So here's the idea I'm brainstorming. It's very rough so don't expect perfection right off the bat, please.
What if we had something like PDSes here, too? A server which hosts all of your data, i.e. the AP objects and activities that are generated whenever you interact with the network. Instances wouldn't hold your identity; instead when you register on an instance you tell it about your PDS and then the instance uses that as the database for all your stuff.
What would this solve?
- You could be part of multiple communities (instances) with a single identity. This is more natural with how things work everywhere else.
- You could move instances and not lose anything provided they handle AP activities the same way.
- Instance admins would be still be able to kick you off their instance, so moderation remains intact.
- You would be protected against situations like an instance going offline all of a sudden because all your data would be with you.
- Activities point to the PDS server instead of the instance, so moving somewhere else wouldn't require updating databases in all peers via a Move activity.
Caveat:
- You would still be fucked if the PDS goes offline.
There's a shitload of more things to consider, and I'm also not perfectly knowledgeable about AP so I may have the wrong idea about some things. But I feel this would be a path worth pursuing.
These are just some quick thoughts. I'm begging you to not get hung up on details. This happens so often when I share ideas like these and it's killing me every time.