Blog

It has been quite some time since the last update but there have not been any large topics to discuss. The Zeal Center instance continues to interact with people on the Fediverse, making friends, educating about digital privacy and Zcash usage.

Since I started this instance, nearly 3 years ago(!), I have learned a lot about the Fediverse. One of the key concepts is that the Fediverse goes beyond the Mastodon platform, and I have learned that Mastodon may not be the right platform for our small instance.

Mastodon has always had challenges for a small instance, running on a small server on a shoestring budget of donations. Unfortunately, as new features are added, more resources are needed. The difficulty of managing these obstacles led me to look at alternatives, and the one that has stood out is GoToSocial.

GoToSocial requires less resources and storage to provide the service of connecting us to the Fediverse and it is far easier to update and maintain.

What’s the catch? A quirk of the ActivityPub protocol means that we cannot just switch the backend running on the zeal.center domain, we need a new one. For this, I have already secured the zebras.social domain.

How would it work? Both the Mastodon instance at zeal.center and the new GoToSocial instance at zebras.social will co-exist for a set period of time, at least 30 days. During this time, any member of the Zeal Center can request an account on the new server, and then follow the standard Fediverse process to migrate servers. This will allow all our users to move their accounts to their new server, including their followers.

As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Our instance turns two years old this month. I am very proud of our community for supporting this idea, that we can run the services we need ourselves and can have a social media presence without being bound by a corporate overlord. We have even outlasted Cohost.

Unfortunately, some of the other blockchain-related instances on the Fediverse have gone away. This is why I think it is even more important than ever to have our community be part of the Fediverse. Our every interaction shows people that the blockchain community is not just scammers, but everyday people with diverse interests and backgrounds. There is a very active community in the Fediverse discussing privacy and digital rights, and I believe the Zcash community needs to be part of that dialog.

Instance Funding

The Zeal Center wallet currently holds 0.06982605 ZEC, so it is time for another fundraiser. Our April fundraiser was very successful, covering our hosting costs all the way until December.

The ongoing generosity of our members drives me to continue with this effort of maintaining this space for our community.

At current prices, 13 ZEC would cover our hosting costs for an entire year. If you can, please consider donating because every zat helps.

Also, remember to tell your friends about us, ask them to create an account and start exploring the Fediverse.

Thank you, members of the Zeal!

It’s surprising how time has flown since the first idea of setting up a Mastodon server for the community came up, to now having our server up for nearly a year and a half! I want to thank all the members of the Zeal Center for supporting decentralized digital spaces and I hope you are getting meaningful connections in the Fediverse.

I also want to remind everyone that we have a Mobilizon instance for the members of the Zeal Center at https://meet.zeal.center. This is a platform that allows members to create groups, plan and discuss events. It is also federated, which means anyone on the Fediverse can follow and interact with the groups and events. If you would like access to it, contact me.

Instance Funding

The Zeal Center wallet currently holds 0.58682605 ZEC, so is time to organize another fundraiser, our previous fundraiser was very successful and covered our costs for nearly 6 months.

If you have found meaningful conversations and new connections on the Fediverse, please consider donating what you can. Every zat counts and it would take about 15 ZEC at current prices to fund the server for the entire year of 2024.

Another great way to support the Zeal Center is to tell your friends about us and ask them to create an account for Mastodon, Mobilizon, or both! They can learn the basics of using a Zcash wallet and join the Fediverse and support decentralized platforms.

As a thank you, the Zeal Center members donating 1 ZEC or more during the fundraiser get their very own custom emoji¹! This fundraising campaign will be open until 2024-05-07. You can scan the QR code below with your Zcash wallet to donate: