A Cheap and Lazy way to create Mastodon Bots using… BlueSky?!
By @edent
· 5 comments · 300 words
With the sad news that BotsIn.Space is closing down, I needed to find a new way to host some of my automated accounts. I didn't want to spin up an entirely new instance, or self-host anything. So here's what I ended up doing.
RSS → BlueSky → Bridgy → Mastodon
RSS to BlueSky
I set up an account on BlueSky. It's like a Twitter alternative, but non-federated.
Using nesges's PHP script I was able to take an existing RSS feed and have it post to my BlueSky account.
BlueSky to Bridgy
Brid.gy is an excellent service which bridges otherwise-incompatible social networks. As per the instructions, I had my BlueSky account follow @ap.brid.gy .
A few moments later, a new Fediverse account appeared: @openbenches.org@bsky.brid.gy
Now any Mastodon / ActivityPub user can follow that account.
Hurrah!
Is this a long-term solution?
No. BSky has already taken a bunch of investment money from BlockChain weirdos - so will probably go to shit sooner or later. Brid.gy is excellent - but it is a free service and, like BotsIn.space, at risk of its owner deciding to shut it down. There's also no way to move existing followers to a new account.
The long-term solution is to self-host. Possibly using my ActivityPub Server in a single PHP file or something similarly lightweight.
We must resist the urge to centralise.
Anything not under your direct control is likely to act against your interests in the long term. I wish it weren't so; but history seems to prove it.
@Edent Ryan just blogged about Bridgy Fed's long-term view yesterday, if that's relevant to your considerations: https://snarfed.org/2024-11-01_53932
I'm generally a fan of the self-hosting landscape, especially if it's as simple as your server implementation. But spiritual successors to botsin.space are also already popping up for those who don't want to touch any server administration.
Possible futures for Bridgy Fed
Could you use Bridgy Fed directly from your website(s) using a combination of RSS and microformats? https://fed.brid.gy/docs#web-get-started
Also worth nothing that Ryan is exploring the future of Bridgy Fed. See here: https://snarfed.org/2024-11-01_53932
oh no botsin.space is closing down!
@Edent If you're looking for a selfhosted solution I'd suggest to have a look at Hubzilla. It features to scrape RSS feeds and turning them into posts by dedicated accounts/channels (ActivityPub and other relevant protocols). Runs on a LAMP stack.
I migrated mine from botsin.space to mastodon.social. Yes, not a self-hosted instance, but large and well supported.
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