So what characterizes a "pod?"

[dragonfly]

I think I get that Diaspora is distributed and decentralized and people set up their own virtual servers, called pods.

Here's a directory of some existing pods people can join. What I'm wondering is, are pods like LJ/DW communities? Do they have themes? Do we need permission to join them?

I think I'll go try and join a different pod and see what happens.

(So, can we "friend" people who aren't on the same pod as we are?)