http://mashable.com/2010/09/16/diaspora-source-code/
After announcing it back in August, the folks at Diaspora, an open-source FacebookFacebook alternative, have kept their promise, releasing the project's source code to developers Wednesday.Now that the code is open to everyone, could Diaspora become to Facebook what FirefoxFirefox was to Internet ExplorerInternet Explorer? Despite Facebook's enormous popularity, many users have expressed concerns about their privacy on the social network, and changes to the site often provoke a backlash from users -- often to no avail.Diaspora could be different. As a community project by design, it will be far more open to users' suggestions, which in the end might prove crucial to the overall experience.Still, it's far from a finished product; the first alpha is slated for October, and hopefully the developers who will now be able to start working on the source code will further improve the founders' original ideas.As far as features go, Diaspora currently supports sharing status messages and photos privately and in near real time, in addition to providing options for friending people and uploading photos and albums. All traffic that goes through Diaspora (except photos, for now) is signed and encrypted.When the alpha version launches in October, Diaspora should also have Facebook integration, internationalization as well as data portability. Disapora offers a more complete roadmap for the project on its website.What do you think of Diaspora so far? Could it become a serious alternative to Facebook and other popular social networks? Would you be willing to give up certain advanced features to have more privacy?For more Social Media coverage:Follow Mashable Social Media on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Social Media channelDownload our free apps for iPhone and iPad
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