yarr

Lemmy's API documentation currently appears to be the JS client implementation found here: https://join-lemmy.org/api/

This is very misleading, as these docs document the behavior of the JS client and do not provide a language neutral way to figure out what's going on.

Compare Lemmy's docs with something like the ActivityPub docs https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/

Going off ActivityPub, I could actually start to see how it all works and looks together. With Lemmy, I can reason about how the JS client works and do my best, but working with Lemmy you sometimes have to consume the Rust source as well.

So, this raises the barrier of entry for someone wanting to do Lemmy integrations to someone that needs to consume the above docs, plus be comfortable reading JS and Rust.

I saw some older posts from the lemmy devs saying: "Well, writing docs is hard, so it's easier if we generate the docs from our JS client."

They aren't wrong, writing documentation IS hard. If Lemmy is serious about attracting a larger ecosystem, I consider better API documentation to be on the hot path. I'm concerned that the devs are happy with the autogenerated docs above and won't put any effort into improving them. Even worse, the people generating these docs are already familiar with Lemmy, so they probably think the current docs are adequate.

I don't know a quick solution -- raise money to pay someone to write docs? No clue. But, if you want to attract developers to this ecosystem, the current API documentation is insufficient.

RANT AHEAD:

Quite a few times now, I've seen the complaint that "the news refuses to cover the story about the migrants' sinking ship and focuses on the billionaires instead".

This strikes me as totally unsurprising. 99% of all news sites are given by gathering clicks and eyeballs. The Titan story has it all:

• Billionaires
• Zany CEO with submarine with oddly sourced parts
• Tie in to one of the most famous shipwrecks of all time
• A story that's technically easy to understand (the sub went underwater and was lost, you don't need a degree in advanced physics to appreciate this)
• Some drama because they might have been underwater without oxygen vs. instantly dead due to decompression
• The possibility of an exciting sea rescue

vs the migrants' story

• No one famous or of note on board
• This is by far NOT the first vessel lost in this manner
• No exciting twists

I'm sorry, but if I headed up a news room OF COURSE you will run the first story. It's simply more exciting. This is NOT an example of class war or a personal vendetta against the poor.

If you are one of those who think the migrants story should be more closely followed why don't YOU lead a discussion about it, volunteer your money and/or time to organizations that support migrants, etc.

It's also a really boring complaint to see, because nearly ALL of the major news outlets DID cover the story, but guess what, it is far less engaging, so it gets less attention overall.

Don't blame the news for what stories get big -- blame the public and their fascination with these stories. The news outlets are only putting out what their audience wants to see.

Feel free to start a site that talks only about migration issues, but I think you'll find it way harder to make money vs talking about clickbait.

hey everyone, just wanted to vent a bit about something that's been bugging me. have you ever tried getting our dear chatgpt to write a song? i mean, we all love this AI for many things, but songwriting is definitely not its forte.

it seems like every time i ask it to write a song, i end up with a tune that has the most basic AABB rhyme scheme. i mean, come on, even my five-year-old nephew can write a song with more complexity. it's like it's stuck in a perpetual nursery rhyme mode.

i get that it's an AI and can't exactly tap into the creative genius of a lennon or a dylan, but a little variation would be nice, right? it'd be great if openai could tweak it a bit to give it some musical diversity.

anyone else share my frustration, or am i just expecting too much from our songwriting AI friend? let's chat about it!

An ironic observation - I've been understanding Reddit better here on Lemmy than while actually on Reddit. It's fascinating how this platform, while being an alternative, can offer such deep insights about another.

Has anyone else experienced this paradox? Would love to hear your thoughts.