The future of kbin.earth...
Hello kbin.earth users,
I think, at this point, it's clear that Kbin is not being actively developed; the last commit by the lead developer was four months ago, and the latest commit, period, was two months ago. There are many bugs/issues present that make not only using the platform difficult but also hosting and administrating it (even worse, there was a recent issue that affected many non-Kbin servers in the fediverse).
Given the situation, I see three options for moving forward:
1 - Wait It Out
We could continue using Kbin as is, knowing there will be ongoing issues, and hope that maybe one day there will be an update.
Pros:
- We get to keep the same system we're used to.
- If any more updates come out for Kbin, we can update kbin.earth and start using them immediately.
Cons:
- Kbin is no longer supported, and many bugs are present. This also means any features we'd want will likely not be added.
- Administrating a Kbin server is not the easiest. Even after the initial setup (which was a nightmare), there are still problems that pop up occasionally that can get annoying, and I can only imagine this would get worse as more users join.
2 - Migrate to Mbin
Alternatively, we could migrate kbin.earth to Mbin, a fork of Kbin that is actually supported by its developers and are actively fixing issues and adding features. I was initially skeptical of Mbin when it first came out, but at this point, it's had many improvements that likely make it more suitable than the current Kbin system.
Pros:
- Mbin is supported by its developers and has had numerous improvements added since the fork. I'll put a few below, but here are links to the complete list: GUI improvements, enhancements, and bug fixes.
- A subscription panel that lists your subscribed magazines.
- Better filter options.
- Many more settings and options for you to customize.
- Federated magazines correctly display their moderators.
- Federated magazines correctly display subscription count, not just those who subscribed locally.
- User/magazine deletion overhaul.
- Incoming downvotes from the fediverse are counted.
Cons:
- Kbin has magazine collections that allow you to combine related magazines into one view. Mbin has not ported this feature and doesn't have anything similar yet.
- Kbin has an aggregated content view, allowing you to view threads and microblogs simultaneously. Again, Mbin has not ported this feature and doesn't have anything similar yet.
- Mbin has removed the ability to view downvote (reduce) activities. Since anybody could scrap this information anyway, I think it's best to show downvoters just so they realize it's public information.
3 - Shutdown Server
As a last resort, we could just shut down the server. kbin.earth was initially created to help develop the Interstellar app for kbin (since kbin.social didn't, and still doesn't, support the API). Still, at this point, the initial purpose has been served, and further updates to the app could be tested on an already existing Mbin server.
Pros:
- Energy and resources spent on kbin.earth could be used elsewhere, such as the Interstellar app.
- Current kbin.earth users could choose where to migrate to, whether that's to an Mbin server, to a Lemmy server, or even back to kbin.social.
- Several Mbin servers already exist, so maybe it wouldn't make sense to add yet another.
Cons:
- Obviously, users and magazines hosted here would have to migrate somewhere else. This includes the Interstellar magazine.
To conclude, we could either not change anything (and stay on Kbin), switch to Mbin, or shut down kbin.earth. For me personally, I think option 1 is ruled out; we've already been waiting on Kbin long enough, and I don't think much is going to change. We could potentially try option 2 (Mbin) for at least a little while and see how it goes; if people like it, we could keep kbin.earth for the time being (running Mbin); if people don't like it, we could just go to option 3 (shutdown). What do you all think? If someone has anything to add to the pros/cons, feel free to share.