[DOCS][User] Elaborate on what is GNU social and IndieWeb

2021-08-23 01:07:43 +01:00 · 2021-08-23 01:07:43 +01:00 · 8e45637277
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--- a/docs/user/src/SUMMARY.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/SUMMARY.md
@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 # Summary
 - [What is GNU social](./what_is.md)
 - [The IndieWeb](./indieweb.md)
 - [Timelines](./timelines.md)
 - [Getting Started]()
  - [Choosing an instance](./getting_started/choosing_an_instance.md)
  - [Registering an account](./getting_started/register.md)
@ -9,6 +11,6 @@
  - [Hashtags and Mentions](./getting_started/hashtags_and_mentions.md)
  - [Groups](./getting_started/groups.md)
  - [Referring to your account](./getting_started/nickname_and_handle.md)
- [Exploring the free network](./the_free_network.md)
+  - [Subscribe to someone](./indieweb/subscribe.md)
- [More on Groups](./groups.md)
+- [Groups](./groups.md)
- [More on Tags](./tags.md)
+- [Tags](./tags.md)
--- a/docs/user/src/backups.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/backups.md
@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
 # Backups
 There is no built-in system for doing backups in GNU social. You can make
 backups of a working StatusNet system by backing up the database and
 the Web directory. To backup the database use mysqldump <https://mariadb.com/kb/en/mariadb/mysqldump/>
 and to backup the Web directory, try tar.
--- a/docs/user/src/i18n.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/i18n.md
@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
 ### Internationalization and localization
 For info on helping with translations, see the platform currently in use
 for translations: https://www.transifex.com/projects/p/gnu-social/
 Translations use the gettext system <http://www.gnu.org/software/gettext/>.
 If you for some reason do not wish to sign up to the Transifex service,
 you can review the files in the "locale/" sub-directory of GNU social.
 Each plugin also has its own translation files.
 To get your own site to use all the translated languages, and you are
 tracking the git repo, you will need to install at least 'gettext' on
 your system and then run:
    $ make translations
--- a/docs/user/src/indieweb.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/indieweb.md
@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
 # IndieWeb
 The [World Wide Web was born open](https://cerncourier.com/a/cerns-ultimate-act-of-openness/)
 (every base software was made public domain by CERN).
 Then social media developed making it easier to non-technical people
 to have a part on the internet.
 Before Web 2.0 there was television and journals as information sources;
 Afterwards, people were able to create their own information as well as
 express their opinions.
 The internet started to close at the same rate as ads technology developed.
 To have a presence online has a cost. When it becomes free to you to have your
 presence, then you must be the product.
 Ad-tech plays a risk to society with its demands for personal information,
 and it is manipulative by promoting disinformation and extremism.
 The centralised social media plays privacy issues and has put the power of
 moderation in a few big corporations which have been censoring information and
 pushing to extremes.
 The IndieWeb allows diversity, doesn't build any monopoly, and welcomes innovation.
 Each instance has its own moderation policy and that's the extent of its power.
 As with email, you can interact with any server running a free network compatible software.
 And as with email, that server may have blocked you or not. Your moderation (if you are a
 system administrator) is limited to your own instance and instances who all have set you as
 a remote moderation. Every server is a different community who shares a common trust in their
 administrator and supports him to main the server active. Groups are federated, and therefore,
 you can interact with the people from other communities regarding common interests.
 Please note that how you see a certain group is affected by your instance's moderation.
 If you happen to be in an instance with a too severe moderation, you may want to leave it
 or set your own, otherwise you may be getting yourself inside a **filter bubble**. And that
 defeats part of the reason why it is worth joining the IndieWeb.
 Filter bubbles is when you're only able to see information and opinion that are in conformity
 with what you believe or reinforce your own beliefs due to algorithms designed to make your
 experience more personalised. These tend to be used on commercial social media. It's important
 to note and avoid it. This technology leads to unhealthy extremes because of the absent
 opposition and debate of ideas.
--- a/docs/user/src/indieweb/subscribe.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/indieweb/subscribe.md
--- a/docs/user/src/install/bin-configure.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/install/bin-configure.md
@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
 TODO more detail
 Run the `bin/configure` script and enter the information as asked.
 This will generate all the required `.env` files and (optionally) a
 `docker-compose.yaml` file.
--- a/docs/user/src/install/dns.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/install/dns.md
@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
 ### Configuring DNS
 In order for your GNU social node to be accessible with your chosen
 hostname, you can create an `A` or `AAAA` DNS record, with your
 server's fixed IP v4 or v6 respectively in your DNS provider
 (normally, your domain registrar); the `A` record doesn't need to be
 at the root of your domain, meaning it's name can be a subdomain. For
 dynamic IPs, create a `CNAME` record pointing to the hostname you
 created with your chosen Dynamic DNS host. A `CNAME` cannot normally be created
 for a domain root, so you must use a subdomain. Note that some DNS
 providers provide 'CNAME flattening', in which case you can use your
 root domain.
--- a/docs/user/src/install/docker_shell.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/install/docker_shell.md
@ -1,63 +0,0 @@
 # Docker Installation
 ## Installation with Docker
 This installation method requires
 [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/) and [Docker
 Compose](https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/). Use
 `bin/configure` and pick `docker`, which enables all needed services
 as containers, or `mixed` which lets you pick which services you'd
 like to create containers for. This way you can use services in the
 host machine, which may be useful if your host already has a
 webserver, for instance.
 If you elect to not use some service containers, check [Instal without
 Docker with shell access](./install/no_docker_shell.md) for details on
 the configuration of each service.
 Please remember that for the installation `configure` script to use docker,
 it is necessary that the executing user is in the docker group.
 ## Prerequisites
 In order to host your GNU social instance, you'll need a domain:
 - DNS domain
 - `docker`
 - `docker-compose` 
 If you don't have a fixed public IP, for local hosting or development,
 or if you're behind a NAT, use a dynamic DNS solutions. Search for
 `GnuDIP host` or `dynamic dns`. To use GnuDIP, [clone](https://notabug.org/someonewithpc/gnudip.git), then inspect and run
 the `./install.sh` script. This allows you to have a domain that
 dynamically points to your IP address.
 If you want to install locally for development or experimenting purposes,
 you can use `localhost` as the `root domain` while configuring the installation.
 If you then specify a subdomain, don't forget to add it in the `/etc/hosts` file.
 {{#include dns.md}}
 {{#include tls.md}}
 {{#include no_tls.md}}
 ## Configuration
 {{#include bin-configure.md}}
 ## Permissions
 The PHP docker container needs the GNU social folder to be owned by
 the group 82 (www-data).
 ## Running
 If you elected to use all or some containers, run `docker-compose up`
 from the root of the project (the folder where the `.git` folder is).
 In this form, the application can be stopped by pressing `C-c` (`^C`,
 `CTRL + C`); pressing it again will force the containers to stop
 immediately. However, this form will show you all logs, but in most
 cases, you won't want to see those all the time. For that, run
 `docker-compose up -d` from the same directory; The application can
 then be stopped with `docker-compose down`.
--- a/docs/user/src/install/no_docker_shell.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/install/no_docker_shell.md
@ -1,197 +0,0 @@
 # No Docker and shell installation
 ## Prerequisites
 The following software packages are *required* for this software to
 run correctly.
 - PHP 8.0+
 - Postgres 10+/MariaDB 10.2+
 - Web server
 - Mail server
 Apache, lighttpd and nginx will all work. CGI mode is recommended and
 also some variant of 'suexec' (or a properly setup php-fpm pool)
 NOTE: mod_rewrite or its equivalent is extremely useful.
 The mail server is used for sending notifications and password resets,
 among other things.
 ### PHP modules
 Your PHP installation must include the following PHP extensions for a
 functional setup of GNU social:
 - bcmath     Arbitrary Precision Mathematics
 - ctype      Locale support
 - curl       Fetching files by HTTP.
 - exif       Exchangeable image information.
 - gd         Image manipulation (scaling).
 - gmp        For Salmon signatures (part of OStatus)
 - iconv      Locale support
 - intl       Internationalization support (transliteration et al).
 - json       For WebFinger lookups and more.
 - mbstring   String manipulation
 - mysql      The native driver for MariaDB connections.
 - opcache    Improved PHP performance by precompilation
 - openssl    (compiled in for Debian, enabled manually in Arch Linux)
 - pcre       Perl Compatible Regular Expression
 - readline   For interactive scripts
 - Session    User sessions
 - SimpleXML  XML parser
 - Tokenizer  Reflection and annotations
 NOTE: Some distros require manual enabling in the relevant php.ini for
 some modules, even if they're included in the main PHP package.
 #### Better performance
 For some functionality, you will also need the following extensions:
 - opcache       Improves performance a _lot_. Included in PHP, must be
                 enabled manually in php.ini for most distributions. Find
                 and set at least:  opcache.enable=1
 - mailparse     Efficient parsing of email requires this extension.
                 Submission by email or SMS-over-email uses this.
 - sphinx        A client for the sphinx server, an alternative to MySQL
                 or Postgresql fulltext search. You will also need a
                 Sphinx server to serve the search queries.
 - gettext       For multiple languages. Default on many PHP installs;
                 will be emulated if not present.
 - exif          For thumbnails to be properly oriented.
 You may also experience better performance from your site if you configure
 a PHP cache/accelerator. Most distributions come with "opcache" support.
 Enable it in your php.ini where it is documented together with its settings.
 {{#include dns.md}}
 {{#include tls.md}}
 {{#include no_tls.md}}
 ### Getting it up and running
 Installing the basic GNU Social web component is relatively easy,
 especially if you've previously installed PHP packages.
 1. Download and unpack the release tarball or clone the `git` repository on
    your Web server. Usually a command like this will work:
    ```
    tar zxf gnusocial-*.tar.gz
    ```
   ...which will make a `gnusocial-x.y.z` directory in your current directory.
   (If you don't have shell access on your Web server, you may have to unpack
   the tarball on your local computer and FTP the files to the server. Checkout
   [Instal without Docker with only web access](./install/no_docker_web.md))
 2. Move the tarball to a directory of your choosing in your Web root
    directory. Usually something like this will work:
    ```
    mv gnusocial-x.y.z /var/www/gnusocial
    ```
    This will often make your GNU social instance available in the gnusocial
    path of your server, like "http://example.net/gnusocial". "social" or
    "blog" might also be good path names. If you know how to configure
    virtual hosts on your web server, you can try setting up
    "http://social.example.net/" or the like.
    You need "rewrite" support on your webserver. This is used for "Fancy URL"
    support, which you can read more about further down in this
    document.
 3. Make your target directory writeable by the Web server, please note however
    that 'a+w' will give _all_ users write access and securing the webserver is
    not within the scope of this document, but reading more on this subject is
    recommended.
    ```
    chmod a+w /var/www/gnusocial/
    ```
    On some systems, this will work as a more secure alternative:
    ```
    chgrp www-data /var/www/gnusocial/
    chmod g+w /var/www/gnusocial/
    ```
    If your Web server runs as another user besides "www-data", try
    that user's default group instead. As a last resort, you can create
    a new group like "gnusocial" and add the Web server's user to the group.
 4. Create a database to hold your site data. Something like this
    should work (you will be prompted for your database password):
    ```
    mysqladmin -u "root" -p create social
    ```
    Note that GNU social should have its own database; you should not share
    the database with another program. You can name it whatever you want,
    though.
    (If you don't have shell access to your server, you may need to use
    a tool like phpMyAdmin to create a database. Check your hosting
    service's documentation for how to create a new database.)
 5. Create a new database account that GNU social will use to access the
    database. If you have shell access, this will probably work from the
    MariaDB/PostgreSQL shell:
        GRANT ALL on social.*
        TO 'social'@'localhost'
        IDENTIFIED BY 'agoodpassword';
    You should change the user identifier 'social' and 'agoodpassword'
    to your preferred new database username and password. You may want to
    test logging in to MariaDB/PostgreSQL as this new user.
 6. Run `bin/configure`
 {{#include bin-configure.md}}
 7. You should now be able to navigate to your social site's main directory
    and see the "Public Timeline", which will probably be empty. You can
    now register new user, post some notices, edit your profile, etc.
 ### Fancy URLs
 By default, GNU social will use URLs that include the main PHP program's
 name in them. For example, a user's home profile might be found at either
 of these URLS depending on the webserver's configuration and capabilities:
    https://social.example.net/index.php/fred
    https://social.example.net/index.php?p=fred
 It's possible to configure the software to use fancy URLs so it looks like
 this instead:
    https://social.example.net/fred
 These "fancy URLs" are more readable and memorable for users. To use
 fancy URLs, you must either have Apache 2.x with .htaccess enabled and
 mod_rewrite enabled, -OR- know how to configure "url redirection" in
 your server (like lighttpd or nginx).
 TODO Add webserver sample configs
 1. See the instructions for each respective webserver software
 - For Apache, inspect the `docs/webserver/htaccess.sample` file and save it as
   `.htaccess` after making any necessary modifications. Our sample
   file is well commented.
 - For lighttpd, inspect the `docs/webserver/lighttpd.conf.example` file and apply the
   appropriate changes in your virtualhost configuration for lighttpd.
 - For nginx, inspect the `docs/webserver/nginx.conf.sample` file and apply the appropriate
   changes.
 - For other webservers, we gladly accept contributions of
   server configuration examples.
 2. Ensure your webserver is properly configured and has its settings
 applied (remember to reload/restart it)
--- a/docs/user/src/install/no_tls.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/install/no_tls.md
@ -1,7 +0,0 @@
 ## Without TLS/SSL
 This is not recommended unless you know what you're doing. One
 exception is if you want your node to be used with the Tor network.
 Pick 'mixed' and uncheck the `certbot` service
 to disable it, or `external`, if not using docker.
--- a/docs/user/src/install/tls.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/install/tls.md
@ -1,33 +0,0 @@
 ## Configuring TLS/SSL
 You should configure a valid certificate and use TLS/SSL in most cases,
 one exception being wanting to use the Tor network.
 The `bin/configure` script is capable of setting this up for you if you use a
 Docker container. Otherwise, using [certbot](https://certbot.eff.org/) and
 [Let's Encrypt](https://letsencrypt.org/) is recommended
 There are multiple approaches to achieve this, among which are using
 your own (non-self) signed certificate, or using a proxy service
 capable of either proxying an HTTP connection to HTTPS (not
 recommended) or an HTTPS connection to HTTPS. For this approach,
 follow the instructions of your proxy service provider, but generally
 you'll use a self signed certificate, which the configuration script
 can generate.
 TODO Mail server configuration (links below)
 GNU social can be configured to send emails for various reasons. See
 [mail server configuration](). You'll need a certificate for your web
 domain and your mail domain, which may or may not be the same (if you
 use the same hostname for both, or a certificate valid for both).
 TODO improve external certificate handling
 If you prefer to not use Let's Encrypt, or the docker container, pick
 `mixed` and uncheck the `certbot` service or pick `external`.
 Place your certificate in the folder
 `docker/certbot/.files/live/$HOSTNAME/`, where `$HOSTNAME` is the name
 where you want to host your node, such as `social.yourdomain`.
 Remember you also need a certificate for your mail server.
--- a/docs/user/src/installation.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/installation.md
@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
 # Installation
 GNU social is intended to be easily installable in both a shared hosting environment or a private
 host with shell access, or just with PHP execution.
 If you need help, contact us on IRC on the `#social` room in freenode or XMPP at [xmpp:gnusocial@conference.bka.li](xmpp:gnusocial@conference.bka.li)
 The recommended way of installing is to use [Docker](https://www.docker.com/), as this simplifies
 configuration. GNU social is comprised of a variety of different services, such as a webserver, a
 PHP execution environment, a database, etc. You may choose to use all, some, or none of these
 services in Docker containers.
 Pick one of the following installation methods:
 - [Instal with Docker with shell access](./install/docker_shell.md)
 - [Instal without Docker with shell access](./install/no_docker_shell.md)
 - [Instal with Docker with web access](./install/docker_web.md) (requires access to PHP's `system()`, which may be disabled)
 - [Instal without Docker with only web access](./install/no_docker_web.md)
 Installation with Docker without shell access, such as in some shared hosting environments is
 possible by configuring social locally and copying the files over, however this is not a supported
 configuration.
--- a/docs/user/src/private.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/private.md
@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
 ### Private
 A GNU social node can be configured as "private", which means it will not
 federate with other nodes in the network. It is not a recommended method
 of using GNU social and we cannot at the current state of development
 guarantee that there are no leaks (what a public network sees as features,
 private sites will likely see as bugs).
 Private nodes are however an easy way to easily setup collaboration and
 image sharing within a workgroup or a smaller community where federation
 is not a desired feature. Also, it is possible to change this setting and
 instantly gain full federation features.
 Access to file attachments can also be restricted to logged-in users only:
 1. Add a directory outside the web root where your file uploads will be
   stored. Use this command as an initial guideline to create it:
       mkdir /var/www/gnusocial-files
 2. Make the file uploads directory writeable by the web server. An
   insecure way to do this is (to do it properly, read up on UNIX file
   permissions and configure your webserver accordingly):
       chmod a+x /var/www/gnusocial-files
 3. Tell GNU social to use this directory for file uploads. Add a line
   like this to your config.php:
       $config['attachments']['dir'] = '/var/www/gnusocial-files';
--- a/docs/user/src/queue.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/queue.md
@ -1,102 +0,0 @@
 ## Queues and daemons
 Some activities that GNU social needs to do, like broadcasting with OStatus or
 ActivityPub, SMS, XMPP messages and TwitterBridge operations, can be 'queued'
 and done by off-line bots instead.
 Run the queue handler with:
 ```sh
 php bin/console messenger:consume async --limit=10 --memory-limit=128M --time-limit=3600
 ```
 GNU social uses Symfony, therefore the [documentation on
 queues](https://symfony.com/doc/current/messenger.html#deploying-to-production)
 might be useful.
 TODO queuing
 #### OpportunisticQM plugin
 This plugin is enabled by default. It tries its best to do background
 jobs during regular HTTP requests, like API or HTML pages calls.
 Since queueing system is enabled by default, notices to be broadcasted
 will be stored, by default, into DB (table queue_item).
 Whenever it has time, OpportunisticQM will try to handle some of them.
 This is a good solution whether you:
 * have no access to command line (shared hosting)
 * do not want to deal with long-running PHP processes
 * run a low traffic GNU social instance
 In other case, you really should consider enabling the queuedaemon for
 performance reasons. Background daemons are necessary anyway if you wish
 to use the Instant Messaging features such as communicating via XMPP.
 #### Queue deamon
 It's recommended you use the deamon, you must be able to run
 long-running offline processes, either on your main Web server or on
 another server you control. (Your other server will still need all the
 above prerequisites, with the exception of Apache.) Installing on a
 separate server is probably a good idea for high-volume sites.
 1. You'll need the "CLI" (command-line interface) version of PHP
   installed on whatever server you use.
   Modern PHP versions in some operating systems have disabled functions
   related to forking, which is required for daemons to operate. To make
   this work, make sure that your php-cli config (/etc/php5/cli/php.ini)
   does NOT have these functions listed under 'disable_functions':
       * pcntl_fork, pcntl_wait, pcntl_wifexited, pcntl_wexitstatus,
         pcntl_wifsignaled, pcntl_wtermsig
   Other recommended settings for optimal performance are:
       * mysqli.allow_persistent = On
       * mysqli.reconnect = On
 2. If you're using a separate server for queues, install StatusNet
   somewhere on the server. You don't need to worry about the
   .htaccess file, but make sure that your config.php file is close
   to, or identical to, your Web server's version.
 3. In your config.php files (on the server where you run the queue
    daemon), set the following variable:
       $config['queue']['daemon'] = true;
   You may also want to look at the 'Queues and Daemons' section in
   this file for more background processing options.
 4. On the queues server, run the command scripts/startdaemons.sh.
 This will run the queue handlers:
 * queuedaemon.php - polls for queued items for inbox processing and
  pushing out to OStatus, SMS, XMPP, etc.
 * imdaemon.php - if an IM plugin is enabled (like XMPP)
 * other daemons, like TwitterBridge ones, that you may have enabled
 These daemons will automatically restart in most cases of failure
 including memory leaks (if a memory_limit is set), but may still die
 or behave oddly if they lose connections to the XMPP or queue servers.
 It may be a good idea to use a daemon-monitoring service, like 'monit',
 to check their status and keep them running.
 All the daemons write their process IDs (pids) to /var/run/ by
 default. This can be useful for starting, stopping, and monitoring the
 daemons. If you are running multiple sites on the same machine, it will
 be necessary to avoid collisions of these PID files by setting a site-
 specific directory in config.php:
       $config['daemon']['piddir'] = __DIR__ . '/../run/';
 It is also possible to use a STOMP server instead of our kind of hacky
 home-grown DB-based queue solution. This is strongly recommended for
 best response time, especially when using XMPP.
--- a/docs/user/src/sms.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/sms.md
@ -1,47 +0,0 @@
 ### SMS
 StatusNet supports a cheap-and-dirty system for sending update messages
 to mobile phones and for receiving updates from the mobile. Instead of
 sending through the SMS network itself, which is costly and requires
 buy-in from the wireless carriers, it simply piggybacks on the email
 gateways that many carriers provide to their customers. So, SMS
 configuration is essentially email configuration.
 Each user sends to a made-up email address, which they keep a secret.
 Incoming email that is "From" the user's SMS email address, and "To"
 the users' secret email address on the site's domain, will be
 converted to a notice and stored in the DB.
 For this to work, there *must* be a domain or sub-domain for which all
 (or most) incoming email can pass through the incoming mail filter.
 1. Run the SQL script carrier.sql in your StatusNet database. This will
   usually work:
       mysql -u "statusnetuser" --password="statusnetpassword" statusnet < db/carrier.sql
   This will populate your database with a list of wireless carriers
   that support email SMS gateways.
 2. Make sure the maildaemon.php file is executable:
       chmod +x scripts/maildaemon.php
   Note that "daemon" is kind of a misnomer here; the script is more
   of a filter than a daemon.
 2. Edit /etc/aliases on your mail server and add the following line:
       *: /path/to/statusnet/scripts/maildaemon.php
 3. Run whatever code you need to to update your aliases database. For
   many mail servers (Postfix, Exim, Sendmail), this should work:
       newaliases
   You may need to restart your mail server for the new database to
   take effect.
 4. Set the following in your config.php file:
       $config['mail']['domain'] = 'yourdomain.example.net';
--- a/docs/user/src/theme.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/theme.md
@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
 # Themes
 As of right now, your ability change the theme is limited to CSS
 stylesheets and some image files; you can't change the HTML output,
 like adding or removing menu items, without the help of a plugin.
 You can choose a theme using the $config['site']['theme'] element in
 the config.php file. See below for details.
 You can add your own theme by making a sub-directory of the 'theme'
 subdirectory with the name of your theme. Each theme can have the
 following files:
 display.css: a CSS2 file for "default" styling for all browsers.
 logo.png: a logo image for the site.
 default-avatar-profile.png: a 96x96 pixel image to use as the avatar for
 users who don't upload their own.
 default-avatar-stream.png: Ditto, but 48x48. For streams of notices.
 default-avatar-mini.png: Ditto ditto, but 24x24. For subscriptions
 listing on profile pages.
 You may want to start by copying the files from the default theme to
 your own directory.
--- a/docs/user/src/timelines.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/timelines.md
@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
 # Timelines
 Communication became cheap. Everyone wants to share information.
 However, people aren't interested in consuming everyone's information.
 Commercial social media solved this issues with algorithms that lead
 to filter bubbles and by prioritizing the ones paying more.
 We only have a quota of time to dedicate to our social media. Instead of
 automated sorting and filtering (elimination) of non-paying information.
 GNU social gives you powerful manual sorting and search tools.
 Understand that `fake news` can still be shared, sometimes non-intentionally.
 You should always take everything with a grain of salt and fact check.
 That responsibility will always be on your side and that's the wisest option
 as any automated mean can lead to mono-culture and any form of central government
 can build up to censorship.
--- a/docs/user/src/upgrading.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/upgrading.md
@ -1,5 +0,0 @@
 # Upgrading
 Upgrading is strongly recommended to stay up to date with security fixes
 and new features. For instructions on how to upgrade GNU social code,
 please see the UPGRADE file.
--- a/docs/user/src/what_is.md
+++ b/docs/user/src/what_is.md
@ -1,13 +1,41 @@
 # What is GNU social
-GNU social is a social network for microblogging. It enables you to publish short notices including URLs and pictures. If you’re interested in what someone has to say you can follow them. When you log in to your account you see a timeline containing all of the notices from people that you follow. You can have a conversation with another person by replying to each other’s notices.
+GNU social is a social network platform for communities. It enables you to publish
 short notes including URLs and pictures. If you're interested in what someone has
 to say you can subscribe them. When you log in to your account you see a timeline
 containing all the notes from people, groups and tags you subscribed.
 You can have a conversation with another person by replying to each other's notes.
-You may have seen this sort of thing before. GNU social is special for two main reasons: it’s decentralised, and it’s free software.
+You may have seen this sort of thing before. GNU social is special for three main
 reasons:
-Being decentralised means that there is no single server that controls GNU social. Instead, many servers are run by different people around the world. These servers communicate with each other to form a federation. You can create an account on any one of them. Although the servers sometimes look different, ultimately it doesn’t matter which one you choose—you’re still part of the same network as everyone else.
+* **Accessible**: It follows [A11Y](https://www.a11yproject.com/),
 [AnyBrowser](https://anybrowser.org/campaign/), and provides a complete [i18n interface
 for easy l10n](https://blog.mozilla.org/l10n/2011/12/14/i18n-vs-l10n-whats-the-diff/).
 * **Customizable**: Every community running GNU social has the power to provide a
 unique experience to its members. 
 * **Privacy focused**: GNU social is part of the GNU project, it's 100% free software,
 with no malicious features or spyware.
-If one server suffers an outage it’s inconvenient for the people who have an account on that particular server. The rest of the network continues to operate as normal. This makes GNU social highly resilient. Censorship is difficult as servers can be located anywhere in the world.
+# The Free Network
-Because GNU social is free software it’s here to stay. A corporate social network might disappear or start running advertisements when the venture capital runs out. The GNU social code is available to everybody and there are many servers where it’s free to create an account.
+GNU social allows you to connect to a decentralised network named The Free Network,
 part of the IndieWeb. Being decentralised means that there is no single server that
 controls The Free Network. Instead, many servers are run by different people around
 the world. These servers communicate with each other to form a federation. You can
 create an account on any one of them. Although the servers sometimes look different,
 ultimately it doesn't matter which one you choose - you're still part of the same
 network as everyone else.
-This is a social network that does what’s best for the people who use it—not what makes the most money.
+If one server suffers an outage it's inconvenient for the people who have an
 account on that particular server. The rest of the network continues to operate as
 normal. This makes the fediverse highly resilient. Censorship is difficult as servers
 can be located anywhere in the world.
 Because GNU social is free software it's here to stay. A corporate social network
 might disappear or start running advertisements when the venture capital runs out.
 The GNU social code is available to everybody and there are many servers where it's
 free to create an account (the support tends to be done by means of donations).
 This is a social network that does what's best for the people who use it - not what
 makes the most money.