Social Network Goes Open With Diaspora*

Sep 16, 2010

Control your privacy with this alternative.

 

Open source social network Diaspora* has released its source code on github. While the site lacks the level of interactivity as Facebook, it features the barebones features that have come to be expected from social networking sites. Photos and albums can be uploaded, status updates and photos can be publicly and privately shared, and friends can be added and managed.

 

What separates Diaspora* from Facebook is its security and privacy. All traffic is signed and encrypted with GPG, save photos. The goal of Diaspora* is to decentralize existing networks, allowing users to create their own, personally hosted version of Diaspora* called a seed. A seed connects to other services such as Twitter, Flickr, and yes, Facebook and pulls that information back to the local host. Any information minus photos, sent from your Diaspora* seed is encrypted, as is any incoming information. It's also possible to friend other seeds and its possible to synchronize over direct, secure connections. And because the platform is open source, it's possible to customize your seed's appearance and potentially add new services and support for additional features.

 

Currently, Diaspora* is not available to the public, but a developer edition is available on github. For more information on Diaspora* visit joindiaspora.com.

Related content

  • Diaspora

    Diaspora is a free and open source decentralized social network consisting of millions of independently run pods. Join an existing pod or set up your own with minimal programming skills.

    more »
  • Do Read: Diaspora Contributor Agreement

    Developer licensing gets a bit sticky.

    more »
  • diaspora*

    You don't need Facebook to keep up with your friends online. With diaspora*, you get a similar experience without the spying.

    more »
  • Open Source Social Media Tools

    Diaspora, Friendica, and Mastodon are free and decentralized microblogging platforms that keep you in control of your data.

    more »
  • Free Microblogging Software

    If you want to use social media and microblogging platforms, you do not need to leave your data sovereignty to external corporations. This month, we look at free decentralized software alternatives to Facebook, Twitter, and other social media and examine whether they are suitable for use in the enterprise and other organizations.

    more »

Comments

  • A better alternative?

    If you are interested in Diaspora you should check out http://onesocialweb.org/

  • Watch out!

    Do not miss this:
    http://www.linux-magazine.c...Diaspora-Contributor-Agreement

  • for those that don't know, or to lazy to figure it out, goto pplsnet.com

    If you don't have the time, or don't know how to install Diaspora in a windows environment, you can go to pplsnet.com (shortly), register and download the easy to use installer that way. I plan to have it ready to install within a week.

    peace!
comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News

Tag Cloud

Administration Community Events Hardware Linux Linux Pro Magazine Mobile Programming Security Software Ubuntu Web Development Windows free software open source