Discord - Where did people go wrong?

[LoudLemur]

Many people I am sure will have another opinion, but I think when a 'need' for something like Discord arises, people should be aware of Free Software alternatives and opt for those instead. For example, Element might well do all that is required.

So, why is it that so many people seem to reflexively reach for Discord, which is proprietary and destructive of anonymity and requires a phone number, when there are Free Software alternatives?

When I try and answer this question myself, i come to the conclusion that Free Software was neither a part of their formal education nor ever a prominent feature of informal discussion where they frequented online. Maybe there is also the, "I don't care, Discord has shiny features and everybody is using it" aspect, too.

What do you think? Why does it happen?

[humptydumpty]

@LoudLemur You can blame the gaming community. It's a unified place for gamers, much like Steam is the most popular game client/store. I remember the mess we had to deal with when trying to get new people to join our TeamSpeak servers. "Oh, you formatted your PC? Let me send you the TS server IP and pass again". Complex permissions, boring UI, etc.. Then, Discord showed up. The new cool kid on the block. I guess many developers are also gamers so the transition need from personal to professional wasn't needed as they are one and the same. I think that most people just don't care about privacy and within those that do, most opt for convenience over security. Whether Discord was FOSS or not, probably wasn't even a thought. This stuff is like water, go with the flow thing.

BTW, I don't blame those that don't care about their privacy. It's freaking tiring to stay private and it's because big tech is EVERYWHERE and now with AI, it's impossible to protect our privacy online and or in the physical world (facial recognition at every corner).

[jegillikin 0]

@LoudLemur

I agree with @humptydumpty but I think there's another layer of complexity here. Despite loving FOSS, FOSS isn't free to the person who hosts it.

I can spin up a Discord server for free. However, if I spin up Element under my control, I need at least a server and a domain name. Those aren't free, and my real-life billing info is part of that transaction. Free software is great unless you're the admin. In which case, there's almost always non-trivial infra costs that must be borne.

I know lots of folks who could use, e.g., Element, but the content of their communities has some risk (usually copyright infringement) that they don't want directly traceable to themselves.

I'm also one of "those guys" who runs several small businesses. I don't have time to be checking 84,328 different places for inbound comms. For better or for worse, I pay ProtonMail to host the MX for most of my domains, and I rely on email primarily -- everything dumps into one app and inbox, and I sort it with labels and filters. Secondarily, iMessage, for those few people to whom I give my cell number. Thirdly, Discord. Beyond that, I don't have the bandwidth to be checking bespoke comms hubs for all the communities/initiatives with which I'm involved.

Put differently -- the FOSS problem is one of network effects. I can learn and use one app for many servers on Discord, but given the fragmentation of the FOSS ecosystem, I'd need to use several apps to track those same communities in the alternative. And I just don't have time for that, just as I don't have time to be tech support for users who don't know how Teh Intertubes work.

[jdaviescoates]

@jegillikin-0 you reminded me of Element One which seems worth keeping an eye on

https://element.io/element-one

Although note

[jegillikin 0]

@jdaviescoates Interesting concept.

In a perfect world, I'd have One Chat App To Rule Them All -- and in the darkness,

bind()

them -- but it's been a long time since that's been on the table.

[marcusquinn]

@jegillikin-0 I think AI will bring more people into the terminal. I was recently looking at Twitter CLI projects, and already finding AI Shell rather useful for improving command line understanding.

[jegillikin 0]

@marcusquinn said in Discord - Where did people go wrong?:

@jegillikin-0 I think AI will bring more people into the terminal. I was recently looking at Twitter CLI projects, and already finding AI Shell rather useful for improving command line understanding.

Hahaha, I have seen the future and it's Emacs.