts with their customers outside the gatekeeper’s platform

The interoperability is the big one. Being federated means that Threads isn't considered a "gatekeeper platform". I wouldn't be surprised if Instagram and maybe even Facebook itself start to federate as well. Since Threads isn't currently connected to the wider fediverse, that's probably why they're not in the EU yet.

This also means that fears of "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" are likely overblown. Breaking fediverse interoperability means that they'd be a gatekeeper again and subject to EU regulations against gatekeepers. Interestingly, both Twitter and Reddit are now likely subject to being considered gatekeepers due to making their APIs effectively inaccessible.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

Here's a point for you, then:

Why must you force your beliefs onto communities with tens of thousands of people, many of whom don't agree with you? The status quo is that kbin.social federates with basically everywhere, as it should since it's a general-purpose flagship instance. Why do you want to change the status quo because of your personal beliefs?

Instead of trying to force Kbin.social to change, maybe you should host your own instance where you can block Meta and everywhere that federates with it. Or you can join a Kbin instance that already does so: https://kglitch.social/

But there should still be places that allow for federation if that's what they desire. That's how Kbin.social is currently set up. I am defending the current status quo, and you are trying to argue for changing it. There are instances that already agree with you; you don't need to stay here and fight everyone who disagrees.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en

Threads can't be in the EU unless it's federated, basically. It's likely Facebook/Instagram will adopt federated protocols as well. Facebook has to allow interoperability on their platform.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Lemmy doesn't have this feature, but Kbin does. Kbin fixes a lot of the issues with Lemmy.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

They participate because the Digital Markets Act is forcing them to: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en

Examples of the “do’s” - Gatekeeper platforms will have to:

  • allow third parties to inter-operate with the gatekeeper’s own services in certain specific situations
  • allow their business users to access the data that they generate in their use of the gatekeeper’s platform
  • provide companies advertising on their platform with the tools and information necessary for advertisers and publishers to carry out their own independent verification of their advertisements hosted by the gatekeeper
  • allow their business users to promote their offer and conclude contracts with their customers outside the gatekeeper’s platform

The interoperability is the big one. The Fediverse gives a way for Meta to be in compliance, and they have an interest in maintaining competition.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

Are you worried about EEE coming for those techs?

It's the same thing. Why are people treating them differently?


A more likely explanation for Meta's actions is that the Digital Markets Act is forcing them to adopt the fediverse: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-markets-act-ensuring-fair-and-open-digital-markets_en

Examples of the “do’s” - Gatekeeper platforms will have to:

  • allow third parties to inter-operate with the gatekeeper’s own services in certain specific situations
  • allow their business users to access the data that they generate in their use of the gatekeeper’s platform
  • provide companies advertising on their platform with the tools and information necessary for advertisers and publishers to carry out their own independent verification of their advertisements hosted by the gatekeeper
  • allow their business users to promote their offer and conclude contracts with their customers outside the gatekeeper’s platform

The interoperability is the big one. The fediverse gives a way for Meta to be in compliance. EEE that breaks the wider fediverse will cause the EU to come down on them.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Exactly. Keep this flagship instance general-purpose. If federation with Meta means you can't "feel safe here", then "pack it up" as you say and choose a place with a moderation style that fits you.

Don't try intimidating everywhere else into adopting your beliefs, like many people here are doing.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

People from Threads will largely be in the "Microblog" tab, which Lemmy doesn't have. The only people in the comments section will be people who purposely choose to follow Kbin communities.

It still isn't a good enough reason to take away that interaction from tens of thousands here on Kbin, though.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago (5 children)

How many times must I say that I disagree with Facebook on a moral level? How does that make me a "shill"??

My point is largely:

  • The fedipact is self-defeating. Nobody has refuted this point, they all seem to ignore it to focus on personal attacks. It won't stop EEE; it will simply divide the fediverse and make it a worse place when it's still new and fragile.

  • This is a general-purpose instance. As such, it shouldn't sign the fedipact or defederate from Threads. If you're running a niche instance - that's fine, you can sign if it's important to you and you wish to stay niche. But a loud minority shouldn't speak for the entirety of one of the largest fediverse instances out there (which is what kbin.social is).

  • People may have legitimate reason to communicate with people on Threads, and because they may disagree with Facebook on a moral level (like me), you shouldn't force them into Zuck's slimy fingers. I'm not going to use the service if I have to go through Zuck's gateway to do so. There's an opportunity to use FOSS stuff and stay away from Zuck, but people who ostensibly agree that Zuck is bad are telling me I can't do that? For reasons they can't even vocalize. So me not wanting to join Threads makes me a corporate shill, somehow. Okay.

[–] EnglishMobster@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago

That's not what I'm saying. You are putting words in my mouth and then refusing to have a conversation. But I get the same feeling that we're going to keep talking past each other.

It doesn't matter because you likely won't read this. But I'm not saying you should go elsewhere - I am simply asking why you chose here and not a place that focuses on discussion, like Tildes. I am not telling you to "go away"; I'm merely pointing out that there must be more to your decision and it can't all be because you want serious discussions, since this place isn't suited for that as well as others are.

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