vrypan |--o--| (vrypan.eth)

lemon3 is an open source program that uses IPFS and Farcaster to allow decentralized file hosting and sharing. It's a mini Farcaster client and an IPFS node, and allows uploading and downloading files. Lots of rough edges, this is the mvp, but I'm very excited. https://blog.vrypan.net/2025/03/23/lemon3-farcaster-ipfs-decentralized-file-sharing/

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Everyone has the right to their feelings, but I don't share the hard feelings for Dan and the team many users have at this point. I disagree with many MerkleM decisions, and a strongly disagree with some of them. But at the same time, I can see that right now, (especially) Dan is cornered by many of us, and he is not reacting the way he used to. Reaction to social pressure is not easy, because pressure can scale, but you have so much energy and time, and at some point it's reasonable to say "fuck it, I'll either go down while trying to explain myself and convince them, or grow a thick skin and push back". My ideal outcome is not a civil war that destroys Farcaster. I don't want it to be a miserable place where hostility and mistrust are the default. Many of us have been here long enough to know there is a core of a great people in Farcaster. I think everyone needs to take a step back, try to be less emotional and more open to hear what others have to say, and assume good faith. Cassie did the right move a couple of hours ago, by posting three FIPs that try to address the core issues people who care about the protocol have, like curation and decentralization. This is the way. Dan and V have to show they are listening. This does not mean necessarily implementing or embracing whatever pops up. But they also need to understand that the strategy of focussing 100% to "growing the user base" and dismissing everything else may actually be hurting the project. We are not liability, we are an asset. As for people who are fully emotional at this point, and want to see this place burned down to ashes to feel vindicated because Dan insulted or ignored them, sorry, I'm not with you. I've invested too much time, effort and social capital in Farcaster to feel good with such an outcome. Peace ☮️

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In 2025, I started having second thoughts about Farcaster. On one hand, the dev team was extremely reluctant to add new features at the protocol level: no changes unless they were proven useful, minimal impact only, and so on. In practice, the protocol had ossified, and at a state that wasn’t particularly satisfying. All the passionate discussions and debates, all the ideas we bounced around in 2023 and 2024, no longer seemed to have a place. On the other hand, Merkle would introduce significant changes overnight (10k-character casts, additional user_data properties, and more) with little to no public deliberation. Presumably, their product team felt they knew best. Farcaster stopped being exciting. I lost any illusion that I could influence what it might become. It felt boring, and like it belonged to someone else. - - - I wasn’t happy when the Farcaster fork was announced yesterday. But in the hours since, it’s the first time Farcaster has felt exciting in a long while. Possibilities are open again. Competition will likely push both teams to expand the boundaries. Governance styles, approaches, priorities, and strategies will clash — and at the same time become more explicit: we do it like this, they do it like that; we value this, they value that. I’m starting to feel bullish on Farcaster again.

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I wish I had the energy to contribute to Q. Farcaster's trajectory in 2025 totally drained any passion and energy I had for this space. Hubs were far from perfect, but they were what I've been looking for years. "RSS+" was something I could fall in love with, the same way I had fallen in love with RSS, before Google cut its legs. Then, snapchain appeared as a necessary, temporary, compromise and in just a few months the compromises ossified, governance became unapologetically centralized, and they made it clear that they are not interested in what I'm interested in. What brought me here does not exist any more. I stay because there are still enough people I like, and for small conveniences that became part of my routine. @cassie's work and passion could bring the spark back, but personally, I need time.

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