For me, decentralization is a kind that exists on a spectrum.
In the Fediverse, there has been decentralization in many ways, and I understand that it’s the way it is—no single Fediverse instance or server holds greater power or authority over the others.
However, some servers may be more popular than others because they have been actively promoted or because many friends are using them.
For me, I subscribed to managed hosting services and they are paid to host a Lemmy server. Yes, I also paid for a DNS domain name, which costs around $2 for the first year and $20 for the following year.
This way, I can define my server rules, decide which servers to federate with, and choose whether to close the server or not. It’s up to us, unless we are committed to maintaining a large server with a huge user base and are willing to deal with the challenges of moderation.
What I like about the Fediverse is that there are so many free and open-source software options like Lemmy, Mastodon, Mitra, and GotoSocial. I believe that these source codes are free to audit. Therefore, for me, this software feels more like my own than some other software that belongs to someone popular or wealthy.
And regarding your data that you want to recover, maybe you can try to email the server support team to retrieve your data and see if they can provide instructions on how to do so.
For me, decentralization is a kind that exists on a spectrum.
In the Fediverse, there has been decentralization in many ways, and I understand that it’s the way it is—no single Fediverse instance or server holds greater power or authority over the others.
However, some servers may be more popular than others because they have been actively promoted or because many friends are using them.
For me, I subscribed to managed hosting services and they are paid to host a Lemmy server. Yes, I also paid for a DNS domain name, which costs around $2 for the first year and $20 for the following year.
This way, I can define my server rules, decide which servers to federate with, and choose whether to close the server or not. It’s up to us, unless we are committed to maintaining a large server with a huge user base and are willing to deal with the challenges of moderation.
What I like about the Fediverse is that there are so many free and open-source software options like Lemmy, Mastodon, Mitra, and GotoSocial. I believe that these source codes are free to audit. Therefore, for me, this software feels more like my own than some other software that belongs to someone popular or wealthy.
And regarding your data that you want to recover, maybe you can try to email the server support team to retrieve your data and see if they can provide instructions on how to do so.