Hackers' Pub

Syntax	Description	Examples
`"` keyword `"`	Finds the string within quotes, including spaces. Case-insensitive. (Escape quotes inside with `\"`)	`"Hackers' Pub"`
`from:` handle	Finds content written by the specified user.	`from:hongminhee` `from:hongminhee@hollo.social`
`lang:` ISO 639-1	Finds content written in the specified language.	`lang:en`
`#` tag	Finds content with the specified tag. Case-insensitive.	`#HackersPub`
condition condition	Finds content that satisfies both conditions on either side of the space (logical AND).	`"Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
condition `OR` condition	Finds content that satisfies at least one of the conditions on either side of the OR operator (logical OR).	`#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
`(` condition `)`	Combines the operators within the parentheses first.	`(#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" OR "Hackers Pub") lang:en`

Evan Prodromou @evan@cosocial.ca

1/14/2026, 6:44:46 PM

Public

So, in the ActivityPub spec, talking about the public propagation of activities, we used this language:

> Additionally, if an object is addressed to the Public special collection, a server MAY deliver that object to all known sharedInbox endpoints on the network.

That "MAY" is important. It says that the sending server *can* do it, but it doesn't *have to*. This leaves it open to interpretation by implementers.

https://www.w3.org/TR/activitypub/#shared-inbox-delivery

ActivityPub

The ActivityPub protocol is a decentralized social networking protocol based upon the [ActivityStreams] 2.0 data format. It provides a client to server API for creating, updating and deleting content, as well as a federated server to server API for delivering notifications and content.

www.w3.org

Evan Prodromou @evan@cosocial.ca

1/14/2026, 6:45:43 PM

Public

So, that gets down to the question in this poll: "Should ActivityPub servers send public activities to all known `sharedInbox` endpoints on the network?" Implementers actually have a choice.

If you have a fediverse account, you can quote this note from your own instance. Search https://cosocial.ca/users/evan/statuses/115894933457334299 on your instance and quote it. (Note that quoting is not supported in Mastodon.)