What is this Dreamwidth of which you speak?

[feliciakw]

So . . . is this another change in internet networking trends?

First, it was a mailing list (angus, I think). And I was happy there.

Then, it was YahooGroups. And that was good, too. Particularly since I could read it as a message board without having it come to my e-mail if I wanted.

Then it was LJ, and things became less centralized and more spread out and not so easily accessible, but I can record my own thoughts and activities, but still . . . not as focused . . .

Now there's talk of the Dreamwidth thing. Are people jumping ship from LJ for the next trend?

I mean, I'm already on Facebook (mostly for family), and whitemartyr caught me on a low day and utched me into joining Twitter. I don't need one more place I'm not gonna keep up with . . .

Btw, I'd still be interested in an easy way to download or save my LJ to my computer. Any suggestions?

Comments

[kerravonsen]

I have a dreamwidth account (http://kerravonsen.dreamwidth.org) because I think it is better than LJ. But seeing as I have a permanent account with LJ, I'll be crossposting to both journals. In fact, I am already crossposting to both journals.

Downloading your LJ; the only thing I've found that works on Linux is ljmigrate, which one can use to upload to another service, but one can also use it to just back up one's LJ.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I've gotta ask: I just checked your link there, and the layout and look and all looks just like LJ. In your opinion, what makes it better?

I'll have to check the ljmigrate. I'm on Mac OSX, so I'll have to see what's what. Thanks!

[kerravonsen]

In your opinion, what makes it better?
I should do a proper long post about my reasons, but in short:
1. active development and improvements (Dreamwidth software is a fork of LJ software). Some features are already there, such as:
a) splitting the concept of "friends list" into "reading list" and "access list"
b) full import of LJ-based journals, including comments
c) support of OpenID, which means that people don't need to get a Dreamwidth account in order to comment in one's journal
2. responsive people running it; the ones running it also use it; they also encourage participation
3. No ads, ever.
4. A more sustainable business model than LJ. I'm getting more convinced that LJ's days are numbered; sure, it's still around now, but catering to one's advertisers rather than one's users is not a strategy for long-term success.

I'm on Mac OSX, so I'll have to see what's what.
I get the impression that things that work on Linux are likely to work on OSX (though may require extra stuff to be installed in order to get them working).