So the difference between PieFed and Lemmy mostly becomes interface? Or is it the server backend?
It's both the interface and the backend, but the backends still share ActivityPub compatibility, so they can still federate together. Kbin/mbin are also different software but similarly are able to federate with Lemmy (and the rest of the fediverse) via ActivityPub.
As both projects continue to develop, there could emerge significant differences in functionality, but it's far too early to know.
If you have an existing Lemmy account and want to use your PieFed account to follow all the same communities, you can: https://piefed.social/post/5291
Thanks for the info, but serious question, why would I want to? Why is it better than Lemmy?
It's basically the same thing, but written in Python instead of Rust.
Some differences are listed here https://join.piefed.social/features/. It goes way beyond those, that list is just some user-facing features that everyone will be able to easily understand.
Piefed looks promising, and I wonder if there's any good frontends available.
This is what confuses me. If they are following Lemmy instances anyway wouldn't it just use a Lemmy client?
Yes. Pretty much all of the content on PieFed is from Lemmy communities.
I'm kinda curious if there are any active communities actually hosted on PieFed. I think it's still too new for that to develop yet.
I guess this counts as one.
Oh, cool, that link loaded in my iOS Lemmy client (Mlem)!
!piefed_meta@piefed.social
So the difference between PieFed and Lemmy mostly becomes interface? Or is it the server backend?
It's both the interface and the backend, but the backends still share ActivityPub compatibility, so they can still federate together. Kbin/mbin are also different software but similarly are able to federate with Lemmy (and the rest of the fediverse) via ActivityPub.
As both projects continue to develop, there could emerge significant differences in functionality, but it's far too early to know.
Some differences are listed here https://join.piefed.social/features/