Yeah @Steven_yetter actually is not that complex. The best resource to learn the structure of this network could be this one:


So you have three protocols. Pumpio, Diaspora and Gnusocial these are not capable of connect between each other, but hubzilla, friendica... are capable to connect at the same time with Diaspora, gnusocial and Mastodon, like a bridge. The federation works not bad right now. Also you can see this resource, could be useful for you: https://gerzilla.de/wiki/kris/Adding%2Bhubzilla%2Bchannels%2Bto%2BDiaspora/Home