TaggartFeb 9
I see it's once again time to post this: https://taggart-tech.com/discord-alternatives
Discord Alternatives, Ranked

Building an online community takes more than tools. But the right tool can make all the difference.

Show threadTaggartFeb 9

Since I wrote this, many have introduced me to movim, and it's pretty slick! I'm still experimenting, but I like a lot of what I see. Still missing moderation tools for groups, though.

https://movim.eu

Movim – Responsive web-based cross-platform XMPP client

Movim is a kickass distributed blogging and messaging platform built on the industry-standard XMPP protocol

Show threadTaggart

Let me add that I am keenly aware of the cryptographic issues you are about to bring up about any of these options. I read and deeply respect the work of @soatok and others, and understand the concerns around OMEMO for XMPP, Matrix, etc.

Security is a balance between risk and value. I cannot decide for you what the right balance is, but I know from hard-won experience that building a community is about more than "perfect" security.

Feb 9 at 4:25pmWeb
Show threadTaggartFeb 10
Some folks are wondering why I didn't include voice chat. It's a fair question! My use of Discord, perhaps as an outlying elder millennial, does not include much voice. But every option in this article except Discourse has voice/video support, and Discourse gains it easily via several plugins, including Jitsi.
Show threadTero HänninenFeb 10
@mttaggart As an old genXer grown on IRC, usenet and forums I really hate Discord, but it’s really hard to replace with 1) instant screen sharing/streaming 2) effortless voice chat 3) well integrated meme sharing and custom emoticons which all, and I never thought I’d say this, are my daily drivers for most of my hobby communities.
Show threadFalcoFeb 10

@mttaggart I have a voice chat plugin for Discourse, recently shared at https://meta.discourse.org/t/resenha-add-discord-style-voice-rooms-to-your-community/389056

The web nowadays is super powerful, we can cover a lot of Discord use cases with open tech.

That voice chat is also p2p and encrypted by the nature of WebRTC.

Resenha - Add Discord-style Voice Rooms to Your Community 🎙

Hey everyone! Sharing Resenha, an experimental plugin that adds voice chat rooms directly into Discourse — no external apps, no media servers, just peer-to-peer voice in your sidebar. Try It Live 👉 https://discourse-on-a-pi5.falco.dev/ (Yes, it runs on a Raspberry Pi 5 — that’s how lightweight this is.) How It Works Click a room in the sidebar to join, click again to leave. All audio goes peer-to-peer via WebRTC — your Discourse server only handles signaling, never media. A defa...

Discourse Meta
Show threadTaggartFeb 10
@falco That's rad! Thanks for sharing!