# FAQ: Why not use hometown, glitch-soc, or another Mastodon fork?

[⬅️ Back](https://docs.a2mi.social/s/7b67a084-f9e6-48bd-b50c-5b783a9c87e1)

I *do* like the ideas that some forks bring (an instance-only sharing level, improved support for longform content, Markdown, etc.), and I have given some thought to using [Hometown](https://github.com/hometown-fork/hometown) and [glitch-soc](https://glitch-soc.github.io/docs/) in particular.

It does look like [migration from Mastodon to Hometown is relatively straightforward](https://github.com/hometown-fork/hometown/wiki/Initial-migration). Same with glitch-soc.

But as the person ultimately responsible for keeping a2mi.social running, reliable, secure, and up-to-date, I have some concerns:

* **Longevity of the fork.**
  * Hometown is, as I understand, maintained by effectively one person, vs. Mastodon which has a core team and various contributors. What happens if/when Hometown's sole maintainer stops maintaining it, voluntarily or otherwise?
  * I know less about glitch-soc, but the same concern applies.
* If/when necessary (eg. because Hometown isn't keeping up with Mastodon security patches), **is migrating *back* to plain old Mastodon possible?** I don't want a2mi to end up stuck on an outdated or insecure fork with no (easy and clean) way back.
  * [There is a Hometown issue about supporting migration back to plain old Mastodon](https://github.com/hometown-fork/hometown/issues/11), but this reverse migration is not straightforward right now.
  * For glitch-soc, a reverse migration will expose local-only posts to the fediverse, which clearly is unacceptable.
* **Security, reliability, and scalability with age.** As these forks age, merging changes from upstream Mastodon will likely get more difficult, allowing room for bugs to sneak in.
* **Documentation, particularly around upgrading to new releases.** Mastodon provides excellent documentation on migrating to new releases, and I don't know if these forks provide similar docs. (They might, I just haven't checked.)

I'd also, of course, want to gather some feedback from the community about it before making the switch (though the feedback I have received has been, generally, moderately positive).

*— Chris (your friendly site admin), Feb. 2024*