State of the Discord - A Lesson (r/selfhosted)
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from sudoer777@lemmy.ml to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 13 Jul 21:29
https://lemmy.ml/post/50021763
from sudoer777@lemmy.ml to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 13 Jul 21:29
https://lemmy.ml/post/50021763
TLDR: The r/selfhosted subreddit has a Discord server. The owner’s account got hacked leaving the server in a precarious state. They submitted a support ticket, but Discord has not taken action in weeks and probably won’t at all, so they are considering starting a new Discord server.
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But why a new Discord server? 🤦
That’s the punchline brother man
“Fool me twice well… Shame on… Shame on…Point being we been fooled once we won’t get fooled again!”
Fool me twice, get a free ticket to fool me thrice.
What a flippin’ moron he was…both of them actually.
Fitting that r/selfhosted can’t selfhost.
those who can’t do, teach
Hosting costs money, maybe if you disable voice, video, uploads, and only allowed text it would be manageable but discord is free. I run my own chat server but it’s only for like 10 people.
At least voice and video are often done peer to peer. So the strain on the server would be almost zero.
There is still transcoding done thru the server, maybe depending on the app but the ones that use livekit it would.
Discord sucks.
They’re a completely unserious owner if they use Discord still as a “selfhoster”, that and getting hacked on top of that shows how careless they are as a moderator.
Self hosting and providing a public service are two very different things.
I’ve never self hosted a discord alternative, but it doesn’t seem like it’d cost anything to just spin it up beside existing self hosted infrastructure.
Here is some advice then: Don’t run a public service until you understand the risks and are capable of protecting yourself and your users. It isn’t as simple as booting up a service for self use. By using Discord they minimised damages to users it would be worse if they lost control of a Discord alternative with RCE exploits.
Users probably wouldn’t be too damaged if an IRC server with a few public channels got hacked. I realize IRC isn’t a true Discord alternative (and I realize that’s what you were picturing when you commented- I’m not debating your point). I just can’t imagine why a self hosting subreddit would need more than text chat + help bot.
You just make a few channels on existing IRC servers don’t need to host anything. I mean if you know what you are doing go for it but unless you actually do, don’t put servers on the internet for trawlers to take over.
A fediverse IRC server network sounds pretty cool tbh. #bringbackirc
E: Oooo a middle ground: thelounge.chat Self Hosted IRC WebClient
Without having gone on that discord, like most discords, it would be my guess that 80% of the purpose of it is for shitposting, custom emojis, and sharing gifs.
Ironically few if any self hosted chat platforms share that focus, so that’s likely part of the gap. It’s either irc (very light on features, no ui for administration/customization for those not wanting to use admin text commands), matrix (very heavy, focus on federation, also has many commands that are only through text, very light support for custom emoji or built in gifs), or the crippleware open source business oriented chat platforms like rocketchat, mattermost, or zulip.
Honestly zulip is probably best but then you get into the wonderful world of mobile push notifications, capped at 10 users or unlimited for “eligible communities” there
Fluxer recently added self hosting and it has a mobile app in beta and soon to be released, admin from a web GUI, not difficult to host, and has a good amount of discord features. It is somewhat heavy though.
oh wow lol that’s not just “discord features” that’s o.g. “linux is not unix” built by claude. thanks for the share
huh?
E.g. it’s an AI built discord clone with a nearly identical interface, not a chat platform “with discord features”
not sure where you got the ai built part from, because it isn’t that
XMPP is all the goodies of IRC but modernized for the current age, and it’s not a nu-protocol like Matrix so it’s quite lightweight to host or service.
Matrix, dudes.
Stoat chat has been a good Discord alternative.
What advantage does it have compared to Matrix?/IRC?
It mimics discord, so functional voice rooms with screen sharing, text channels, and so on…
Matrix has all that these days too
I have not seen a matrix voice channel ever in any of the servers ive seen. Also using element.
Join different servers then? Not sure what to tell you.
I use element and I am in many different matrix servers with voice rooms. I host my own as well, voice is done via livekit which makes connecting via MatrixRTC very easy, and is easy to setup and host.
Those same voice rooms support webcams / video, as well as screen sharing.
So voice is done via a different software not matrix?
Matrix is a protocol, its all through some other software. Livekit is just a good and easy webrtc server that you can tie in with something like synapse
So the matrix protocol doesnt have voice like I thought.
Yes, it does. Like I have said, that part of the protocol is called MatrixRTC. It is not a hack, or a mod, or third party.
I am mistaken an incorrect then. I’ll have to try it out one of these days.
I literally use matrix voice for my d&d group every week lol, just join a server that has voice
Only thing I dislike is the lack of software based noise cancelling is a bit awkward but very managable
last i checked it was very difficult to run your own instance (including voice chats)
It’s worked okay for me so far as well. The mobile apps aren’t super stable yet and notifications don’t work but it works for what it is right now. I do miss the stability of discord but I’m not going back
Fluxer as well. It has iOS and Android apps in beta too.
Why, use Redddit if you are in a self hosting community, I understand the community of curious people are there but are you really going to be selling yourself short like that? Than to be using discord as a self hosting community messanger?
At least they’re admitting their fault.
<img alt="" src="https://sh.itjust.works/pictrs/image/25c53250-241f-42fc-a0c9-00af19791705.jpeg">
Edit; Their matrix room if anyone is interested.
matrix.to/#/#selfhosted:selfhosted.chat
lol
My hotest selfhosting take is that stuff I use in my day job, docker/k8s/cloud is not worth it and generally worse for long-term self hosting than a Debian box.
Like I have the skills to troubleshoot containerized setups, it’s litterally my dayjob, but I’d rather not deal with it in my freetime unless there is no other way to run it.
Is that a hot take? I see a lot of people saying this, including myself. Kubernetes solves problems at work, but is way overkill even for my moderately elaborate home setup that would cause more troubles than it solves. If people want to use k8s at home go ahead, but I don’t.
k8s is overkill for majority of companies as well
After using Proxmox for a while, I swear by LXC, at least the way it is provided there.
Makes containerization make sense without all the pain.
Disclaimer: not even an IT guy, so can be gravely mistaken, just want to own my stuff.
Honestly, I’m really happy with the ability to just try out stuff with docker and then nuke the entire compose stack if it does not work. I also know perfectly where any possible leftovers from the attempt are (the bind mounts or volumes) and can be certain I deleted everything I “installed”.
Although I have to admit that I absolutely had some issues with containers in the past, mainly when there are two or more containers with dependencies on one another.
Never used k8s or the cloud so I have nothing to comment on that ;D
Eh, docker is actually amazing for self hosting. ESPECIALLY anything python, I’m not here to fuck around with conflictinging requirements and venvs all day.
k8s can fuck right off though. Completely overkill for home use. Honestly completely overkill for most business uses.
The irony.
Points furiously THIS Alanis! This right here!
Lol
Double lol
I definitely agree. Lol. But I also totally understand using Discord. I assume the community isn’t meant exclusively for people who currently self host, but also for people interested in starting to. In that regard, Discord will most likely be what those people have and are willing to use.
I get the point that that’s where the people are, but also kinda feel like the selfhosted community should act as a vanguard to a point. Sure, maybe you have a ‘front door’ on a corporate platform, but kinda feel like in the case of selfhosted sticking to your principles and purposefully rejecting platforms that don’t fit the vision is kind of important especially when you’re currently in the middle of finding out why.
Correct. I have received help from that server in the past, and it’s unusable now. Part of what I hope to accomplish is to replace Discord, or at least offer my friends an off-ramp. Getting started with Discord is way easier, and in the year 2026, I wouldn’t know what other client to use to look for a community that gives me quick help via live chat. I no longer know how to use IRC, I’ve found.
Also I feel like discord has a limited lifespan until it will necessarily turn into worse. They lose money each year so I wonder when their vc money runs dry
Judging by the sales emails I’ve gotten from them they’re trying to break into business use and compete with slack/teams. And all I have to say to that is “lol”.
Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:
[Thread #54 for this comm, first seen 14th Jul 2026, 15:10] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]
Guys, while we’re at it… Is there any discord alternative that has some kind of safe guarding against power tripping mods?
I think the only safeguard against that is to do your own moderation. The only tool I can think of that would even come close to detecting “power tripping” would be AI, and we all know that would end terribly. The best you can do is remove incentives (somehow, idk) so mods aren’t rewarded for a bad ban.
It does seem like wildly unregulated territory, unfortunately.
I have ideas I’ve brainstormed though:
Minimum number of moderaters once a certain user threshold has been reached (So if you have above 1k-5k users, you need a minimum of 2 or 3 mods)?
Ability to report servers for incompetent moderation?
There’s a line eventually where discord stops being a place where “friends hang out” and becomes a platform to engage with a community.
That’s the point where moderation should be regulated.
Just my two cents anyway.
Honestly, every platform has the same problem, including real life countries. There’s always the possibility that whatever power is enforcing the rules is corrupted and doesn’t listen to anyone else. The mechanisms for fairly determining both what the rules should be and how to enforce them are always evolving as people find new ways to do bad things.
The fediverse is a nice system because it allows people to leave and make their own communities if the admins become toxic, incentivizing them to actually listen to users. I can only hope we don’t get overrun my AI slop like the rest of the internet.
How do you even define that?
Those saying “just self-host Matrix/Stoat/XMPP”, do not understand the power of network effects. If people are too lazy to sign up on your custom server, and you end up with 50% of the users you would have gotten if you used Discord, is that worth it? What if it was only 10%?
I wish there were a solution to this. Interoperability sounds nice until you have multiple competing standards (like Matrix and XMPP)
The solution is for everyone to migrate to Jami, which is obviously the better option!
<img alt="" src="https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/standards_2x.png">
There’s a certain irony making this comment on Lemmy.
Well I’m not trying to start a community around helping people, I’m just a participator. If I wanted to maximize the number of people I could help, I might move back to reddit
edit: a word
I understand that POV, but if people want help, they’ll go to where it is. Walk the talk of FOSS. That’s how we’ll build better communities.
They won’t go to Lemmy. Anybody getting into self hosting will not just know what Lemmy is. Nor will they per se care for FOSS to the same extent you do. So having people helping around on conventional platforms seems perfectly valid to me.
They could always advertise a Matrix room and bridge conversations if the moderators really wanted to as well, instead of isolating themselves.
Do you know what a hyperlink is? You just click on it and it takes you to Lemmy. You sign up, pretty much the same way you have done for every other service you have ever used. What are we doing here? Are we not trying to build alternatives to the corpo-surveillance hellscape that the internet has become? Give users a little more credit, and a little more incentive. Otherwise, you’re sending mixed messages when you offer a way to get their photos away from google or something, but you force them to use fucking Discord for support.
It’s fine if you disagree with me, but please keep it civil. The reason I’m saying they won’t go to Lemmy is because those hyperlinks will usually lead to the relevant docs, a couple of blogpost, or Reddit. I personally have never seen a Lemmy or Piefed instance in my search results when I looked up a problem.
To give an example: I went to Google and I put in the query “how to start self hosting on a linux server”, which is what I assume someone getting into it would look up. The top site (skipping the AI response and for some reason, Youtube videos?) was Reddit. That’s why it makes sense to me to offer help on a more conventional platform for people getting into self hosting. The people among them who get into federated services will naturally find their place here. They are not forced either way.
If a little light sarcasm is incivility to you, then you’re in for a real struggle. I don’t know how most people end up self-hosting but I suspect it’s more of an organic process. For me, jeez… I can probably trace it back to using StumbleUpon browser extension, hearing about Linux, then installing it as a way to avoid studying for exams. Once I was using Linux on my computer, I suppose self-hosting was inevitable. Where did I get the info? Wherever I could find it.
I don’t get what you mean by organic process. But sure, if you don’t think many people getting into self hosting would look something up like that, I get that you don’t think it’s worthwhile for a self hosting community being present on those platforms.
I mean it like, it’s a slow progression that builds on other interests, rather than your average person deciding suddenly to self-host. And it’s not that I think it is or isn’t worthwhile, I just have a different idea about what “we” are trying to accomplish. If your priority is to grow the userbase of one particular community or project, then I can see why you would want to have “presence” on corporate platforms. I still think it warrants an examination of the principles of self-hosting and consideration of “alternative” platforms.