> the FreeBSD Discord Server, a community of over 3,000 members strong.
Was the adoption of Discord by the FreeBSD community controversial?
Was the adoption of Discord by the FreeBSD community controversial?
Just like a decade+ ago they thought web forums were vastly inferior to mailing lists.
And they were right on both counts =)
I wanted to join a Discord that required phone number verification. I gave them the number I've had for the last 24 years, and they said it was invalid because it is hosted on Google Voice. I asked for alternative authentication and they said, and I quote,
"Do you have a friend who doesn't use Discord? Can you just use their phone to verify yourself?".
Since then I've been very anti-Discord (but will still occasionally pop on because there are some interesting communities there).
A good web forum is vastly superior to mailing lists.
Matrix, with suitable clients, is vastly superior to IRC.
I'm above the age of thirty-five by twenty-three years and three quarters.
I'm right on all counts ;-)
This is easily refutable - one can make a web frontend to mailing list that imitates the look of any forum. Getting forum into email client (or other frontend) not so much ;-P
And of course NNTP is superior to both.
NNTP is not looking good for the Project. Please see, for example:
https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/192271/253798105-4...
At the time, mid-July: "twelve on-topic threads this year – overall, probably not bad enough to justify delisting."
NNTP looks far worse for other groups that are promoted.
Fundamentally there is very little difference between NNTP group and mailing list except the former having no spam filter and moderation.
It would be great if all mailing lists provided at least read-only access to archives via NNTP. I miss gmane as my one stop shop for all mailing lists.
Realistically, I can't use NNTP for things such as inline graphics e.g. screenshots.
I've joined multiple programming Discords. When I post, where am I notified of the new replies to me? Or new threads in reply to my messages? I'm convinced I'm missing replies, so end up scrolling up and down history trying to spot them.
I use Slack for a dozen programming Slacks and I get the UI and what's going on. Discord feels alien. Being able to trust the communication platform... that matters.
Notifications in Discord are a PITA. And the rest, yeah.
But I just use the irc channels. Or matrix which is just as good as discord and respects my privacy.
Alongside Discord, we have the /r/freebsd subreddit; a Matrix instance (not yet listed); The FreeBSD Foundation on Mastodon (not yet listed); and so on.
The last update to the Community page was by me. In an ideal world: I'd now add what's missing. In reality: I chose to resign (my doc commit bit was taken in for safekeeping).
Side note: when I last checked, servers for The FreeBSD Forums were not (officially) hosted by The FreeBSD Project.
HTH
It took me by surprise, but there was no controversy.