@prologic@twtxt.net so, where is the irc.mills.io leaf, connecting to Libera? 🤭

The tiny avatars, as expected (because they showed normal to you too @prologic@twtxt.net), do not show under macOS’s Safari, but they do show on iOS’s Safari. It truly is a puzzle.

@prologic@twtxt.net this was for IRC, but pong! 🏓

it should be
# 2025-04-13T11:02:12+02:00 !<dm-echo https://dm-echo.andros.dev/twtxt.txt> U2FsdGVkX1+QmwBNmk9Yu9jvazVRFPS2TGJRGle/BDDzFult6zCtxNhJrV0g+sx0EIKbjL2a9QpCT5C0Z2qWvw==

my main itch with the DMs extensions is that these messages are intended to be private, not public information. That’s why other extensions make sense, but DMs are another kind of feature.
TwiXter, Mastodon, FB and some other services usually hide the DMs in another section, so they are not mixed with the public timeline.

I find the DM topic interesting, I even made an indie experiment for a centralized messaging system here https://github.com/eapl-gemugami/owl.
Although, as I’ve said a few times here, I’m not particularly interested in supporting it on microblogging, as I don’t use it that much. In the rare case I’ve used them, I don’t have to manage public and private keys, and finally none of my acquaintances use encrypted email.
Nothing personal against anyone, and although I like to debate and even fight, it’s not the case here. This proposal is the only one allowing DMs on twtxt, and if the community wants it, I’ll support it, with my personal input, of course.

A good approach I could find with a good compromise between compatibility with current clients and keeping these messages private is ‘hiding’ the DMs in comments. For example:
# 2025-04-13T11:02:12+02:00 !<dm-echo https://dm-echo.andros.dev/twtxt.txt> U2FsdGVkX1+QmwBNmk9Yu9jvazVRFPS2TGJRGle/BDDzFult6zCtxNhJrV0g+sx0EIKbjL2a9QpCT5C0Z2qWvw==

@bender@twtxt.net ping! 🏓

@hacker-news@feeds.twtxt.net I like this 👌

@andros@twtxt.andros.dev Nice! 😊

It’s ready 🥳! https://dm-echo.andros.dev/
An example: https://dm-echo.andros.dev/generate/?url=https://twtxt.andros.dev/
#twtxt

@bender@twtxt.net Close enough 🤣

@prologic@twtxt.net earliest I have of you:

@andros@twtxt.andros.dev No worries! 😉

@bender@twtxt.net Sadly my earlier Twt back in ~2020 is now gone from at least this pod’s cache 🤣 – It might still exist in other pods though? 🤔 It does! https://txt.sour.is/twt/o6dsrga

My welcome message, and first recorded mention (that I could find):

@andros@twtxt.andros.dev I don’t see any “fighting” here. This is just good experimentation. Unfortunately there hasn’t really been enough time or effort by other “client authors” yet, me especially as I’ve been super busy with ya’ know my “day job” that pays the bills and refactoring yarnd to use a new and shiny and much better SqliteCache 🤣 – I certainly don’t think your efforts are wasted at all. I would however like @doesnm.p.psf.lt@doesnm.p.psf.lt encourage you to look at the work we’ve done as a community (which was also driven out of the Yarn.social / Twtxt community years back).

@andros@twtxt.andros.dev how often do you send a private message on the Fediverse? How often do you send PGP/SMIME encrypted emails? Are there other tools that are more suitable for the task? If implementing direct/private messages on twtxt scratches an itch (you know, that hobbyist itch we all get from time to time), then don’t give up so easily. Worse comes to worse, and your feed becomes too noisy, people can simply unfollow/mute.

I really don’t care about direct messages here, but I might be on that bottom 1%!

@andros@twtxt.andros.dev i think salty.im integration would be great but i still don’t know how it possible

@aelaraji@aelaraji.com Congratulations!!! Happy birtwt! 🥳

@prologic@twtxt.net @bender@twtxt.net @eapl.me@eapl.me I think opening another file is a bad idea because it adds complexity to the clients, breaks the single feed and I think keeping legacy clients will be more complex to add new features in the future. A modern approach is important.
I’ll be honest, I’m a bit tired of the fight around the direct message. Perhaps, we can remove it as an extension and use the alternative @prologic@twtxt.net . My suggestion apparently doesn’t like to the community. I have no problem with remove it.

@prologic@twtxt.net I don’t understand. I checked the feed, the twtxt file, and there are no duplicate links. I will follow the next articles 👁️👁️‍. Thank you!

@eldersnake@we.loveprivacy.club No worries! 👌

@aelaraji@aelaraji.com tempus fugit when you are having fun! Happy 1st Twtxtversary!

@bender@twtxt.net YES PLEASE!

Happy 1st Twtxt~iversary to me … I guess. It feels like it was 5 years since my first twt 😅

@prologic@twtxt.net good top of the morning to ya! It is still yesterday here. 🤪

I think that having a dm-only.txt, twtxt-dm.txt or any other name for an alternative file is the most sensible approach. The name could be specified in the metadata.

@andros@twtxt.andros.dev Ahh I see 👌

@prologic@twtxt.net Yes, it is a security hole. All dm-echo messages are readable. I intend it to be a debugging tool. Maybe I can include a warning message. If many of you see that it is a serious problem, I can remove the links.

@andros@twtxt.andros.dev maybe create a separate, completely distinct feed for DM? That way, clients do not need to do anything, only those wanted to “talk in private” follow themselves, using their very special dm-only.txt feeds. 😂

@bender@twtxt.net … of course … 😂

@movq@www.uninformativ.de hmmm, pigeon soup… 🤤😂

@movq@www.uninformativ.de For sure, an app for that is very silly. I’ve just seen signs in participating shops in my town. That’s how I know of this concept.

@lyse@lyse.isobeef.org My goodness, a toilet app. Was es nich’ alles gibt. 🥴

@andros@twtxt.andros.dev your feed is spitting out dupes? 🧐

@andros@twtxt.andros.dev I honestly think IRC is better anyway 🤣

@movq@www.uninformativ.de You just have to dress yourself up in a dog custume to pee on a tree, fence post or house wall. :-P

Depending on the hour, town halls and also graveyards are typically good options for public toilets. But yeah, you have to find them first. And then, there might be the “Nette Toilette”: https://www.die-nette-toilette.de/ (Unfortunately, you can’t see on the website which towns and cities participate in that concept. :-()

@movq@www.uninformativ.de Nice photo! It is beautiful.

@movq@www.uninformativ.de Heck yeah, that’s an awesome shot!

@prologic@twtxt.net I wouldn’t got that far, but yeah 😂

@klaxzy@klaxzy.net … that’s too much.

@movq@www.uninformativ.de Damn that’s a sexy pidgeon 🤣

@bender@twtxt.net Haha 😆

@prologic@twtxt.net hurrah! 🥳🥳🥳

@bender@twtxt.net I think mentions are fixed 🤣

Oh hello @yarn_police@twtxt.net 🚨

@doesnm.p.psf.lt@doesnm.p.psf.lt Why would you want that lol 😂

@abucci@anthony.buc.ciyarn_police@twtxt.net! Help!

@abucci@anthony.buc.cidoesnm.p.psf.lt@doesnm.p.psf.lt yes, I was aware of that.

@bender@twtxt.net IRC man 🤣

@eapl.me@eapl.me When it is up and running, I promise to add it to the specification. I will also include some corrections.
The nature of twtxt does not allow us to selectively hide clients. It’s a problem not with DM, but with any extension.
@prologic@twtxt.net Yes, it is a security hole. All dm-echo messages are readable. I intend it to be a debugging tool. Maybe I can include a warning message. If many of you see that it is a serious problem, I can remove the links.
@xuu@txt.sour.is It’s already much better than Mastodon :P . Maybe we can remove the sender and receiver references with an intermediary register.

@bender@twtxt.net @lyse@lyse.isobeef.org ejabberd has [matrix] integration via mod_matrix_gw