How are you guys accessing and interacting with this community?
I'm interested in knowing what you guys are using to access this community, whether or not it's via mobile phone or via laptop or desktop.
If accessing via a laptop or a desktop, what is your OS? Windows, MacOS, or Linux? And if Linux, what distro are you using?
If accessing via a mobile device, you can add in some details about the app you are using or if you're using it via a mobile browser.
Of course, you guys can add more details.
Just to provide a bit of a background behind the question: I've had this preconception that the ones here are among the more technologically-inclined (whatever that means), and thus, I'm curious about the make-up of devices and software used to access and interact with this community.
UPDATE:
As promised, here's a link to the compiled data (with some rudimentary stats). I will be adding more onto them this weekend (if more replies come in).
First of all, thank you to all who've responded. While my preconceptions haven't been shattered, I'm also pleasantly surprised to find out non-techies, refugees from Reddit, who have jumped in to the Threadiverse despite it all. I dunno if that's indicative of the dumpster fire that is Reddit right now, or the tenacity of those who've sought refuge here. Maybe both.
Since ang talagang target ko sa build na ito is for a workstation kind of a build, akala ko tama lang ang 16GB, but recently, mejo nagsisi akong hindi nag-32GB, lol! Ang lakas kumain ng VScode ng memory eh! 🥹
Is it better if I disclose that I actually installed Manjaro instead of Arch? (A friend of mine changed it to Arch using some black magic I can't even understand--all with my permission, ofc.)
Using a laptop (Windows 10, Chrome). I've since deleted reddit apps on my phone, and I am waiting for sync to come up with their lemmy alternative.
I'm still holding on to my reddit account to get a list of all the subs i've subscribed to, and intend to archive and delete everything once I'm certain there's a good alternative to reddit, be it Lemmy, or something else.
Si u/Sped supot.
P.S. Anybody using windows 11? Or at least VM'd it? Kamusta naman ang experience? Is it worth a try?
EDIT: Added Laptop Specs and a couple of questions.
I access Lemmy.world on Firefox on my Windows 10 desktop. I also access it from my Surface Pro 9 (Firefox too) which has Windows 11. I haven't tried it on my phone (android) yet, but I have download Jerboa and will try it out soon.
I installed the chrome webpage as an app. Works identically to the mobile website but I don't have to deal with the url bar constantly coming and going while scrolling. Planning on switching to sync when that becomes available
I use Google Chrome to get to my instance (Lemmy.world). I’m on a seven-year-old IPad. I have no idea if there are better ways to access Lemmy, or how to find the rest of the “fediverse”, but hopefully the knowledge will eventually seep into my brain. (Did I say it all correctly? I speak some 1980s Geek, but do not know the current version.)
I'm using Mozilla Firefox on both smartphone and Windows. I've been using Firefox since an on-and-off usage with Chrome in 2017. I knew Firefox's throne a looong time before Google took over the web.
Tried Linux Mint, but my essential app (Fade In) fucked my writings' formatting and it's frustrating to edit +100-page works.
Okay lang yung Lemmy sa mobile Firefox? Was considering using it but I chickened out. Besides, I have a bunch of tabs permanently open in there anyways, lol!
Too bad about Linux Mint. It has always had a special place in my heart for the distro that introduced me to Linux way back early 2000s' when our school replaced all our Windows machines with Linux ones. Also, I am kinda sad about the poor state of Linux support among some apps/programs, kesyo 2% lang daw ang gumagamit ng Linux or whatever.
Linux Mint is fine for Windows replacement. It's just my essential app fucked by it, but everything else (playing CSGO, web browsing etc, media consumption) are fine.
Lemmy on Firefox Mobile is more than fine. Kung ano ma-eencounter na "something" sa desktop, yun din maeencounter mo sa mobile browsers.
You might be right about most people here could be more technologically-inclined. To begin with, Lemmy's UI is still confusing. Also I can imagine a lot of people asking "wtf is an instance", etc. Although this might change especially it gains more traction.
I currently browse using desktop on Firefox (don't let Chrome win the internet). Hope we will have a good mobile client soon.
That being said, aRcH bTw.
The main reason I started this thread is because I want to be proven wrong, dammit! 😂
But seriously, yeah, parang ang labo na i-introduce ang mga non-techies sa Lemmy. I'd no sooner just ask for their permission and make an account for them than to walk them through the steps.
And I agree about using Firefox instead of Chrome. Unfortunately, my work requires me to use a Chromium browser (testing and other stuff) so I use Ungoogled Chromium instead.
How's Xmonad treating you, btw? I once flirted with the idea of using a tiling window manager for this work account, thinking that the way I use apps/programs could be streamlined using it. I ended up not going through it, however, since, well, tamad ako. Lol!
That's actually the main appeal of Lemmy for me. Kasi alam kong yung mga tech-savvy yung karamihan na magma-migrate. It feels refreshing kasi Reddit and social media are full of "outgoing/extroverted" people. Alam mo yung feeling na noong bata ka pa e internet ang refuge mo kasi yung mga normal na tao ay busy having a life. Pero ngayon baliktad na. Haha!
But seriously, yeah, parang ang labo na i-introduce ang mga non-techies sa Lemmy. I’d no sooner just ask for their permission and make an account for them than to walk them through the steps.
Lmao it's like trying to introduce your friends/family to Linux.
How’s Xmonad treating you, btw?
I've used tiling WMs for 7 years now. First used i3wm so I have experience before switching to Xmonad last year. Tbh, I can't recommend Xmonad for your first tiling window manager solely because it's config is a pain to learn. Unless you're already familiar with Haskell, which the config file is written on. I just switched to Xmonad because I liked the idea of dynamic tiling rather than full-on manual tiling.
Tiling WMs talaga way to go sakin kasi I really prefer working with keyboard shortcuts. Plus after using tiling wms, there's really no way I'm going back to the disorganized that is a stacking window manager. I use a Windows virtual machine for gaming (hence why I have 2 GPUs), and I can't be bothered to use Windows Explorer. Hahaha!
But then I also use Vim as my text editor so I guess I'm "that weird guy".
joined lemmy 10 minutes ago. this is my first comment. reddit user for 10+ years. I was 99% mobile (iPhone - Apollo) on reddit, and I very much want to continue that on lemmy.
On mobile, Jerboa. I am not tech savvy and lemmy.world and the other instances are still confusing to me. But I want to ditch reddit for good so I'll cope.
I stumbled in here from Reddit. I feel like a chimp trying to tune a radio, but everyone has been nice so far and there are stories on my home page to read, so I'm pretty content at the moment. I'm using the kbin app on a Samsung s10p
Using kbin as it was the first instance I signed up for. The Fediverse concept blew my mind when I first heard of it a couple of days ago. I had heard of Mastodon before but since I was barely using Twitter anymore, I didn't feel the need to sign up. So this was my real introduction into the federation concept.
On desktop: Firefox with Tampermonkey and Stylus add-ons. Using this script for Tampermonkey, and this stylesheet for Stylus.
On mobile: Firefox with Tampermonkey (Stylus isn't available on mobile yet). Using the script on I use on desktop, but also this one.
Accessing it via the Web on my desktop and then on the web app on my iPhone (bookmarked the site on Safari, which turns it into a basic app). I have Mlem and Memmy on my iPhone as well, but both are pretty bare bones at the moment and missing a lot of features. So I often find myself on the bookmarked-to-my-homescreen web app.
Like reddit, mobile is the primary place where I am accessing Lemmy, so I am REALLY hoping one of the existing apps becomes fully featured soon or Christian Selig develops an app like Apollo for Lemmy. I miss the Apollo app more than I miss Reddit. In terms of community and content, Lemmy seems promising as a "reddit replacement" but we really need some good mobile apps. That's what has helped Mastodon take off IMO.
kbin PWA through Safari on an iPad Pro here. If anyone here is building an app on iOS, please don’t do that thing where you only do vertical layout - it drives me batty!
I’m using kbin on Firefox on iOS.
I first joined on lemmy in the lemmy.world instance. Ok naman siya sa browser ng PC. But then the iOS apps for lemmy are on beta and have a lot of problems pa (mlem beta is even out of slots). Kbin doesn’t have apps on beta afaik, but the interface is better than lemmy to use on mobile browser apps.
So I’ll probably be maining using my kbin account hahaha.
I did have a bit of trouble back when I first tried out Jerboa (I think downloaded it just after the blackout started), but I eventually got used to it. I guess there's also something about me also using Fedilab which, well, is equally confusing and frustrating at times, lol! Kinda just got used to that kind of thing, I guess?
On a Win11 laptop at home, a Win 10 desktop at work, Jerboa for Lemmy on Android anywhere, and Vivaldi Browser for Android when I need features the current Jerboa app doesn't have yet.
I'm using mostly Kbin but also trying Lemmy using Friendly (Originally for Facebook), cause it allows me to create web apps in the app and keeps all my socials in one place.
I have 2 phones, Huawei y6p, and Sony Xperia C4(sira talaga to ang lala ng ghost touches at battery issues noon but from some reason lahat ng issues niya biglang umayos) I browse lemmy interchangeably from these mobiles, both are debloated.
Sa desktop naman Windows 10 at firefox with uBO ang gamit ko, but formerly Linux user tlga ako nagamit ko na ang Arch, Artix, Kali, Fedora, Linuxmint, napilitan lang ako mag Windows uli kasi nasira ko dati yung pc namin na may importanteng files nung ininstallan ko ng qubes os simula nun pinagbawalan nako mag kalikot kalikot, nakakalungkot lang kasi di ko na magawa yung mga dati kong nagagawa sa linux miss ko na i-customize yung dwm my fav window manager, miss ko na yung yt-dlp, basta marami pakong namimiss na nakalimutan ko na, WINDOWS IS TOO RESTRICTING pero alam ko may open-source na Windows OS nakalimutan ko lang ang pangalan atsaka nung last na ginamit ko yung open-source na windows na yun di siya pde as daily driver kasi maraming bawal sa kaniya, I also formerly used an open-source Chrome OS which is yung Open Fyde OS pero ginamit ko lang yun para mag laro ng alto's odyssey and haven't explored that much
nasira ko dati yung pc namin na may importanteng files nung ininstallan ko ng qubes os simula nun pinagbawalan nako mag kalikot kalikot
Dude, tapang mo ah! Lol! Saka lang ako nag-umpisang-magkakalikot sa PC (and laptop) nung nagkaroon na ako ng PC na ako lang ang gumagamit. Takot din kasi ako na baka may mawalang files eh (tho it's just me and my brother using the PC before).
WINDOWS IS TOO RESTRICTING
I find it weird that other people think Linux is the one that is restricted--well, not that weird considering that a lot of the software people are used to using (Photoshop, MS Word) etc, aren't available in Linux, but IDK, main driving a Linux distro since late 2019 has done nothing but destroy this "Linux is restricting!" view that I also used to share with others.
alam ko may open-source na Windows OS nakalimutan ko lang ang pangalan atsaka nung last na ginamit ko yung open-source na windows
Wth is this unicorn? This is kinda interesting, I wonder what Microsoft thought about this.
All in all, we are both confirming the stereotype I've had coming in, lol! Langya! 🤣
Sa mga magtatanong nga pala kung debloated ba yung Windows 10 ko hindi pala kasi nga natatakot nako mag kalikot kalikot haha pero nagawa ko na siya dati baka kasi pag nasira ko ito yung pag debloat pa ang masisi
paano mag switch ng server sa jeroba? Meron akong dalawang lemmy account pero iba ang server.
Punta ka sa home tab ng Jerboa app, tapos i-click mo yung hamburger menu (upper-left) and then click mo yung parang triangle to the right of your profile picture.
Click mo yung "add account"
Fill in the necessary details and then click 'login'
Verify mo kung tama yung URL ng instance mo ah! Kunwari, kung may account ka sa beehaw, eto yung dapat na nakalagay sa instance text box: beehaw.org
Currently on Firefox in a Windows 11 VM running as a guest on Fedora via KVM. Still waiting for something like Baconreader to show up for Lemmy, but I'll take anything else that works similarly to it.
I'm using my phone to access the kbin.social website. Specifically I'm using Iceraven, which is a fork of Firefox for Android with a lot more add-ons enabled, and some other annoyances fixed.
Some things seem really snappy, other things seem to take a long time to load or even time out. But I assume that's just growing pains and it'll get better in due time.
I also tried using the official Mastodon app, but found that I couldn't really follow communities, only individual users.
[Edit]: trying it out on my computer now (Firefox on a Macbook) - looks about the same, just more content on screen at once. Feels like it's loading faster, but that might just be because it's been a couple of hours.
Mobile: Using Jerboa app on my Android phone, but sometimes there are issues with the app such as the lack of sorting comments. I would switch to the Chrome app to access Lemmy at other times.
First of all, I must state that I only started this thread with the intent of it being a “vibe check” of sorts, and to see whether or not my preconceptions about the userbase here is indeed correct. It has never been intended as a survey of any sort.
Now, with that disclaimer out of the way....
Here is a screenshot of my rudimentary summarisation of the data:
There have been 49 respondents thus far, 32 of them coming from Lemmy and 17 coming from Kbin. There was a time last night when responses from Kbin were pouring in, but overall, a good chunk of the responses came from Lemmy.
That's where the clear-cut results end. A running theme while compiling the data I've got from your responses is how flimsy my attempts at organizing data have been. On the broad, I divided the data between "mobile" and "desktop and laptop", but there are some responses that made me question this categorization. I took notes and put them in their own column (one for ‘mobile’, another for ‘desktop/laptop’ and still another for other notes that might be helpful to me and others who would be crunching through the responses.
With that said, let's move on to the results for the ‘desktop’ side of things. This includes laptops, chromebooks, and virtual machines. There are a handful of others I only listed as ‘unspecified’. If there are any mis-placed, mis-categorized, responses, it's on me.
There are 29 respondents who said they are using some kind of a desktop (or a laptop or others.) And among them, 16 mentioned using Windows, 11 mentioned using a Linux distro, and 4 mentioned using iOS or macOS. This shouldn't be at all a surprise for me. I already expected Linux being over-represented here, but 38% (11 out of 29) is still quite a lot. The surprise came with the number of people mentioning using iOS or macOS, garnering a decent 14% (4 out of 29).
For those who mentioned using a desktop browser, Firefox is mentioned the most, with 15 mentions (plus two of us using LibreWolf, 17). It shouldn't be surprising at all, I suppose, with the overall ethos of Lemmy having a comfortable overlap with what Firefox stands for. Chromium-based browsers have 6 mentions, with two (2) using Edge on Windows. There is one mention of using kbin as a PWA on a chromebook, which I counted as a laptop (and hence, in the desktop category).
Now, onto the mobile side of things. There are 32 respondents who said (or interpreted as saying that) they use a mobile device. 21 of those respondents further said (or again, I took as saying that) they use an Android device. There are six who use an Apple device (counting the mentions of iPhone and iPad). This seems to track well with the corresponding results from the desktop side of things (19%, 6 out of 32 in mobile, as opposed to 14%, 4 out of 29 in desktop).
There are 14 responses saying they use Jerboa, two (2) saying they use Memmy, and one (1) mention of using mlem. Considering that both Memmy and mlem are iOS apps, that's 3 (of 21) using iOS apps to access Lemmy. This still seems to jive well with the other stats so far.
There are 7 responses saying they use some sort of a PWA solution to acess Lemmy/Kbin. There are 9 responses saying they use a mobile browser. If put together, there's 15 responses saying they use the browser (either through a PWA solution, or not) to access Lemmy/kbin.
And I guess that's it? Again, thank you everyone for responding.