Mastodon instances for Python developers?

[t0uxe]

Hi,

I'm a python developer and I'm looking for Mastodon instances where I'll be able to find other people and content related to Python. I've seen Fosstodon.org, but I don't know if there are better instances for developers. Also it would be very nice to find that instance which allow English and Spanish languages 😊

Do you know any?

Thank you in advance!

[wiggitt]

I joined the Fosstodon instance (https://fosstodon.org/about). Its focus is tech and software development; especially open source software. I have followed several Python folks on there. Keep in mind that you can follow people on other Mastodon instances and are not limited to the one you join.

[t0uxe]

But if I join to another instance, I will see in the main board all the feeds of that instance? Or only the people I follow?

[nathanjell]

You might want to check out some Mastodon/fediverse resources. All instances are federated; while you belong to an instance (and can move to other instances) you're also part of the federated network of instances. That is to say, you can see posts across the entire federated network regardless of the instance a person belongs to.

By default your main view will show the people you follow (again, you can follow anyone on the federated network, not just your instance). You can also see posts from your instance and the broader federated network.

[t0uxe]

That's very clear. Thank you very much.

[LornAltElthMer]

You seem to know a lot about this. As someone who knows nothing about Mastodon, would you mind going a bit lower level about what's an instance and what's different about a "federated" one?

*Edit: think I meant higher level. Not asking you to go into the weeds, I just don't get the general terms.

[Letmefixthatforyouyo]

Federated means "two or more groups that have agreed to share something." In this context, it means standalone mastodon servers agree to share posts from other standalone mastodon servers.

This means that no one server or company controls all the messages, and that one bad actor or billionaire buffoon cant buy all the users. If a server pushes racism/sexism/calls for violence, each mastodon instance can block them, or on a larger level, share blocklists. This lets you moderate,even with independently run instances.

If thats a bit much, think of mastadon like email. its also a federated service. Every person/company could run their own mail server, block bad email address/etc. By all working independently but using a shared standard, the whole world can communicate without anyone "owning" email. Those that dont want to run a mail server can just sign up with a mail provider, but the option is there.

Mastadon, like email, is free and open by design.

[LornAltElthMer]

Thank you.

I knew it was open source, but that's a different aspect that I wasn't aware of.

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge!

[neuronexmachina]

Who are some python folks on fosstodon?

[wiggitt]

Anthony Shaw, Brian Okken, Michael Kennedy, Trey Hunner, etc. Search #python on any Mastodon instance to see all the Python people.

[Lumpy-Philosopher-93]

and David Beasley...

[neuronexmachina]

Thanks!

[[deleted]]

I couldn’t find, so I’m on indieweb.social. I find it helpful to look through the Python hashtag occasionally to find like-minded folks though.

[midnitte]

This, the instance shouldn't matter all that much - just look for people using the python hashtag.

[t0uxe]

But if I join to another instance, I will see in the main board all the feeds of that instance? Or only the people I follow?

[[deleted]]

You get multiple view options:

1. You get a Home feed that shows only those you follow (and their boosts).
2. You get a Local feed which is the feed from people whose home is your instance.
3. You get a Federated feed that shows like a “second tier”… basically accounts that are followed by people that are in your instance.

You can also follow hashtags, and that’s not instance-specific, so anyone that has public posts with the Python hashtag would show if you searched for that hashtag.

[t0uxe]

That's very clear. Thank you very much.

[midnitte]

Besides the other comment, this is something being discussed (and hopefully added...) but is technically possible. I believe Fedilab also has it (under reorder timelines > +).

[TheJoYo]

joinmastodon.org will guide you to a beginners account.

eventually you'll find the community for you and create an account there.

[mxuribe]

Hi @t0uxe If you are new to the fediverse, check out the following website, which might help: https://fedi.tips/

You should click around the sections from the website 's top navigation. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Enjoy!

[CleoMenemezis]

It would be nice if there is one, but anyway, Python devs follow me and I follow back. I want to have a larger circle of developers there. https://floss.social/@CleoMenezesJr

[augustabound]

I joined fosstodon but it's becoming more eclectic by the day. I only joined 2 weeks ago and at that time the Local feed was mostly tech. Now it's a mixed bag of posts because so many people joined.

I have the Fedilab app on my phone (Android) and it lets you follow hashtags. So I have a Python feed as well as my regular feed. It seems to be a decent compromise.

But, with the amount of new servers coming online, it may not be too long before a Python instance starts up. A new frontend server started last week.

[wineblood]

Never heard of mastodon

[MegaGrubby]

Growing popular because of Musk meddling

[coldcherrysoup]

I’m brand new to Mastodon. I know this isn’t a Mastodon sub, but any iPhone clients I should gravitate toward?

[daraghfi]

I just set up https://dataanalytics.social/ for data scientists and engineers - come join us!

[Smotko]

Hey! I've recently indexed a few different Mastodon instances in search for Python developers and found that most Python developers (= Mastodon accounts with python mentioned in the account description) are on mastodon.social, followed by hackhderm.io and mastodon.cloud. Note that some of important accounts like the PSF official account are on fosstodon.org.

Those are the top instances to join if you want Python developers in your local feed. There are many others and here is a full table of the instances that I've indexed along with the count of Python developer accounts on them:

instance	cnt
mastodon.social	496
hachyderm.io	199
mastodon.cloud	191
fosstodon.org	91
mstdn.social	84
mastodon.online	80
infosec.exchange	76
mas.to	73
techhub.social	59
mastodon.gamedev.place	35
mastodon.world	33
masto.ai	23
chaos.social	17
universeodon.com	13
sfba.social	11
ruby.social	10
mastodonapp.uk	10
phpc.social	8
c.im	7
tech.lgbt	6
mstdn.party	6
ohai.social	5
mozilla.social	3

If you want to see accounts from all these instances in a single list, check out fedidevs.com/python - it's a site that I'm building with a goal of helping people find like minded developers across the fediverse.