The name refers to the code repository, so there is no actual branding for this service. Hence, “the streams repository”. It isn’t a product. It’s just a collection of code which implements a Fediverse server that does some really cool stuff. There is no flagship instance. There is no mascot. In fact, all brand information has been removed. You are free to release it under your own brand. Whatever you decide to call your instance of the software is the only brand you’ll see. The software is in the public domain to the extent permissible by law. There is no license.
It began in 2010 as a decentralised Facebook alternative called Mistpark. It has gone through a number of twists and turns in its long journey of providing federated communications. The Fediverse servers Friendica and Hubzilla are early branches of this repository.
If you look for the streams repository in a list of popular Fediverse servers, you won’t find it. They’re not big on tracking and other spyware. Nobody knows how many instances there are or how many Monthly Active Users there are.
The default settings tend to favour personal and private use on relatively modest hardware for close friends and family. They also provide what they believe is the most harassment-free experience for marginalised people and communities available today in the Fediverse — “out of the box”.
The idea therefore is for users to host this service for themselves and/or family and friends. It will interconnect with Hubzilla, Friendica, Fediverse (yes, including Mastodon), and some other services.
What is like Facebook? Well, it is long form posts (not short-form like Mastodon, Twitter and BlueSky), and it supports markdown, html, and bbcode. Posts can also be edited after posting. You can also upload photos with some basic arrangement into folders/albums. It has WebDAV access for cloud storage too. Events are also catered for: Calendar and attendance; with automatic timezone adjusted birthday notifications for friends using this feature.
These are many of the basics that the original Facebook had when it started out. What you won’t see is lots of algorithms, any adverts, not Facebook Marketplace, etc.
It appears to be a bit more refined than Hubzilla and Friendica. Interestingly, it has also inherited Hubzilla’s excellent nomadic identity: Clone your online identity and content to multiple sites using the Nomad protocol and mirror any changes in near real-time. Then, if your chosen site goes down (either temporarily or permanently) or you get booted off of it for some reason, your online life doesn’t have to come to an end or force you to start over. All your friends and all your content are available on any of your cloned instances — at any time.
I’ve taken some of the above content from Mike Macgirvin’s own blog post about streams.
The key thing here though is there is no big flagship instance to sign-up at to use this service. There may be some folks hosting such servers and allowing public registration (link below has a link to some such instances), but otherwise you or a friend need to host it yourselves. Anyone on Mastodon would be able to follow your posts on streams, so using this is in place of registering an account on Mastodon or any other Fediverse server.
I see also there is a Docker installation as well! This is interesting as I was struggling to get a Docker install of Hubzilla to work. I may give this a spin myself, actually.