8 ms·

Ask HN: Any open source stack exchange clone

31 points by yogrish 4y ago

In our organization we are looking for Stack exchange / Reddit / HN like clone that can used for "discussion threads on some technical topics". Any suggestions. We use Teams chat but UI for this purpose is not useful.

pushcx 4y ago
The Lobsters codebase is available, it's a straightforward Rails app with few dependencies: https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters
labarilem 4y ago
Which are the features you need the most?
mattbrewsbytes 4y ago
I explored this a bit and found there is a threshold of "too many tools" where people won't follow things on yet another thing that sends them notifications. I think the magic number is 4: email, chat, wiki, tickets - we don't do much email so more like 3. The problem is none of those are good at longer technical discussions. With chat, threads beyond a day or so in the past are clunky to revive and follow. Wiki is better at finalized docs, tickets are short lived and any technical discussion should be settled by the time someone is working an item. Really curious if others have found solutions.
- nicoburns 4y ago
  We use Google docs for this. They’re live editable, and also support out of flow comments.
- djbusby 4y ago
  I route all notifications into email. And I don't install apps. But most tools have a link in their notification email and a click takes me into the WebUI. Teams I work with use GDocs for editing group knowledge things, then export to Runbook.
cpach 4y ago
Discourse might be an option https://www.discourse.org/ https://www.discourse.org/
- skbly7 4y ago
  Plus, these plugins to achieve similar functionality: https://meta.discourse.org/t/thoughts-on-a-plugin-which-turns-discourse-into-stackoverflow/20763/2 https://meta.discourse.org/t/thoughts-on-a-plugin-which-turn...
- frafra 4y ago
  I tried that. Containerized setup require running a custom script of theirs using root. The Docker image is a monolith running multiple servers and database within it. Those are a dealbreaker for many sysadmins, unluckily.
somat 4y ago
A forum, stack exchange is an instance of the forum pattern of communication.
jsiepkes 4y ago
There is TalkYard: https://www.talkyard.io/ https://www.talkyard.io/
nonameiguess 4y ago
Are you looking for something hosted by another organization? I'd say just use the old version of Reddit from when it was still open source as long as you're willing to self-host (https://github.com/reddit-archive/reddit/wiki/Install-guide https://github.com/reddit-archive/reddit/wiki/Install-guide). I believe that is what Less Wrong originally did. The features that Reddit has added since don't seem useful to me anyway.
- tech234a 4y ago
  Are there any examples of self-hosted Reddit that are still online? I’m curious how it works.
wturner 4y ago
I used this about a decade ago. No complaints. https://github.com/q2a/question2answer https://github.com/q2a/question2answer
jfkw 4y ago
https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy "... Lemmy is similar to sites like Reddit, Lobste.rs, or Hacker News: you subscribe to forums you're interested in, post links and discussions, then vote, and comment on them. Behind the scenes, it is very different; anyone can easily run a server, and all these servers are federated (think email), and connected to the same universe, called the Fediverse."
FearlessNebula 4y ago
Discourse
pxeger1 4y ago
Codidact is a literal direct competitor to StackExchange, and it's open-source: https://codidact.org/ https://codidact.org/
dsr_ 4y ago
The software is QPixel. It was built specifically to be an open-source discussion system a la Stack Exchange. The largest public instance of it that I know of is codidact.com; codidact.org is the sponsoring organization. https://github.com/codidact/qpixel https://github.com/codidact/qpixel
jebus989 4y ago
In the bioinformatics sphere there is this MIT-licensed Stack Exchange clone: https://github.com/ialbert/biostar-central https://github.com/ialbert/biostar-central
jolmg 4y ago
https://www.codidact.org/ https://www.codidact.org/
afterburner5 4y ago
We're currently in the process of leveraging Github discussions for that.
- Shorn 4y ago
  How is that working out for you? I’m strongly considering it for our team. We use Slack threads and it’s not working for us, at all. We need more openness too.
kurtreed 4y ago
Scoold
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ms4720 4y ago
Google nntp
rgovostes 4y ago
For a Stack Exchange-alike, the ROS project hosts one at https://answers.ros.org https://answers.ros.org which is powered by Askbot (https://askbot.com/ https://askbot.com/), which says it is an open source Django app, but I didn’t see the code at a quick glance.
- frafra 4y ago
  Latest release is from 2015: https://github.com/ASKBOT/askbot-devel/tags https://github.com/ASKBOT/askbot-devel/tags.
geoduck14 4y ago
Stack Overflow for Teams
rambojazz 4y ago
Q2A

31 points by yogrish 4y ago

pushcx 4y ago

The Lobsters codebase is available, it's a straightforward Rails app with few dependencies: https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters https://github.com/lobsters/lobsters

labarilem 4y ago

Which are the features you need the most?

mattbrewsbytes 4y ago

I explored this a bit and found there is a threshold of "too many tools" where people won't follow things on yet another thing that sends them notifications. I think the magic number is 4: email, chat, wiki, tickets - we don't do much email so more like 3. The problem is none of those are good at longer technical discussions. With chat, threads beyond a day or so in the past are clunky to revive and follow. Wiki is better at finalized docs, tickets are short lived and any technical discussion should be settled by the time someone is working an item. Really curious if others have found solutions.

nicoburns 4y ago
We use Google docs for this. They’re live editable, and also support out of flow comments.
djbusby 4y ago
I route all notifications into email. And I don't install apps. But most tools have a link in their notification email and a click takes me into the WebUI. Teams I work with use GDocs for editing group knowledge things, then export to Runbook.

cpach 4y ago

Discourse might be an option https://www.discourse.org/ https://www.discourse.org/

skbly7 4y ago
Plus, these plugins to achieve similar functionality: https://meta.discourse.org/t/thoughts-on-a-plugin-which-turns-discourse-into-stackoverflow/20763/2 https://meta.discourse.org/t/thoughts-on-a-plugin-which-turn...
frafra 4y ago
I tried that. Containerized setup require running a custom script of theirs using root. The Docker image is a monolith running multiple servers and database within it. Those are a dealbreaker for many sysadmins, unluckily.

somat 4y ago

A forum, stack exchange is an instance of the forum pattern of communication.

jsiepkes 4y ago

There is TalkYard: https://www.talkyard.io/ https://www.talkyard.io/

nonameiguess 4y ago

Are you looking for something hosted by another organization? I'd say just use the old version of Reddit from when it was still open source as long as you're willing to self-host (https://github.com/reddit-archive/reddit/wiki/Install-guide https://github.com/reddit-archive/reddit/wiki/Install-guide). I believe that is what Less Wrong originally did. The features that Reddit has added since don't seem useful to me anyway.

tech234a 4y ago
Are there any examples of self-hosted Reddit that are still online? I’m curious how it works.

wturner 4y ago

I used this about a decade ago. No complaints. https://github.com/q2a/question2answer https://github.com/q2a/question2answer

jfkw 4y ago

https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy "... Lemmy is similar to sites like Reddit, Lobste.rs, or Hacker News: you subscribe to forums you're interested in, post links and discussions, then vote, and comment on them. Behind the scenes, it is very different; anyone can easily run a server, and all these servers are federated (think email), and connected to the same universe, called the Fediverse."

FearlessNebula 4y ago

Discourse

pxeger1 4y ago

Codidact is a literal direct competitor to StackExchange, and it's open-source: https://codidact.org/ https://codidact.org/

dsr_ 4y ago

The software is QPixel. It was built specifically to be an open-source discussion system a la Stack Exchange. The largest public instance of it that I know of is codidact.com; codidact.org is the sponsoring organization. https://github.com/codidact/qpixel https://github.com/codidact/qpixel

jebus989 4y ago

In the bioinformatics sphere there is this MIT-licensed Stack Exchange clone: https://github.com/ialbert/biostar-central https://github.com/ialbert/biostar-central

jolmg 4y ago

https://www.codidact.org/ https://www.codidact.org/

afterburner5 4y ago

We're currently in the process of leveraging Github discussions for that.

Shorn 4y ago
How is that working out for you? I’m strongly considering it for our team. We use Slack threads and it’s not working for us, at all. We need more openness too.

kurtreed 4y ago

Scoold

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

ms4720 4y ago

Google nntp

rgovostes 4y ago

For a Stack Exchange-alike, the ROS project hosts one at https://answers.ros.org https://answers.ros.org which is powered by Askbot (https://askbot.com/ https://askbot.com/), which says it is an open source Django app, but I didn’t see the code at a quick glance.

frafra 4y ago
Latest release is from 2015: https://github.com/ASKBOT/askbot-devel/tags https://github.com/ASKBOT/askbot-devel/tags.

geoduck14 4y ago

Stack Overflow for Teams

rambojazz 4y ago

Q2A