Setting up a domain appears to require admin-privileges on the computer running takahe
A takahe admin can not take the identity hostage. An admin can add any domain, but if that domain does not respond to the webfinger query pointing to the actual underlying domain, it will never matter. So at the end of the day what matter is how that domain responds to a webfinger query.
Fair enough. The level of close coordination required between takahe server admins and domain owners seems to make domain migration at-scale somewhere between very expensive and simply prohibitive relative to self-service account sign up though. And I’m not sure I see a clear path to resolving that issue, though it’s certainly an interesting project even if it can’t deliver domain mobility at scale.
I don’t think it is more complicated than, e.g a VPS provider or a SaaS platform and a customer that wants to have run a server online or a managed application.
Of course non-technical users will probably just go for one of the “generic” existing servers, much like most people are fine with using Gmail or outlook addresses. But for those that want to have their own identity, it seems pretty straightforward.
I don’t think it is more complicated than, e.g a VPS provider or a SaaS platform and a customer that wants to have run a server online or a managed application.
That’s a very reasonable comparison, but to me the more relevant comparison is that of creating a commercial social media account or standard fediverse account today. This is much less accessible to users than that process, and also much more demanding on server admins.
I’d certainly be overjoyed to learn that I’m wrong and for this to revolutionize account mobility. But I don’t see volunteer server admins lining up to facilitate DNS delegation for fun or users lining up to pay VPS prices for commercial hosting of their own social media domain. The bar for simplicity and usability for me is quite a lot higher than I see this sort of approach evolving to provide.