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Hubzilla Timeline and History

15 Years of Innovation

Hubzilla and its predecessors are pioneers of the fediverse, bringing cutting-edge features and innovation to decentralized social media. This includes tireless work from fediverse pioneer Mike Macgirvin, Hubzilla head developer Mario Vavti, as well as many many other contributors.

Hubzilla traces its roots to 2010 with the release of Mistpark created by Mike Macgirvin, and became an independent project in 2012, being called Red and then Red Matrix before being called Hubzilla. The Hubzilla community took over the project in early 2015, and the Hubzilla Association was created in 2023.

This is a team effort, with lots of contributors, both from within and without Hubzilla. Special thanks to other platforms, such as Zap, Osada, (streams), Forte, and others who collaborate, innovate, and cross-pollinate.

This timeline contains highlights only and is not a complete history.

Major Milestones

  • Hubzilla website redesigned (in progress).
  • 15 Year Anniversary

  • Hubzilla 10 released.

    • Implementation of Conversation Containers over ActivityPub, which helps backfill threaded conversations so you see the entire conversation, as well as provide additional moderation tools. Initially implemented by (streams) and ported to Hubzilla.
  • FEP-171b: Conversation Containers and related specifications are submitted as Fediverse Enhancement Proposals (FEPs), special thanks to silverpill.1
  • Hubzilla 9 released.
  • FEP-61cf: The OpenWebAuth Protocol, which provides federated single sign on, was submitted as a Fediverse Enhancement Proposal (FEP), special thanks to FenTiger and silverpill.1
  • Hubzilla Association established.
  • Hubzilla 8 released.

  • Hubzilla 7.8 released.

    • Update to bootstrap version 5.2 which implements CSS variables
  • Hubzilla 7 released.

  • Hubzilla 6.2 released.

    • Make Hubzilla installable as a Progressive Web App (PWA) in supported browsers.
    • Updated to Bootstrap 5.

  • Hubzilla 6 released.

    • Implemented desktop notifications.

  • Hubzilla 5 released.

    • Implemented Zot6 as the primary protocol. ActivityPub and Diaspora continue to be supported as optional protocols.
    • Implemented calendar syncing between clones, using DAV and nomadic identity.
    • Introduced polls.
  • Magic-auth was separated from Zot and made into its own protocol called OpenWebAuth to facilitate adoption by other platforms.4

  • Hubzilla 4 released.

    • Re-implemented the Zot Protocol to use ActivityStreams2 content (version 6 of Zot, known as Zot6).
  • ActivityPub specifications finalised.1
  • Hubzilla 3 released.
  • Mastodon added ActivityPub in version 1.6.0 which replaced OStatus as their primary protocol. Hubzilla and Mastodon begin to use ActivityPub to communicate with each other, rather than use OStatus.1
  • The PubCrawl addon was created, which adds ActivityPub as an additional protocol.
  • Mike Macgirvin creates the first ever demonstration of ActivityPub posts and comments federating (NextCloud made these claims, but used ActivityStreams and not actually ActivityPub).1
  • Hubzilla 2 released.
  • Implemented private groups.
  • Mastodon arrives in the fediverse.
  • Provided (sanitised) inline SVG support over the fediverse, allowing quick doodles and drawings in posts/comments.
  • Hubzilla 1 released.
  • New features like articles, cards, wikis, webpages, a CalDAV calendar server and a CardDAV addressbook server were planned and then added over time.
  • Renamed from Red Matrix to Hubzilla.
  • Mike Macgirvin stepped down as active coordinator for the project in early 2015 and turned management over to the community.
  • Implemented dynamic groups. ("Send this post to male German connections only" or "only send to folks who are using the Diaspora protocol")  
  • Browser-to-browser encryption arrives in the fediverse. E2EE framework completed. We don't provide E2EE ourselves because we're not at the endpoint.
  • Renamed from Red to Red Matrix.
  • Turned all file storage into access controlled WebDAV nodes so you could upload private media through drag-drop from any device.
  • Created the Zot Protocol to encrypt all fediverse communications over the wire and expose as little meta-data as possible, while fully supporting Nomadic Identity.

  • Work begins on Red, which means "network" in Spanish. This rewrite uses Free Friendika as a base.2 Red is considered to be a fork of the MIT licensed version of Friendika/Friendica.

    Mike Macgirvin leaves Friendica to devote his time working on Red and the Zot protocol. Red is established as an independent project.
  • Federated/connected the fediverse and WordPress (posts and comments in both directions).
  • Friendika was renamed Friendica.

  • The Friendika project split into two, with an MIT Licensed version and an AGPL licensed version. The MIT licensed version was initially called Free Friendika, and the AGPL version continued to use the name Friendika.2

    The MIT Licensed version of Friendika/Friendica was stored in a separate repository. It had periodic updates, but was not promoted for production use and very few knew it existed.3
  • Started work on fediverse Nomadic Identity after nearly half the known network suddenly vanished in the space of a week when some high profile large sites shut down with little or no warning and with no migration ability. Migration is half the solution - it is still subject to unannounced shutdowns.
  • Brought Facebook (unwillingly) into the fediverse. Shout-out to Tobias for helping with Twitter.
  • Renamed from Mistpark to Friendika.
  • Federated with all the things - including "connections" with RSS and email, Diaspora, Status.Net, and cross-posting to lots of open providers via plugins.
  • Provided access controlled assets and services in the fediverse - including media
  • Created federated single sign-on across decentralised fediverse nodes (providing fully decentralised access control)
  • Brought circles/aspects to the fediverse. (Before Diaspora or Google+).
  • Brought quoted posts to the fediverse.
  • Brought comment controls to the fediverse.
  • Brought directory services to the fediverse.
  • Brought the concepts of permission and consent to the fediverse.
  • Brought direct messages (DMs) and groups to the fediverse. (Prior to this they did not federate).
  • Launched as Mistpark.
  • After leaving Facebook, Mike Macgirvin started work on a federated social media server using common server technology.

What is a pioneer?

Cross Platform Collaboration

As one of the early pioneers of the fediverse, there was a lot of cross collaboration between platforms.

Sometimes we were the first, and sometimes we were among the first early adopters.

For example, ActivityPub was implemented in Hubzilla and Mastodon around the same time since both platforms were phasing out OStatus. When Magic Auth was turned into OpenWebAuth, it was initially incorporated into Zap, Osada, and Hubzilla. Conversation Containers were created in (streams) and then quickly ported to Hubzilla.

In all of these examples, multiple platforms had to work together to make it work. It is not about who implemented first. It is about how we worked together to create a better fediverse.

Try and Try Again

Sometimes our experiments worked out, and sometime they didn't. Sometimes our ideas got adopted by others, sometimes they didn't.

For example, we connected to Twitter and Facebook, and they later changed their Terms of Service to prohibit or limit such connections. We tried different concepts, and other forks, such as Zap and Osada, were created to experiment and implement different features. Certain features created in other forks were ported back to Hubzilla and some weren't.

It is the nature of being a pioneer. Sometimes you will stumble as you move forward. You just have to keep going, refining things and trying something new until you achieve your goals.

Footnotes

Note: Events are listed in reverse chronological order. Some events may have happened concurrently.

1. Some entries are only mentioned as a point of reference and to provide context.

2. There were a lot of name changes in 2010 and 2011. We have included a simplified version of events to make it easier to follow.

3. When the code was being prepared to split into an MIT version and an AGPL version, the MIT licensed version of Friendika/Friendica was referred to by many names, such as Free Friendika, Red, and Friendica Red. Mike Macgirvin preferred to call it Red since "red" means "network" in Spanish, but other developers preferred to call it Friendica Red since it was technically still maintained by Friendica until July 2012. This edition was never released or promoted for production use. If you bring up the name of the project during this time period, people will argue over what the correct name is. There may be a difference between what the codebase called it, and what was communicated to people following the project.

4. Magic Auth already existed in multiple Zot based platforms such as Hubzilla, Zap, and Osada. They all updated to OpenWebAuth between 2019 to 2020.

Powered by the Hubzilla Fediverse Server. Celebrating 15 Years of Innovation.
Artwork by aaatelier.eu.