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Most of these just require forum and not a chat community channel like Discord, where everyone keeps asking the same question, because things are not easy to se

by sagaro 5y ago

Most of these just require forum and not a chat community channel like Discord, where everyone keeps asking the same question, because things are not easy to search or organize. But the reason people aren't making forums, is it is not as easy for community owner to make forums (need to get cloud storage, then configure something like discourse forum, get a domain name etc.) Same for the end user who wants to be part of multiple communities, has to remember the URLs of multiple communities, has to have multiple logins and passwords and needs to create an account in each of them. If someone combines discord + discourse (basically an app, that has all your forums on the side bar with just one login, and people can create a new forum for anything, similar to how you can create a discord server) then I think we might end up going back to forums with more meaningful discussions and all information related to some issue in one place.

spurgu 5y ago
Ding ding ding, I think you hit the head of all the nails there. I don't use Discord for anything serious but it's just very convenient to join any Discord group with a single click since I'm already logged in there. I think we need to put aside the security practices of Discord (it's not like the discussions tend to be sensitive in any way), because I'm not aware of anything that comes close in ease of setup and user onboarding, at this point. Setting up Zulip or Mattermost, paying for hosting and then managing it all is quite a hassle in comparison.
- Zababa 5y ago
  It's not only about the security practices, it's about the visibility. I'm not a huge fan of Discourse, but when projects use it, I don't need to create an account to read, and it acts like a webpage, not an application.
  - toastal 5y ago
    Personally I think Discourse strikes a pretty good balance. It's a bit like a mailing list where it's easier to search and users can edit mistakes while having more modern features a browser can provide.
    - Zababa 5y ago
      That's how I would describe a "regular" forum, Discourse has feature that I don't like, things like infinite scrolling, the interface being slow.
- sm4rk0 5y ago
  We're on HackerNews - we can't "put aside the security practices of Discord".
  - spurgu 5y ago
    Fair, but what I meant was that I don't care whether the security of a Discord group for software development for a certain project is horribly flawed. I'd approach such a group with zero security/privacy expectations, since there's not really any kind of private discussion going on and I'd consider everything to be public anyways. Use Discord for anything remotely private and we can have a discussion. :)
Zababa 5y ago
I'll preface this by saying that I'm not fond of the Github monoculture, but something like Github discussions or a forum on Github would be better for most of these things. > If someone combines discord + discourse (basically an app, that has all your forums on the side bar with just one login, and people can create a new forum for anything, similar to how you can create a discord server) then I think we might end up going back to forums with more meaningful discussions and all information related to some issue in one place. That's interesting, you seem to favor a "per tool" usage (all forums on one tool), while I would favor a "per project" usage. I prefer the "per project" as I don't want to have my identity always connected between projects. On the other hand, Github is almost forcing everyone to have a "per tool" usage. Since everything is already on Github, your only way to escape them is to enforce a "per tool" separation.
- sagaro 5y ago
  I actually don't favor "per tool" or "per project". Just making an observation on why project owners are gravitating towards discord for their community. It is easier to setup than to setup a forum or something. The issue with per project forum (instead of a discord type one login for all forums), is that it creates friction. For instance I have visited obsidian.md's forums a lot for things I need. Sometimes I have noticed someone asking something for which I know the answer, but then the pain of having to create an account and then answer that person, makes me just skip it. The reason for discord communities to be active, is purely because there is no friction.
  - Zababa 5y ago
    For the login part, a "login with github" might partially solve this, though it doesn't solve people having to create and maintain a forum.
    - sagaro 5y ago
      Still need to remember URLs and then visit them on regular basis. It it not a push system, more a pull system. Communities die that way, at least at initial stages.
Aditya_Garg 5y ago
Isn’t that just Reddit?

by sagaro 5y ago

spurgu 5y ago

Ding ding ding, I think you hit the head of all the nails there. I don't use Discord for anything serious but it's just very convenient to join any Discord group with a single click since I'm already logged in there. I think we need to put aside the security practices of Discord (it's not like the discussions tend to be sensitive in any way), because I'm not aware of anything that comes close in ease of setup and user onboarding, at this point. Setting up Zulip or Mattermost, paying for hosting and then managing it all is quite a hassle in comparison.

Zababa 5y ago
It's not only about the security practices, it's about the visibility. I'm not a huge fan of Discourse, but when projects use it, I don't need to create an account to read, and it acts like a webpage, not an application.
- toastal 5y ago
  Personally I think Discourse strikes a pretty good balance. It's a bit like a mailing list where it's easier to search and users can edit mistakes while having more modern features a browser can provide.
  - Zababa 5y ago
    That's how I would describe a "regular" forum, Discourse has feature that I don't like, things like infinite scrolling, the interface being slow.
sm4rk0 5y ago
We're on HackerNews - we can't "put aside the security practices of Discord".
- spurgu 5y ago
  Fair, but what I meant was that I don't care whether the security of a Discord group for software development for a certain project is horribly flawed. I'd approach such a group with zero security/privacy expectations, since there's not really any kind of private discussion going on and I'd consider everything to be public anyways. Use Discord for anything remotely private and we can have a discussion. :)

Zababa 5y ago

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not fond of the Github monoculture, but something like Github discussions or a forum on Github would be better for most of these things. > If someone combines discord + discourse (basically an app, that has all your forums on the side bar with just one login, and people can create a new forum for anything, similar to how you can create a discord server) then I think we might end up going back to forums with more meaningful discussions and all information related to some issue in one place. That's interesting, you seem to favor a "per tool" usage (all forums on one tool), while I would favor a "per project" usage. I prefer the "per project" as I don't want to have my identity always connected between projects. On the other hand, Github is almost forcing everyone to have a "per tool" usage. Since everything is already on Github, your only way to escape them is to enforce a "per tool" separation.

sagaro 5y ago
I actually don't favor "per tool" or "per project". Just making an observation on why project owners are gravitating towards discord for their community. It is easier to setup than to setup a forum or something. The issue with per project forum (instead of a discord type one login for all forums), is that it creates friction. For instance I have visited obsidian.md's forums a lot for things I need. Sometimes I have noticed someone asking something for which I know the answer, but then the pain of having to create an account and then answer that person, makes me just skip it. The reason for discord communities to be active, is purely because there is no friction.
- Zababa 5y ago
  For the login part, a "login with github" might partially solve this, though it doesn't solve people having to create and maintain a forum.
  - sagaro 5y ago
    Still need to remember URLs and then visit them on regular basis. It it not a push system, more a pull system. Communities die that way, at least at initial stages.

Aditya_Garg 5y ago

Isn’t that just Reddit?