have fun, but keep in mind that all of this isn't being built and run by some soulless conglomerate.
it's built and run by dedicated folks who work hard and generously put in their time and money, please be sure to help them out where you can.
check out the other OStatus software out there too. if you're able to, tackle a item on the GNU Social, postActiv or Mastodon issue trackers or support the software development teams in ways you can (translations for example). these are the folks that are building the software you're using, help them out as much as possible. keep in mind, there's real people putting in all this effort because they're passionate about a thing. as far as i can tell, this is an unpaid second full time job for them.
@CryptoGuppy @twitter "I take money I can pay the landlord with."
@Elizafox @CryptoGuppy i'm somewhat conflicted on this
agree 100% with "'thanks a lot' doesn't pay the bills" but i also know that many may not have a wide variety of options wrt bank/credit/online transfers. hopefully we see more things that address this pop up soon..
@twitter @CryptoGuppy It's not terribly easy (except at coinbase maybe) to put it back into USD except using an OTC buy, but that's risky.
@Elizafox @twitter
I think it varies a lot depending on where you are. In the Netherlands there are a couple of sites where you can sell your bitcoin at a decent rate, and have the money on your bank account in 1 or 2 days. I believe the admin of the instance I am on is french, not sure what the situation is there. But an increasing number of hosting services also accept bitcoin, so maybe it can even be used to pay for servers directly.
@CryptoGuppy @Elizafox I've seen a few of those ATMs around, but a lot(?) of them seem to be buy-only which isn't too helpful. I read about one that supported "finger scan" which is vague & creepy in a Gattaca sort of way.
@cs Mastodon users can click "Extended information" under "Getting Started" (the * icon at the top of the left column)
GNU Social/postActiv instances will usually have that information in the left sidebar.
if youre able to donate or offer to help out your local instance admins, it will mean a lot to them, even if it doesn't seem like much to you. if you don't see a way to donate or support them, ask the admins directly, they may feel uncomfortable asking for help (financial or otherwise). they shouldnt. something like this takes a lot to pull off. the machines don't run themselves, disks fill fast, bandwith isnt free, making sure backups actually work is a pain, and the costs add up _very_ quickly