On October 2, 2013, GNU social developer MMN-o (Mikael Nordfeldth) published a blog piece announcing that they'd rolled out a change to their WebFinger implementation, adding backwards-compatible support for the RFC7033 version;

"Plus of course the former RFC6415 (Web Host Metadata), which StatusNet supports (but only XRD format)."

https://web.archive.org/web/20160722114258/https://blog.mmn-o.se/2013/10/02/gnu-social-now-supports-webfinger-rfc7033/

For those who don't know, masrodon.social was created to federate with #GnuSocial servers.

#WebFinger#StatusNet

"That's the irony of what Blaine did when he created WebFinger. It was supposed to support multiple! It wasn't supposed to just be this is your fediverse address, it was supposed to be, here's how you find all the different account of information about me, and different things."

@rabble, 2025

https://wedistribute.org/podcast/s2e3-rabble-from-nos-social/

So ... WF is meant to facilitate something like Libravatar, where all roads lead back to a canonical profile? Hmm ...

#identity#PortableIdentity#WebFinger

Where is the #Fediverse " #handle" syntax, @name@example.com, formally defined? I don't see it in the W3C #ActivityPub spec, nor in #RFC7565, the #Webfinger 'acct' URI scheme spec. Is it a #Mastodon convention which became universal? I am writing software to study handles, and I would rather base it on a spec than a social convention.

Where is the #Fediverse " #handle" syntax, @name@example.com, formally defined? I don't see it in the W3C #ActivityPub spec, nor in #RFC7565, the #Webfinger 'acct' URI scheme spec. Is it a #Mastodon convention which became universal? I am writing software to study handles, and I would rather base it on a spec than a social convention.

🎉 Huge shoutout to two amazing contributors from Korea's #OSSCA program who've made excellent contributions to #Fedify!

👏 @gaebalgom tackled a tricky terminal compatibility issue in PR #282, fixing the fedify node command's favicon display on terminal emulators without truecolor support (#168). His solution elegantly detects terminal capabilities and falls back to 256-color mode when needed—ensuring a great experience across different environments.

🌟 @joonnot enhanced Fedify's #WebFinger functionality in PR #281 by adding a configurable maxRedirection option to the lookupWebFinger() function (#248). He transformed a hardcoded limitation into a flexible, user-customizable parameter while maintaining perfect backward compatibility.

Both delivered thoughtful, well-implemented solutions that showcase the quality of contributions coming from the OSSCA program. Welcome to the Fedify community!

#ActivityPub #opensource #fedidev

🎉 Huge shoutout to two amazing contributors from Korea's #OSSCA program who've made excellent contributions to #Fedify!

👏 @gaebalgom tackled a tricky terminal compatibility issue in PR #282, fixing the fedify node command's favicon display on terminal emulators without truecolor support (#168). His solution elegantly detects terminal capabilities and falls back to 256-color mode when needed—ensuring a great experience across different environments.

🌟 @joonnot enhanced Fedify's #WebFinger functionality in PR #281 by adding a configurable maxRedirection option to the lookupWebFinger() function (#248). He transformed a hardcoded limitation into a flexible, user-customizable parameter while maintaining perfect backward compatibility.

Both delivered thoughtful, well-implemented solutions that showcase the quality of contributions coming from the OSSCA program. Welcome to the Fedify community!

#ActivityPub #opensource #fedidev

🎉 Big thanks to @2chanhaeng for his first contribution to #Fedify! He implemented the new fedify webfinger command in PR #278, which allows isolated #WebFinger lookups for testing configurations. This addresses the need for developers to test WebFinger functionality without performing comprehensive object retrieval.

The contribution includes:

• A new fedify webfinger command that accepts @user@domain format handles or URIs
• Clean JSON output of WebFinger JRD results
• Proper error handling for invalid handles and lookup failures
• Complete #CLI integration with help text and usage examples

This was originally filed as issue #260 and marked as a good first issue—perfect for newcomers to learn the codebase structure while contributing meaningful functionality. The PR has been merged and will be included in the upcoming Fedify 1.8.0 release.

We appreciate all first-time contributors who help make Fedify better for the entire #fediverse community. Welcome aboard, ChanHaeng!

#opensource #fedidev

🎉 Big thanks to @2chanhaeng for his first contribution to #Fedify! He implemented the new fedify webfinger command in PR #278, which allows isolated #WebFinger lookups for testing configurations. This addresses the need for developers to test WebFinger functionality without performing comprehensive object retrieval.

The contribution includes:

• A new fedify webfinger command that accepts @user@domain format handles or URIs
• Clean JSON output of WebFinger JRD results
• Proper error handling for invalid handles and lookup failures
• Complete #CLI integration with help text and usage examples

This was originally filed as issue #260 and marked as a good first issue—perfect for newcomers to learn the codebase structure while contributing meaningful functionality. The PR has been merged and will be included in the upcoming Fedify 1.8.0 release.

We appreciate all first-time contributors who help make Fedify better for the entire #fediverse community. Welcome aboard, ChanHaeng!

#opensource #fedidev

I'd love to know more about what you're thinking here.

I don't think we're replacing #Webfinger. I think we're trying to follow through on #WhatCorySaid at #FediForum (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Gs1t0qe78)

...which is basically: Let regular people take their account to a new server any time they want, without relying on awful XML/CSV import/export jobs. This would go a long way to solving Fediverse UX issues and preventing enshitification.

Is there more that I've missed?

@mro @j12t @tchambers

I'd love to know more about what you're thinking here.

I don't think we're replacing #Webfinger. I think we're trying to follow through on #WhatCorySaid at #FediForum (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Gs1t0qe78)

...which is basically: Let regular people take their account to a new server any time they want, without relying on awful XML/CSV import/export jobs. This would go a long way to solving Fediverse UX issues and preventing enshitification.

Is there more that I've missed?

@mro @j12t @tchambers

Hi @j12t @tchambers @benpate,
isn't #discovery without #webfinger (hostnames and dns in effect) a #fallacy and thus #centralisation in disguise?