Big boost for users, Bluesky Social open-sources codebase

Bluesky Social, a popular beta social network, has taken a significant step towards open-source development on May 15th that will benefit users immensely. The codebase for its Bluesky Social app was made available on GitHub. This aligns with the network's goal of being "open and decentralised." Unlike Twitter, which struggles with open-source issues, Bluesky's client code is open to anyone for improvement or as a foundation for their own social networks. In contrast, Twitter's recommendation code is essentially unusable.

Bluesky offers its client code to anyone interested in enhancing it or utilising it as the foundation for their own social network.

The code for Bluesky, which is licensed under the MIT License, is available for use now. In just 24 hours, it has already been forked 88 times and has garnered over 1,300 GitHub Stars, indicating its popularity.

While the codebase primarily pertains to the Bluesky Social app, it also serves as a resource for AT Protocol programmers. This protocol facilitates a decentralised social network, allowing users to connect with others on AT Protocol-supported servers, control their perception of the world through an open algorithm market, and switch hosts without losing their content, followers, or identity.

Written in React Native, an open-source JavaScript software framework for user interfaces, the Bluesky code enables the development of applications compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

Developers emphasise their commitment to serving a broad user community, constantly prioritising the most important tasks. They encourage well-crafted Pull Requests (PRs) that offer concise problem-solving solutions as valuable contributions. Alternatively, they suggest forking the codebase for individual development efforts due to resource limitations.

Bluesky's open-source initiative has seen positive progress thus far. Paul Frazee, Bluesky's product developer and protocol engineer, said, "I want to acknowledge the incredible engagement we've already received regarding the app codebase. Your kindness and helpfulness have been exceptional. We appreciate the contributions that align with our requests, and several impressive PRs have already been merged. You all rock!"