I see it's once again time to post this: https://taggart-tech.com/discord-alternatives

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

I see it's once again time to post this: https://taggart-tech.com/discord-alternatives

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

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

[joenash@hachyderm.io]

@mttaggart uh oh what did they do now

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

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.

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

@joenash Paternalism as a service: https://discord.com/press-releases/discord-launches-teen-by-default-settings-globally

[rootwyrm@weird.autos]

@mttaggart Stoat has actually moved SHOCKINGLY quickly and I would say it is easily 85%+ parity for the majority of users at this point. The biggest sticking point would probably be servers with >100 custom emojis or highly dependent on bots (which are relatively easy to port.)

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

@rootwyrm Last I checked the moderation tools were still nowhere near adequate, and that is a dealbreaker for me.

[rootwyrm@weird.autos]

@mttaggart most of Discord's power user moderation tools are reliant on third-party bots or demonstrably ineffective. Baseline moderation tools are at this point, 1:1 or better. Channel visibility can be set per-role, you can include a reason along with a ban. The UI could use some polish, but it's there.

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

@rootwyrm

most of Discord's power user moderation tools are reliant on third-party bots or demonstrably ineffective.

As an admin of a 3000+ user server, I strongly disagree. AutoMod is a lifesaver and I can't imagine running a public space without something equivalent.

[rootwyrm@weird.autos]

@mttaggart I also admin on rather large servers. If Discord makes one more claim their 'automod' actually stops the hacked account spamming, I will stab that employee in the face.
It absolutely does not. Literally 99% of the 'moderation' I do, is cleaning up after spammers posting obvious phishing links in every single channel that their 'suspected spam' block continuously lets through.

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

@rootwyrm That's true, but the ability to create useful blocklists of terms limits the attacks to one per technique. The lists I have block the vast majority of attempts. If Stoat has that capacity, great.

[mikesiegel@infosec.exchange]

@mttaggart I'll just go back to IRC. Wait I never left...

[leberschnitzel@existiert.ch]

@mttaggart ah yeah if you manage big communities that might be a problem. For my 25 friends it doesn't really matter.
I tried it when it was still revolt and really liked it, but never actually made the move

@rootwyrm

[murdoccc@infosec.exchange]

@32x33 I miss the CrankySec community, but I really don't miss Discord.

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

@gme I'm not sure what criteria you're using, but for public communities it absolutely is not. The utter lack of moderation capability makes it unsafe for that use case. Private comms? Fine. But that's not really Discord's primary purpose.

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

@gme That is not what I'm talking about. When you run a community, moderation is per room, which doesn't scale in the least. The automation via bots like Draupnir is rudimentary at best, and incredibly hamfisted (especially for E2EE). Yes, I can take action on individual users. I cannot prevent attacks usefully at scale. And setting all of the additional tooling up for what does exist is the kind of sysadmin nightmare that Discord successfully abstracted away.

Meanwhile, Discourse has these tools out of the box. They serve different purposes, but I contend that for community building, one is far superior.

[bretthaines@infosec.exchange]

@mttaggart the first company I worked for used Rocket.Chat for their IMs and it worked better than MS Teams or Google Chat, both of which I've used at later employers. Didn't look as flashy but it was far more stable. I really hope they stick with it for my old coworkers' sake.

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

@bretthaines It's very good! And their native federation protocol has entered general availability.

[mttaggart@infosec.exchange]

@gme Ah, but what has a community profited to gain E2EE, only to lose trust and safety? As always, "it depends," but IME a public Matrix server is just courting disaster.

[shom@gts.shom.dev]

@mttaggart this is fantastic!
I've had excellent experience with Discourse but haven't been part of one that has enabled chat. Have you had a chance to try it?