Integrate Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs) for Censorship-Resistant, Portable User Identities · Issue #5942 · LemmyNet/lemmy
github.com
Requirements Is this a feature request? For questions or discussions use https://lemmy.ml/c/lemmy_support or the matrix chat. Did you check to see if this issue already exists? Is this only a featu...

Here’s an idea to make Lemmy even better: true account portability.

Right now, your Lemmy account and all your content are tied to one server. Moving instances or having one shut down means losing your digital presence. Frankly, the server controls your online identity.

But what if you controlled your identity?

I’ve opened a discussion on the Lemmy dev GitHub about integrating Decentralized Identifiers (DIDs). Think of a DID as a permanent, global ID you own, independent of any server.

Why DIDs are a game-changer for Lemmy:

  • Real Account Portability: Move your entire account – posts, comments, followers – to any new instance seamlessly. Your identity travels with you.
  • More User Control: Your online presence becomes resilient, managed by an ID you control, not governed by a single server’s policies.
  • Proven Tech: It works. Protocols like ATProto (Bluesky) successfully use DIDs for portable user identities.
  • Full Fediverse Compatibility: We can add DIDs to Lemmy while staying fully interoperable with Mastodon, Kbin, and all other ActivityPub platforms. No breaking changes, just a powerful upgrade.

This is a big step towards a more decentralized and user-controlled fediverse. If you’re interested in more control over your digital self, check out the discussion:

[GitHub Issue: https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/5942]

If you’re on other ActivityPub platforms, consider pushing for similar solutions! The more platforms that adopt truly portable identity, the stronger the fediverse becomes.

  • flamingos-cant (hopepunk arc)@feddit.ukEnglish
    14·
    6 days ago

    Real Account Portability: Move your entire account – posts, comments, followers – to any new instance seamlessly. Your identity travels with you.

    This is nice in theory but comes with edge cases that are hard to account for. Like, what if you have a post and your new instance defeds the instance the post’s community is on? You either have to allow banned content onto the instance or the user loses data, neither of which are acceptable.

    This is part of why ATProto’s decoupling of user data from app logic is kinda genius and the direction we should go in if we want portable actors in Lemmy/thredi.

    Full Fediverse Compatibility: We can add DIDs to Lemmy while staying fully interoperable with Mastodon, Kbin, and all other ActivityPub platforms. No breaking changes, just a powerful upgrade.

    Not really, every fediverse platform that people use expects an Object’s id to be a https URI it can just fetch the resource from. This is part of why FEP-ef61 specifies a way of translating a DID to a https URI. That’s not to mention that moving existing actors from their current ID to a DID will cause all sorts of interop problems.

    Edit: Also, is this AI-generated? It has all the tells of Gemini output, especially the the issue on Github.

      • renzhexiangjiao@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        9·
        6 days ago

        yeah, if I were a Lemmy dev, I wouldn’t take this proposal seriously because of this. I would be wondering if that person really knows what they’re proposing and if they’re planning to engage in the discussion themselves or let AI do it for them, and in the latter case it would just be a waste of time.

    • muntedcrocodile@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      6 days ago

      we add a did to objects and keep the id the same. supporting platforms will use did old ones will carry on using id.

      did is what ATProto uses this is a step in that direction