Epicyon release version 1.6.0
This is another maintenance release with not many new features appearing.
Changes in this version include:
- Hashtags within content warning lists
- Separated more functions out into their own modules, for better maintainability
- Option for premium accounts, which changes "followers" to "fans"
- Additional default content warning lists
- Limit on maximum redirects
- Option to not show boosts/announces of replies
- Documentation for keyboard navigation
- Improved display of posts in text mode browsers
- Option to enable quote toots
- Validation on post summary
- Remove link tracking gloop from post urls
- Account directories can be outside of the application directory
- Button to hide announces
- Option to reverse timeline order
- Improved support for Wordpress
- Show PGP keys within a dropdown to avoid taking up screen space
- Finnish language translations
- Hypercore support deprecated
- Anti-AI: Option to add watermark to uploaded images
- Support for youtube, peertube and pixelfed channels within profile
- Add music/art site url option to personal profile
- Anti-AI: poison LLM scrapers
- Content license isn't needed for reminders
- Add person notes as extra context when replying to a post
- Anti-AI: Content warning list for AI generated content
- ActivityPub discovery link in header of individual posts
- Option to block government instances
- Options to block BlueSky and Nostr bridges
- "Man in the middle" warnings for insecure transport encryption between instances
- Don't show reply icon if the receiver is blocking
- Handle the display of long Tox addresses more gracefully on mobile
Over the last year the ActivityPub fediverse has been eclipsed in popularity by the BlueSky project and menaced by Meta's Threads. With the twin tanks of silicon valley parked ominously on its lawn surely it might appear that the "digital counterpublic" has finally been overthrown. But the centralized architecture of BlueSky and Threads will create unavoidable bottlenecks and problems which corrode their illusion of indefatigability. Standardized protocols have a tendency to resist the transient whims, scandals and business models of any one particular company.
Over time a division has become apparent between people who want a "global town square" in which you are swimming against a tide of nonsense and maliciousness over which you have absolutely no control or influence, and a more consent-driven model of social networks. The fediverse clearly falls into the latter category. Instead of the cathedral and the bazaar you could call it the swamp and the water cooler. "Mob social" and "pub social". They are different and opposing priorities for how to be social online.
Epicyon is designed for the expected long term future of the ActivityPub protocol. Written in the most boring trend-avoiding way possible, with few dependencies, no database to get corrupted, and suitable for running on old hardware at minimum cost. In tough environments, it can also run from an onion or i2p address and use text mode browsers with no risk from javascript exploits. While the silicon valley titans are clashing and crashing in a boss fight, the small and meek gain advantage.
Epicyon can be downloaded as a gzipped file, or you can get the latest version from the git repo. For installation instructions see the main page. To upgrade an existing instance, make sure that you have the python3-cryptography package installed then do a git pull, chown and restart the daemon.