You know what? I thought that was a glitch on SDF's Lemmy server. But it's never fixed. And the problem I have on SDF's Matrix server also is never fixed. And the problem I had on SDF's Peertube server took resetting my entire account to fix. And user support is basically permanently out to lunch at SDF.
I'm really starting to regret paying for my SDF account when apparently other free Fediverse services work much better. Like, really, REALLY regretting it now...
You are right with the issues you mention, but keep in mind that sdf is not a for-profit service and is therefore maintained as such. It is a huge operation keep afloat by a few people. I have had an account there for more than a decade and there are always issues with the different services, so if you want to follow a server that has nearly no downtime you will need to find some other place. Sorry about that.
Exactly what I regret paying for. Obviously they're in over their head.
I don't mind paying for a service. In fact, I believe in paying for what I use so much that it's the very reason I chose to open an account with SDF to take my first steps on the Fediverse rather than open free accounts on bigger servers. But I do have a problem when whatever I paid for chronically doesn't work properly. Had I been told SDF was understaffed and underfunded, I would have sought to pay for the same services from someone else - or even host my own instances.
I understand what you're saying, SDF's raison d'etre and philosophy totally resonates with my own set of values, and I sympathize with their staff. But the fact remains that I regularly spend 10 minutes posting something that disappears in the ether because some stupid bug no other (free) Lemmy instances seem to have doesn't get fixed on the one instance I really really want to support.
After like the 5th time, and with the other problems I have, it gets to be supremely frustrating.
It's not the money. If SDF asked me 10x the amount I paid, and do so yearly, I would still pay it for basic, fully functional services. It's the really nasty feeling of trying to do the right thing and getting less than everybody else for my goodwill.
You're making it sound like you actually had to pay. It's like with other instances. You can donate, but you don't have to. Unfortunately, I am unable to do so due to them using PayPal without allowing guest payments from Slovakia, so I am here for free. I wish they used OpenCollective.
But let's snap back. Where exactly did you have to pay? I feel like you might have gotten scammed.
And even being understaffed and underfunded would at least be understandable, but some of these problems have been caused by the completely unnecessary upgrade of Lemmy to a non-stable branch.