[rglullis]

Look who is moving the goal posts!

We are talking about ActivityPub tying identity to the server. ATProto is designed from the ground to separate user data from your identity (through its Personal Data Servers), so the answer to your question is "many. There are many servers out there."

Bluesky has many issues (and I for one still think it has fundamental flaws that still make me prefer AP), but identity coupling is not one of them.

[genewitch]

I think i just don't understand the distinction. I have a domain, so i set up my domain so i have an identity on bluesky. I'm with you on that part.

and then what? i can take my identity and do what with it? change PDS? but bluesky itself shows everyone that i am the same person?

i didn't move the goalposts, i just don't get the distinction everyone is making here with "identity", of course if i prove i own a domain i can verify, but i can do that on mastodon, too, I can add the below to my domain that will checkmark my username on mastodon. I assume if i move servers and want people to follow me, i will just do the same on that server, too; they know it's me because the service says so.

> <a rel="me" href="https://fosstodon.org/@picofarad">Mastodon</a>

that is all i have to do to prove i own that username on that instance - put that on a domain i own and add it to one of the user editable fields on my public profile.

so maybe you understand my confusion. i never received a bluesky invite nor do i want to pay (a couple mentions here of paying for it).

> Verifying your identity on Mastodon is for everyone. Based on open web standards, now and forever free. All you need is a personal website that people recognize you by. When you link to this website from your profile, we will check that the website links back to your profile and show a visual indicator on it. The link on your website can be invisible. The important part is rel="me" which prevents impersonation on websites with user-generated content. You can even use a link tag in the header of the page instead of <a>, but the HTML must be accessible without executing JavaScript.

i can also export all my followers, so when i join a new instance, i can direct message them all and let them know i've moved, and they can see it's the same person because the service says so, because i own the same domain.

[rglullis]

> i can also export all my followers, so when i join a new instance, i can direct message them all and let them know i've moved

If ActivityPub had actually portable identities, you would be able to move instances without losing/moving your handle.

You as an user might have moved servers, but your identity did not.

How can we make an analogy? Let's say that you want to have a domain and you are hosting it on some cheap VPS provider. You just take your data, upload to their server and point the domain to their IP address. Let's say that six months later the cheap VPS goes down and you completely lose access to the server. You want to move. What do you do? You sign up to another VPS provider, upload your data (assuming you have backups) and you simply change the DNS to point to the IP address of the new server.

If you want to do that anything like that with ActivityPub, you can only do it at the server level. If you are a "mere" user on instance mastodon.one you do not own, you are at the mercy of the admin. You can not take "[e-mail]" and use it as a handle anywhere else. Conversely, you can not go to mastodon.social and sign up with your own domain or any other method of authentication. The only way they can serve anything for you is if you use the handle they assigned you.

With ATProto, identity is based on DIDs (decentralized identifiers), so you can change your PDS without having to change your identity. You can have a handle under your own control and tell Bluesky to host it for you, and you don't need to ask permission to them in case you change your mind and decide to move elsewhere.