Exploring the FOSS alternative to Twitter
Free and Social
© Lead Image © lightwise, 123RF.com
GNU social is a free and open source microblogging platform similar to Twitter. You can join one of the public federated servers or set up your own in minutes.
In July of this year, Milo Yiannopoulos was banned from Twitter permanently as the website cracked down on several alleged incidents of racial abuse against Ghostbusters actor Leslie Jones [1]. The decision has sparked a wider discussion about freedom of expression online, and Twitter hasn't helped the situation by applying its own policies inconsistently at times. For example, Los Angeles Times journalist Fredrik deBoer pointed out that members of the Somali Al-Shabab militia have seemingly been permitted to discuss acts of violence openly despite being flagged by users [2].
The debate of freedom of expression versus toleration of hate speech will not be solved here. However, it's apparent that as long as people use public social networks like Twitter, they are not in control of their data. A social network giant can censor your messages or even sell your public tweets to data miners, as Twitter is reported to have done by The Guardian [3].
Enter the GNU
GNU social is quite simply a decentralized microblogging platform (Figure 1). It can be installed on a private server and can boast that it is both sponsored by and used by the Free Software Foundation [4].
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Reaches EOL
Linux kernel 6.16 has reached its end of life, which means you'll need to upgrade to the next stable release, Linux kernel 6.17.
-
Amazon Ditches Android for a Linux-Based OS
Amazon has migrated from Android to the Linux-based Vega OS for its Fire TV.
-
Cairo Dock 3.6 Now Available for More Compositors
If you're a fan of third-party desktop docks, then the latest release of Cairo Dock with Wayland support is for you.
-
System76 Unleashes Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta
System76's first beta of Pop!_OS 24.04 is an impressive feat.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.