PieFed.caWhen The Threadverse Catches You Using Discord
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Sunshine (she/her)
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I'd imagine gatekeeping based on a percentage of FOSS used isn't going to win many hearts and minds in the long run for our communities. Imagine if the Linux community decried using the Steam Store on FOSS operating systems.
If the tool is best for the job, people will use it. Our role is to make FOSS that tool in each category.
Yeah, and in terms of usability Discord alternatives are really quite substantially behind Discord in terms of functions.
I don't think the same is with Reddit and Lemmy/Piefed. The distance is not so vast.
Having used Discord, it's hard to see how anything could be behind it in terms of functionality, since "using nothing" is literally an improvement over Discord.
If you want to make a comprehensive chatroom, and specify how it works to minor details - Revolt (for instance) is far behind. If what Discord is doesn't appeal to you in the first place, then neither would any of the Discord alternatives.
Discord is supposed to be a chatroom? I thought it was a voice chat service for videogames that didn't have it built it.
It has extensive text chat
Many people use it exclusively as text chat.
IMO that's the very reason why the FSF failed to gain significant traction over the years. Using a 100% libre device is HARD, even if you really want to. But yeah, gatekeeping is never gonna be helpful to push people towards better habits...
However, I would politely disagree with the "best tool for the job" argument. I believe that FLOSS software is an inherent quality, and that some degree of trade-off is acceptable, and even needed if we want to further promote it.
Like, is Darktable worst than Lightroom? Sure, but it's an awesome piece of software with minimal trade-offs for most people, so I think it's still meaningful to promote it above a potentially better software for the job, feature-wise but that requires to give up all freedom to Adobe.
Eventually that limit of acceptable trade-off is matter of personal choice, and again, it sound silly to gate-keep people on the Fediverse for that...
Yeah I love Lemmy and I love that people aren't afraid to be extreme on here but sometimes it's exhausting that it's just so omnipresent. It's like there's a whole lifestyle associated with Lemmy. And some people really take it too far. I think there's a balance to be struck between being full of normies vs being all extreme all the time.
I will take Cinny any day over Discord. I just wish the matrix protocol was more reliable since sometimes there are issues with joining rooms and you cant always see the messages in the encrypted group chat.
Matrix here too. I can't (and don't) force others to not use Discord but for the things I set up I can choose Matrix instead.
There's a critical need for more public servers than just matrix dot org though.
no but fr. we need a better alternate than the matrix and XMPP protocol, theyre both too buggy. I use them but fuck its annoying sometimes
It does seem like XMPP has their fans
Does anybody else? I've never been to Discord on purpose, but that's the trick with digital oligopolies, I don't get a choice in the matter. I don't need an app to talk to myself, but to talk to the people I need to talk to on Discord I need Discord.
Why do people think they're entitled to some sort of validation for their poor software choices? No one is being banned or blocked just for not using linux or for using discord. People are free to disagree with your choices- thats not gatekeeping.
Meh, block and move on, I use Discord to game with friends, we have used a Mumble server in the past, but Discord was just easier and had a better chat.
Though I will absolutely admit that I am missing the sound quality of Mumble
I use discord extensively. I've been on lemmy for over a year. Heck, I'm on a server that got pulled together in lemmy. I've seen a lot of complaints about discord, but nobody's actually ever condemned me for using it.
Let me be the first one. It has nothing to do with FOSS or decentralization, I just think it's a shit software.
Afaict, it doesn't really have any major competitors. No, if I have to self host, it's not a competitor
Using discord or self-hosting matrix/XMPP is a false dichotomy. One can join the already established servers available for either protocol.
I gave element / matrix a try recently. It's a very different use case, as (AFAICT) it does not support multi-channel rooms (or whatever you call it). The closest analogue would be WhatsApp / Telegram / Signal.
Also, multi device login is wonky as hell, took me 20 mins of repeated attempts to get it working.
I agree. I just think the reason it doesn't is because it doesn't need to exist. Seriously, 100% of its usecases are better served by something else.
Um. As a simple place for a group to chat and communicate via text?
Discord's great for that. But so many games and software are using it instead of forums or proper issue trackers now. It's a pretty serious downgrade.
Yeah I get the downside of those. But I find it weird how so many people blast discord when it's just about the only option for simple modern text based chat groups
Is it better than Signal/WhatsApp for that?
Signal / WhatsApp are messengers, they're meant for 1 to 1 or small groups. They don't handle large groups well, for which you want things like rooms, roles, moderation, etc. Different niches.
It reminds me of MIRC but if MIRC was soulless and made you pay to do the "fun" stuff like change colors and script things.
I still like pIRCh better
I had some dickhead coming at me the other day on Lemmy for not having completely erased Facebook from my life. As though that's a remotely reasonable thing to expect everyone to do.
It's not like making a personal decision not to use Amazon or to install Linux. It's a social network. It's literally not possible to make the decision unilaterally, unless you want to cut yourself off from people you care about IRL and from real political organising.
Obviously a personal choice, so noone should be giving you shit about it, but I moved all the people I want to talk to onto Deltachat/Signal/SMS (in order of my preference), that works perfectly fine and I havn't found someone who is opposed to all of those options.
Moving your 1-on-1 chats is one thing. Moving political organising, sports clubs, social clubs, and your various group chats is something very different.
Sentiments that would be completely incomprehensible 20 years ago.
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I did it. There's plenty of other ways for people to get in touch with me.
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Eh, it's not that different from the way humans have always been. Maybe you didn't like drinking in the 19th century, but if the local pub is where all your mates meet up to hang out, then the pub is where you go.
You should gatekeep Discord because it fucking sucks
The issue is that so many amazing groups are using it. I wish they would use matrix/xmpp instead.
It's not like there's any actual alternative with decent UI that doesn't require self hosting or a subscription.
element? it has its fair share of criticisms tho
Giving Up on Element & Matrix.org
Yeah, I looked into it at some point but it does not look suitable for big groups that include non techies.
!buyeuropean@feddit.uk has a directory of matrix instances on the sidebar one can join.
Fluffy Chat and Cinny are considered decent third-party Matrix clients way better than Element.
I'll take "Things that don't happen" for $2, Alex.
discord is an evil spirit and i am anti-discord puritan ᗜ‸ᗜ
javascript bloatware with pop-up advertisement for you to buy nitro-shit to post glowy animated stuff