@Bruce G_NS Okay, let me explain it to you with a fictional dialogue between me and a Fediverse News subscriber who’s convinced that all of the Fediverse is Mastodon.Them: >implying that Mastodon is the Fediverse
Me: #MastodonIsNotTheFediverse.
Them: What do you mean?
Me: You’re literally using something that isn’t Mastodon, but in the Fediverse. Fediverse News is on Friendica.
Them: But Friendica is a Mastodon server.
Me: No, it isn’t.
Them: But it has to be. How else can I possibly use it if it isn’t on Mastodon?
Me: Because Mastodon and Friendica speak a common language, ActivityPub. Still, Friendica is an absolutely unrelated project. Face it, there’s more in the Fediverse than just Mastodon.
Them: WTF? Then Friendica is a group add-on for Mastodon?
Me: No, Friendica has got literally nothing to do with Mastodon. It’s wholly independent. Actually, it can do everything that Mastodon can do.
Them: So it’s some shoddy Mastodon knock-off that can do forums?
Me: No. Friendica can do all that Mastodon can do without Mastodon, it can do it better than Mastodon, and it can do even more on top that Mastodon can’t do.
Them: Lies. Why are you fucking lying to me?
Me: Oh, and Friendica is older than Mastodon. Mastodon is from 2016, Friendica is from 2010. When Mastodon was launched, Friendica had been around for a whopping six years already.
Them: Like. What. The. Ever-loving. FUCK?!?!?! Stop bullshitting me! Friendica is nothing but a fucking Mastodon clone, and all that’s good about it is the forums, and I don’t want anything else than that!
Me: I’m not bullshitting you. If I am, then so is Wikipedia. Release date: July 1st, 2010. That’s a fact. Deal with it.
Them: So… there’s… like two Mastodons, and they’re both in the Fediverse? WTF?
Me: There are many projects in the Fediverse that are like Mastodon but with more features. Pleroma, Akkoma, MissKey, CalcKey, FoundKey… There are many other projects that aren’t like Mastodon. Friendica is more like Facebook. I’m on Hubzilla which is even more powerful than Friendica and still older than Mastodon. And they can all communicate with Mastodon.
Them: What… WTF… NOOOOO I DON’T WANT ANY OF THAT I WANT MY FEDIVERSE TO BE ONLY MASTODON AND NICE AND COZY AND CUDDLY AND I DON’T WANT NOTHING ELSE IN MY BELOVED FEDIVERSE MAKE IT GO AWAY I WANT MY MASTODON-ONLY FEDIVERSE BACK NOOOOOOOO THIS IS TOO MUCH SOMEONE PLEASE FEDIBLOCK EVERYTHING THAT ISN’T MASTODON
End of demonstration.
I’m not even kidding, I’ve read a story about someone from the “Fediverse = Mastodon” crowd who actually blocked a Friendica user for telling them that the Fediverse is not just Mastodon and for allegedly “intruding” into their timeline with some black hacking magic or something.
Some people don’t want there to be anything else in the Fediverse than Mastodon.