There’s been quite a bit of…unsettlement (totally a word) regarding the news that Discord has a new CEO and the company is going public (typically a sign of things going shittier than before).
I’d just like to re-post this which I shared some time ago, if you’ll indulge me in my rare post which isn’t a Steam Deck / Gaming News # post - a rarity for me.
In the end, this is not the be-all-and-end-all alternative, it won’t be for everyone. Matrix exists of course. But this is a nice place. And I thought considering recent events I’d recommend it regardless!
Following is just a copy of what I posted last time. It’s mostly Linux chat, gaming, handhelds (like the Steam Deck), movies and…general chats. Anyway, here’s the post:
So…this one is a bit left-of-field.
A friend of mine (Gardiner Bryant of YouTube - who reports on Linux and the Steam Deck) has started a Revolt server.
What is Revolt?
It’s kinda like a FOSS alternative to Discord. You’ll see the layout is almost a direct copy, and it’s far less polished…but then again you haven’t got the downsides of Discord’s constant upselling either:
Why is this relevant?
…I can hear you ask? Well, so far its just a few developers and creators in there, but I thought of all spaces…maybe those very devs and creators whose work you use and watch…well it might be nice to join in there?
My personal friends who are in here so far are:
-
imLinguin whose GitHub is here - but you may know most as a developer of Heroic Games Launcher
-
Lazorne whose project is RetroDECK - my personal fav emulation option for the Steam Deck
-
Eben Bruyns whose GitHub is here - but you may know best as the dev of Junk-Store
-
Kyle Gospo whose project is Bazzite
-
Gardiner himself, of course whose YouTube link is here,
What is the damn link to the damn server, woman?
I mean, you will have to make an account on Revolt, but it might be interesting to some here. You’re all very welcome!
I wanna give it a go but it’s way too buggy
I just use the site, via my browser. And I’ve not had any issues! Though I’ve no idea how well the app performs
Damn, that’s… quite the line up of Steam Deck related devs, shit.
Welp, I’m convinced.
I got distracted when I started inviting people I know into the server, so…there will be more to come!
If Discord is going to be abandoned by people, I wish we’d go back to proper forums that’s much more accessible and searchable. Continuing down this road is just going to lead to the continued burying of useful information behind these services.
I think there’s room for both, as in the old days there was typically an IRC channel along side forums that was typically a secondary channel (but not always).
But yeah, forums would be ideal, preferably with federation support so there is no need to make an account with every single one.
Well, you see IRC and forums went together because they filled two different needs and we understood that back in the day.
IRC was for chatting, short, quick real time communication that would be lost to the ether as soon as you signed off, unless you had a bouncer or log bot.
Forums were for long information, be that long posts or posts that needed to endure for a long time. Sure you’d get some one liner responses to those posts, but forums were not at all instant like IRC. Though the information did stay much longer, and was much more searchable and organized.
Discord has spoiled us, being quick and chatty while also allowing for longer posts and being searchable. At least within the Discord client. Shoot they even added those “forum” channels to replicate the old forum feel. But real time.
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Why do we fragment again? We have matrix already - why make another application.
Does matrix have multiple chat channels per server / community yet? Last I asked they didn’t understand my question. Basically matrix just isn’t meant to be a replacement for discord.
It does have that.
A “server” in Matrix is a space. A chat channel is called a room. A space can hold as many rooms as you want.
Fun fact, unlike Discord, a space can even hold other spaces in it!
But as far as I can remember, you can’t administer the rooms in a space as one. Like you need to be invited into each separate room.
Not saying that you couldn’t add that, I’m saying they don’t seem to want to “do what discord did”. Which is a bummer since the success of discord clearly shows what would be needed.
PS: It’s fine to do that as a UX design choice, more like IRC. But the issue is that people like you (no offense) say it’s the same when it isn’t. Like not even understanding what the problem is.
But as far as I can remember, you can’t administer the rooms in a space as one. Like you need to be invited into each separate room.
Nope, again - I don’t understand who told you this. When you’re creating a room in Matrix you can make it either public, invite only, or only joinable via membership in a specific space.
Here’s a screenshot of the room security interface:
Not saying that you couldn’t add that, I’m saying they don’t seem to want to “do what discord did”. Which is a bummer since the success of discord clearly shows what would be needed.
You are correct in that they “don’t want to do what discord this”: recently (and you can see this in their apps like EleX) they’ve transitioned to looking and acting more like modern mobile chat apps like Signal/WhatsApp/Telegram - a decision I’m assuming they’ve made as most of their funding comes from people who want a replacement for those apps and not Discord.
Regardless, just using a Discord-like client (e.g. Commet) is enough to get the experience you want.
In terms of desktop applications, looks like Element and Revolt look pretty comparable these days. Mobile app Revolt looks better to me. Matrix seems way more established considering downloads of Element (there’s numerous Matrix applications) on Google Play and FlatHub
By memory there’s a community-made app for Revolt as well, but I can’t remember what its called, or the git link! When I find it again, I’ll link it here :)
its kinda useless without Voice, TeamSpeak however is making excellent progress. im hoping we just gi bsck to forums and stuff like TeamSpeak and vent.
Sure! It’s great that there is other options, too. So people have options available to them if they want to explore those.
I’m not promoting this as a end-game solution to everything. It’s not even my server.
I’m just sharing this in case people who enjoy gaming and Linux and the people behind the projects, they might want to join in.
Discord is too big at this point for people to leave it. I’ve never heard of revolt until now, I don’t see a need in switching because of a new CEO that hasn’t done anything yet.
Discord’s fine now but it sure won’t be in 5 years. Companies going public like this always end badly
How do you know that for sure?
You must be young.
Only 40
That’s surprising.
I find it surprising you can’t answer basic questions but just try to make fun of someone or change the subject.
Ever heard of Skype?
What about it? Different application but sure. Let’s hear your example anyway
Got bought up by Microsoft and enshittified.
It isn’t a long story, you likely could’ve researched it yourself in five minutes.
Discord is too big at this point for people to leave it.
Never seen a ‘too big to fail’ platform fail, huh? It happens more frequently than you’d think
Woolworths and Sears certainly will never not be the most dominant retail spaces in the United States. They’re gokng to live forever!
(I feel like most people here are too young ho even fully grasp the sarcasm on full display in my comment)
Pfft. It’s not like you can buy a house from Sears or something.
Edit: Guessing I got downvoted by somebody too young to understand the reference
Luckily I see I’ll be a fancygirl with my Sears options as I look!
Saying that the client is FOSS, but the server is proprietary, I like saying you have a chastity belt - with a ventilation hole in the back.
You finna get effed in the a.
