Lurker refugee from reddit here. Being a network engineer, I'm somewhat tech-savvy. But I'm having a hard time getting to grips with lemmy, or I should say the fediverse. I understand that it's a bunch of servers/instances that connect/federate with each other. I also just learned or understood why I can't login with my user account from lemmy.world on lemm.ee. It's like email providers :)

But I've got a few questions that maybe someone who knows more about lemmy and the fediverse can answer.

What happens to accounts, communities and posts when its instance decides it's been a fun few months and decides to shut down?
Can someone register with my username on other instances, or is my username "taken" across the fediverse?
If so, how are spoofing and/or scams using my username but on a different instance handled?

I'm starting to understand that it's not my data that is federated, but only links to the data in other instances. Would that be a good understanding on how the federation technically works?
All my account data is located on my "home" instance, but in turn my posts are stored on the instance where I posted or commented and linked to all other federated instances.

I could try my 2nd question myself, but I don't like creating more accounts than what I need.

Thanks!

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[–] Spzi@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hello and welcome! I'm on a similar quest, let's share! First, what I know:

Can someone register with my username on other instances, or is my username “taken” across the fediverse?

Yes, they can. We need to understand that 'names' include the instance here. My username is not Spzi, but @Spzi@lemm.ee. (Same story with communities. There are no 'same name' communities on multiple instances once you accept the instance is part of the full name). This identifier is unique per instance. Further, you can choose a display name, even if it conflicts with another display name from the same instance (AFAIK).

You can register your name on other instances, to block it from being taken by others.

If so, how are spoofing and/or scams using my username but on a different instance handled?

Maybe we use this platform in very different ways, but I wouldn't worry about this too much. In contrast to mastodon, we follow topics, not people. In contrast to reddit, there is no account karma. If you still run into trouble related to spoofing and/or scams, just remember to look at the full identifier, not just parts of it.

What happens to accounts, communities and posts when its instance decides it’s been a fun few months and decides to shut down?

I'm not exactly sure. Please someone @notify me when someone else has a good answer.

it’s not my data that is federated, but only links to the data in other instances. Would that be a good understanding on how the federation technically works?

AFAIK, data is actually cloned in the process of federation. Edits and deletes are propagated. Each instance holds a local copy. Threads can have differences when viewed from different instances.

This post and subsequent comment was gold for me to learn more about it: https://lemmy.world/comment/205763

[–] durd_@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks for the informative comment!

I apologize, I wasn't entirely clear in my first two questions. They adhere to background checks for work. I'll obviously have to spell out my whole username with @lemmy.world. But if someone who isn't as well versed would find multiple durd_s and many have posted or commented something that wouldn't be in good taste, this isn't good for me.
I'm not sure if I'd be allowed to explain what the fediverse is and how it works.

Registering my username on other instances is possible, but not very feasible as there are quite a few instances already, and I venture that more are created by the hour.

[–] Spzi@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Oh, I see. I guess, similar to email, you have to trust that people can tell the difference between durd_@yourmail.com and durd_@othermail.scam.

You could also make it clear at work what your Lemmy account is, and that other accounts with possibly similar names aren't yours. I guess that's not feasible or wanted.

Or you could choose to use a completely different name on Lemmy.