Since this article, we've all experienced the shift from status.net and yet another blow to the AGPL. Via many discussions out there [1], as may have been pointed out, but deserves repetition, is that this is the Status.net _service_ being migrated to that pump.io's new software project (the company is changing forms as well).
Despite this, of course StatusNet software source code will still remain free, available and working from code repositories. And it is definitely not the end of free social networking. Other than this, there are several projects working with the open protocol OStatus for federated social networking.
Also - last but not least - GNU Social (essentially the same codebase as StatusNet) is still very much alive! It is an FSF endorsed social networking project and has had a recent boost of encouragement in the mailing lists (much as a result from the Status.net thing):
Adam Hupp from Facebook gave an interesting talk at the last HN London around how FB managed the scaling of the kind of thing that pump.io seems to be offering:
Despite this, of course StatusNet software source code will still remain free, available and working from code repositories. And it is definitely not the end of free social networking. Other than this, there are several projects working with the open protocol OStatus for federated social networking.
Also - last but not least - GNU Social (essentially the same codebase as StatusNet) is still very much alive! It is an FSF endorsed social networking project and has had a recent boost of encouragement in the mailing lists (much as a result from the Status.net thing):
http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/social/2012-12/msg00043.ht...
[1] http://trisquel.info/en/forum/statusnet-identica-and-another...