How does "federation" benefit anyone? Is it something you can explain to a layman that they will say "wow, I want that!" Is it even a problem people are even asking to be solved via products?
It's also curious if this was the whole point of the project, why wasn't that done first?
Improved Privacy. Only the author will have information regarding who visit, how many times, and for how long is-
Future proofing. Youtube and flickr will only exist as long those services are profitable. People who thinks they own their media, can only hope that it will stay online for as long as possible.
Improved API/features. Media hosting companies will limit features to match their business model. With federated services, there is no such limit.
Secure API. Media hosting companies will remove features if competitors are using the API in a threatening style. with federated services, there is no central company that can feel threatened.
> why wasn't that done first?
Just being federal, but with no meaningful usages, it would not be useful. I don't know if there is a technical reason why it couldn't be done at the same time.
Rather, the projects scope is to create a federated gallery and video player, where each installed instance is connected with each other.
That has so far not been reached yet, which is why this software hasn't reached their 1.0 goal yet.