StatusNet; a Twitter Alternative

[MyDigitalpoint]

StatusNet is an open source microblogging application, aiming to be an alternative to Twitter.

Its website provides hosting services, similar to WordPress blog hosting services, or you can choose join to servers using this software.

However the best part of it, is that you can install it onto your own server or hosting account. In fact, it comes as a one-click install for those hosting providers offering Softaculous to their costumers.

There are many social networking software applications, but I believe StatusNet is the closest approach to Twitter that one can find on the net, check it out, http://sandbox.appslots.com/statusnet/demo

And this is the download link for those who want to try it and has not access to Softaculous, http://status.net/download

[neverforget98]

I think I might actually try this. But I think it might be a fail. :/

[MyDigitalpoint]

Well, when installing this script onto your server may happen one out of two things or both:

1. That your server or hosting service is not properly set up to run this software.

2. That you can't put together an active community.

Sadly many people stick to either Facebook or Twitter and refuses to join other community websites arguing these two literally "absorb" their whole time.

[neverforget98]

Well, when installing this script onto your server may happen one out of two things or both:

1. That your server or hosting service is not properly set up to run this software.

2. That you can't put together an active community.

Sadly many people stick to either Facebook or Twitter and refuses to join other community websites arguing these two literally "absorb" their whole time.

So, what are the chances of it not being supported?

[HiddenKnowledge]

The following software packages are *required* for this software to
run correctly.

- PHP 5.2.3+. It may be possible to run this software on earlier
versions of PHP, but many of the functions used are only available
in PHP 5.2 or above. 5.2.6 or later is needed for XMPP background
daemons on 64-bit platforms. PHP 5.3.x should work correctly in this
release, but problems with some plugins are possible.
- MySQL 5.x. The StatusNet database is stored, by default, in a MySQL
server. It has been primarily tested on 5.x servers, although it may
be possible to install on earlier (or later!) versions. The server
*must* support the MyISAM storage engine -- the default for most
MySQL servers -- *and* the InnoDB storage engine.
- A Web server. Preferably, you should have Apache 2.2.x with the
mod_rewrite extension installed and enabled.

Your PHP installation must include the following PHP extensions:

- Curl. This is for fetching files by HTTP.
- XMLWriter. This is for formatting XML and HTML output.
- MySQL. For accessing the database.
- GD. For scaling down avatar images.
- mbstring. For handling Unicode (UTF-8) encoded strings.

source: https://gitorious.org/statusnet/mainline...ter/README

Doesn't seem like it will be unsupported by many webhosts, I think.

[MyDigitalpoint]

Installation will probably run smoothly in a paid hosting service, but limitations may arise for free hosting account holders depending on their provider.

Some services leave CURL disabled, in example, and don't allow a custom php.ini to modify the setting.