-

2025-11-09 07:56:18

tokyo_0@mas.to

You know, #Lemmy is looking pretty tidy these days.

It's still kind of an issue that to fully engage with it I'd have to open an account on a Lemmy instance, mind. I can comment on a post I see here, from Mastodon, but I can't upvote anything.

Maybe what we need is some kind of OAuth across #Fediverse instances of differing hues. As admins can choose which instances to federate with, they can choose which instances to accept user authorisation from, as well. 🤔

2025-11-09 09:34:35

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Tokyo Outsider (337ppm) Well, there is OpenWebAuth magic sign-on. It works by one Fediverse server recognising your login on another Fediverse server and then granting you permissions.

However, it cannot replace a local account. If you don't have a local account on a server that has server-side OpenWebAuth support, it does not give you all the power that you'd have with a local account on that server. It only gives you guest permissions.

This also means that server-side OpenWebAuth support is completely useless on Fediverse software that doesn't have a permission system such as Mastodon or Lemmy. This is why not much more than Hubzilla, (streams) and Forte has both client-side and server-side OpenWebAuth support.

In fact, the Mastodon developers have silenty rejected an already submitted merge request that would have added client-side OpenWebAuth support. What chances are there that Mastodon will introduce server-side OpenWebAuth support, seeing as that'd be completely useless on something as deliberately simple as Mastodon?

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Fediverse #Mastodon #Lemmy #Hubzilla #Streams #(streams) #Forte #OpenWebAuth

2025-11-09 09:41:09

Tokyo Outsider (337ppm)

tokyo_0@mas.to

@jupiter_rowland So, if I understand you correctly, I'd be able to log on to a Lemmy instance using my Mastodon instance account if the Lemmy instance had OpenWebAuth client support and if the Mastodon instance had OpenWebAuth server support, but unless the Lemmy instance gave "guests" the ability to upvote posts, I wouldn't be able to do much more than I can right now by just looking at the post and commenting on it within Mastodon?

And Mastodon has rejected proposals to support this anyway?

2025-11-09 23:28:30

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Tokyo Outsider (337ppm) First of all, Lemmy would need OpenWebAuth server support because all that stuff would happen on a Lemmy server.

Mastodon would need OpenWebAuth client support because you as the Mastodon user would be the visitor, and Mastodon would basically act as a client.

Even then, you wouldn't actually log onto that Lemmy instance. In order to do that, you'd need a local account on that Lemmy instance that you could log onto, and Lemmy would have to use your Mastodon login via OpenWebAuth to recognise you and automatically log you onto your Lemmy account.

Even that wouldn't work because the Lemmy instance wouldn't have any way of knowing that your Mastodon login as a guest belongs to the same person as your local Lemmy account. You'd still only have guest permissions.

So OpenWebAuth won't fix your very problem.

And Mastodon didn't just reject an OpenWebAuth proposal. It rejected an actually coded, tested, ready-to-be-merged-into-dev pull request. Existing code that could have been built into Mastodon immediately.

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Mastodon #Lemmy #OpenWebAuth