The way decentralization works on Bluesky is similar to how the web itself works.

The part that's decentralized is users' storage of data — anyone can host it themselves (we provide both a Docker image of a server that can do that, and the source code for the server, and a spec in case you want to write your own).

However, applications (such as Bluesky) are centralized in the sense that there's just one instance of each application and it can make choices about how to aggregate the decentralized data from the network. A useful analogy is how Google crawls the web into its index but can present stuff from its index according to its own rules.

In this case, quote posts removals don't remove anything from the user repositories (you can't remove data from someone else's repository just like you can't remove data from someone else's website). Rather, when you detach someone's quote, you're putting a record into your repository (declaring the intent to detach it). Our app (both server and client) respects that intent and displays it accordingly.

Indeed, other clients could choose to not respect that, but the default behavior for most users matters a lot — and in general good faith clients try to be well-behaved and align with users' expectations.

Breaking out feeds and moderation are also interesting design decisions that allow an app like Bluesky to give users more control and select algorithms from outside the centralization

Best explanation of the network topology yet, if I'm reading this correctly this removes the problem of not being able to participate on the global network just because the application you chose to interact with it is considered an "evil server" and banned from participation like mastodon, in other words, user accounts aren't associated with a home server that determines who they can interact with, is that right?

How does an application decide whose repos to index?

Same logic as a search engine might apply to the Web - some kind of crawling rules. That said, the network tends to use Relay services to optimize it. The Relays are essentially dumb caches that provide a firehose from multiple servers. We introduced them to make it easier for new applications to pull from the network, but they're optional; you can setup your own relay or crawl/subscribe directly with servers.

EDIT: to answer your question - this means the relay tends to decide what gets indexed.

tyvm

The fact that you can still access hidden quotes/replies/etc from the API makes me think it's a client-side (i.e. app-only) feature.

It is. Everything in bluesky that runs on the AT protocol (like 99% of it) is currently public.

So if you as the OP detach your post from the QRT, all you are doing is posting a certificate (akin to a revocation cert) that declares the intent that you don't want their QRT to be connected to your post.

An app can still show it. Or it can show it behind a warning prompt. Or it can hide it entirely.

It's an intent and even if it was controlled entirely, a determined third party could still work around it so there's not much point in trying to stop them. Instead you operate on "Don't be a dick" principles.

But would any other client bother to implement this feature? Helping me not see toxic bullshit helps me as a user and I might opt in to various content curation schemes; but, if I am already looking at something, removing the context for what they are talking about does not help me. It is like, imagine if I was permalinked on HN to a flagged comment, because someone wanted me to see it, but the "parent" button didn't work.

Most people will be using the official app or the web site and if you're really dedicated one of the web archives will probably have the post and the quoted post archived.

It's not about being perfect, it's about cutting off wide masses from abusive behavior.

If BlueSky truly believes that there will even be an "official app (or the web site)" for their decentralized protocol--the one they claim they only even developed a client for at all in order to promote the usage of--then they have already fallen off mission.

The AT protocol is agnostic of Bluesky or Bluesky-specific content.

Different applications using the AT Protocol can publish records that have no relation to Bluesky posts, Bluesky follows, or other Bluesky concepts. For example, https://smokesignal.events/ is an AT protocol app that produces and aggregates its own record types ("events" and "RSVP"s).

So yes, there can't be any meaningful "official protocol client" (because the protocol isn't tied to a specific app).

However, realistically for each app (such as Bluesky or Smoke Signal) there'll usually be the most popular client (and the one we're developing is "official" in the sense that it's one we put on the app store under the Bluesky brand).

People can build other clients for Bluesky, but more importantly, they can build other apps on the protocol which have no relation to Bluesky (but can still ingest Bluesky data if they want to).

> People can build other clients for Bluesky, but more importantly, they can build other apps on the protocol which have no relation to Bluesky (but can still ingest Bluesky data if they want to).

Additionally, these apps can benefit from the distribution, moderation, and data hosting portability. ATProto allows for shared infrastructure across apps.

> If BlueSky truly believes that there will even be an "official app (or the web site)" for their decentralized protocol

The utter majority of people aren't nerds. They go on the App Store, type in "bluesky" and install the first hit, and that assumes they've heard of it in the first place.

Reddit, even before the Great API Crackdown, was just the same. The utter majority used the official client/website no matter how horrible they are/were to use - I'm honestly surprised old.reddit.com (the one with barely any JS) is still alive and kicking, new.reddit.com (the inbetween) for me keeps alternating between "it works" and "it redirects or shows the new UI that fails all the time with graphql errors"...

These release notes are about the official apps and website. Yes, other apps could do whatever they like, in theory. But they're concentrating on UI improvements to the official apps, and I don't know of any others.

That's exactly what they've done. Bluesky is a decentralised service. It was designed to be decentralised. It's currently centralised in a limited capacity because they didn't open up federation right away.

First they allowed DID federation (i.e. you can host your own DID by tying it to your domain name). Then feed curation. Then data storage. Then moderation features. And so on. There's really only a few things left and those are systems that are designed in a decentralised manner but for the sake of a smooth transition have yet to be handed over fully to the community.

Nobody builds a successful decentralized app, period.

The web is just that. Also Usenet (it was successful for at least a decade or two), and email as the sibling notes.

Would you say activity on the web is getting more or less centralized? I wonder what the general public even perceives as “on the web” versus eg “a post on instagram”

Email is distributed but either you pay Google/Microsoft to host it for you or you host it somewhere else..that carefully and proactively follows their rules.

DNS too.

email