How do the different servers work if they have different features? Eg. Lemmy.world with a smaller server
Example I think lemmy.world has more sorting features compared to other servers and different software I also assume. So how does that work when communicating with other servers that don’t have code as sophisticated or lack certain features?
Lemmy comes in 2 parts the backend ( people will refer to this as the database and activitypub) and the front end lemmy-ui
The backend is the same as other instances and so data can be transferred, the Lemmy-ui is what you see. The differences in the UI package has no effect on the workings of the Database or activitypub.
From you POV it would be like saying How is your toilet working when you have a brick exterior and I have wood panelling. The outside of the house (lemmy-ui) doesn't change how the toilet (database) works or how the water and waste is moved in and out of the house (activitypub).
All the underlying data is the same. Only differences are the ways to visualize it.
They added sorting features with 0.18.2 or so.
My instance is basically a single user instance.
It’s about the same I believe.
Probably different versions installed. You can see version numbers on the bottom of the page. Lemmy.world hasn't forked lemmy at all but instances could do that and be running something totally custom.
That's possible because federated services use a standard protocol for communication called ActivityPub. This means they all talk the same "language" between instances separate from their frontend api or backend capabilities. So long as they adhere to the standard, different versions or entirely different software can be used for the backend and it doesn't matter.