Just a hunch, but I think no decentralised network is going to run ATProto unless someone other than Bluesky forks it and makes the protocol changes that would allow that to be practical. I guess it's possible, in theory?
kbal
When I looked at bsky it seemed to be about 60% pointing out stupid shit that Trumpists have recently said and done, and 30% self-congratulatory talk about how popular bluesky is this week.
And then there's Lemmy, where you can always count on some helpful stranger who's completely missed the point chiming in to tell you why you're wrong.
That's not how it was as of yesterday when I signed up just to see what all the fuss was about. (I don't think I'll be participating.)
Bluesky: You are immediately and automatically welcomed into the warm embrace of an algorithm that entices you into a parasocial relationship with the synthetic community it has created.
Mastodon: If you're lucky you'll stumble across a warm welcome for new users explaining how posts are called toots here, likes are called florps, and our version of Grok is called Garfiald.
It's the culture of an instance that makes the difference, not which software it runs, but there is often a correlation. Misskey tends to get more people who appreciate cute emoji and comfy vibes.
I thought maybe it was just my imagination that it's been really slow since Wednesday, but you can see it clearly on the charts at the bottom of the page there.
Having apps that do what users want but try to hide it from reviewers really highlights the absurdity of letting Apple decide what software you're allowed to run.
Overclocking
I'm not sure what approach would work. As I understand it, it's designed around the idea that all messages get routed through a monolithic "relay" which needs to see every single event from every user in order for any of them to get routed between the PDS nodes where user data gets stored.
Probably best to just add ActivityPub on top of it, if they really wanted to federate with anyone.