This is such a turn-off for projects to me. Please accept random terms of service and privacy policy of a closed-source product that will be collecting and selling your data as the only means of participation in this community.
But the reason people aren't making forums, is it is not as easy for community owner to make forums (need to get cloud storage, then configure something like discourse forum, get a domain name etc.)
Same for the end user who wants to be part of multiple communities, has to remember the URLs of multiple communities, has to have multiple logins and passwords and needs to create an account in each of them.
If someone combines discord + discourse (basically an app, that has all your forums on the side bar with just one login, and people can create a new forum for anything, similar to how you can create a discord server) then I think we might end up going back to forums with more meaningful discussions and all information related to some issue in one place.
I don't use Discord for anything serious but it's just very convenient to join any Discord group with a single click since I'm already logged in there.
I think we need to put aside the security practices of Discord (it's not like the discussions tend to be sensitive in any way), because I'm not aware of anything that comes close in ease of setup and user onboarding, at this point. Setting up Zulip or Mattermost, paying for hosting and then managing it all is quite a hassle in comparison.
Use Discord for anything remotely private and we can have a discussion. :)
> If someone combines discord + discourse (basically an app, that has all your forums on the side bar with just one login, and people can create a new forum for anything, similar to how you can create a discord server) then I think we might end up going back to forums with more meaningful discussions and all information related to some issue in one place.
That's interesting, you seem to favor a "per tool" usage (all forums on one tool), while I would favor a "per project" usage. I prefer the "per project" as I don't want to have my identity always connected between projects. On the other hand, Github is almost forcing everyone to have a "per tool" usage. Since everything is already on Github, your only way to escape them is to enforce a "per tool" separation.
The issue with per project forum (instead of a discord type one login for all forums), is that it creates friction. For instance I have visited obsidian.md's forums a lot for things I need. Sometimes I have noticed someone asking something for which I know the answer, but then the pain of having to create an account and then answer that person, makes me just skip it.
The reason for discord communities to be active, is purely because there is no friction.
I have a lot of trouble wrapping my head around why so many tech and programming (especially FOSS) communities still flock to Discord, especially given how programmer-hostile the company is. Matrix is more than good enough to manage it now. The only things about Matrix that bother me right now is that presence is still disabled on the matrix.org homeserver, and the phone call metaphor for group voice and video chat rooms is clunky.
I’d say it’s likely that most discord users are mobile or at least half.
This is why any telephony solution I’d build would probably be based on Jitsi Meet.
In case anyone’s bored: A channel based UI (similar to Mumble) for it would be rad.
There are other organization chat solutions like Slack (proprietary), Mattermost and Zulip (I’m trying out the latter with an organization). Those are the real alternatives to Discord, not Matrix (... yet ...). Neither of them (besides maybe Slack?) has an integration for voice channels (not “calls”).
Voice rooms are coming soon fwiw.
Server specific pepe emojis are absolutely essential.
Personally I avoid IRC since I just don't like "chatting", email or forum is a far easier flow, socially. It also seemed rare to find anyone actually present in their channels, timing never works out. I'll still use it though if its the only option and I realllly want an answer
This project has NNTP, so if you don't like "chatting", then the NNTP can be used, which is more like the email or forum.
I have never used NNTP, but now im curious to learn some more about it; growing up I had never seen it used, but i think i just missed that age
About NNTP, there is the RFC documents relating to it, and some NNTP servers. Some are Usenet, although the NNTP server for my project is specific to that project. You can use any NNTP client software to access it (or just operate the protocol directly); some email software can also use NNTP.
I'd even argue that simply using Discord just makes projects seem juvenile, and not to be taken seriously. Its the modern equivalent of "ask your Pro question on our AOL Instant Messenger" page...yeah, no.
I know this the general HN opinion of free & closed software, but I think this is one scenario where it doesn't ring true. On top of Discord's privacy policy explicitly disallowing/negating data selling, the CEO, CTO and CFO have all made public statements that they have no interest in the monetization of user data. The CTO has suggested that they're at least breaking even with Nitro subscriptions, and they've shrugged off acquisition attempts, instead wishing to go public at some point.
The risk of Discord performing commercial suicide via a data selling scandal appears exceptionally unlikely.
Their goal is still to make money and as with any freemium product, the rules might change.
Not everything needs all the bells and whistles