# I am the Watcher. I am your guide through this vast new twtiverse.
# 
# Usage:
#     https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/users              View list of users and latest twt date.
#     https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/twt                View all twts.
#     https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/mentions?uri=:uri  View all mentions for uri.
#     https://watcher.sour.is/api/plain/conv/:hash         View all twts for a conversation subject.
# 
# Options:
#     uri     Filter to show a specific users twts.
#     offset  Start index for quey.
#     limit   Count of items to return (going back in time).
# 
# twt range = 1 13
# self = https://watcher.sour.is/conv/bkydgsq
@brasshopper Kind of interesting of the 20-something new users I had join my pod about 10 days ago due to a trending post that hit hacknews and lobsters by @mckinley you are the only one active 😁
@brasshopper Kind of interesting of the 20-something new users I had join my pod about 10 days ago due to a trending post that hit hacknews and lobsters by @mckinley you are the only one active 😁
@mckinley @prologic @brasshopper I believe he was here before.
@mckinley @prologic @brasshopper I believe he was here before.
@adi @prologic @mckinley I was here before the hacker news influx. I first heard about this from a scuttlebutt user (don’t remember who). They linked to their twtxt.txt from their profile and down the rabbithole I went.
@mckinley @adi @prologic I think one thing that keeps bringing me back is the fact that this is such a simple protocol/format. I feel like it could easily capture the imaginations of many devs. I think one of the problems with other decentralized/distributed social networks is that they are built on tech that might seem impenetrable to your average dev.
@adi @brasshopper @mckinley Oh? 😳 My mistake then! 😂
@adi @brasshopper @mckinley Oh? 😳 My mistake then! 😂
@brasshopper @mckinley @prologic How's Scuttlebutt?
@brasshopper @mckinley @prologic How's Scuttlebutt?
@adi @prologic @mckinley scuttlebutt is kinda neat in that it really embraces the idea that people own their data. The source of truth for your posts is your local computer but you don’t have to be online for other people to see your posts. It’s also got PMs and some nice security features.
@adi @prologic @mckinley However, scuttlebutt uses a ton of crypto in its protocols and formats which means a scuttlebutt client is not a trivial thing. Its specific formats also unnecessarily complicate making a robust implementation. In addition, you sort of rehost all of your friend’s feeds on your local machine which can get expensive and be can be an onboarding barrier.
@mckinley @brasshopper @adi @prologic I completely agree. I loved the whole idea/concept of scuttlebutt, and the fact that you don't even need to be connected to the internet to make it work.

But the client is slow and bloated. Syncing would frequently make my laptop fans go mad.

I looked into implementing a lightweight client for it, but the rabbit hole was too deep when reading about the protocol and how everything was stitched together.