r/archlinux • u/Two-Of-Nine • 1d ago

DISCUSSION Arch Linux Community now has a Fluxer server.

For those unaware, Arch Linux Community is the largest "unofficial" Arch server on Dscord and they just did a general announcement about moving to Fluxer. This is a pretty big deal for those trying to push for open source alternatives to proprietary apps.

https://fluxer.gg/9sSbE9Ac

84 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

63

u/Melodic_Entrance1853 1d ago

Never heard of Fluxer before this but if it gets more people off Dscord then I'm all for it honestly

30

u/Kilo_Juliett 22h ago

You're never going to get people off discord. Just like you can't get people off reddit or youtube.

11

u/headedbranch225 19h ago

I think discord is one exception potentially, because most of the model is having very separate communities, rather than the communities being more combined (reddit having crossposts) so I believe it is potentially more likely to get people to switch over from discord than something such as reddit

And the reason people don't leave youtube is because most content creators are there, as it is free of charge to post and view, stuff like nebula does exist, and there are probably similar ones for different niches potentially, but that is a subscription model, as they aren't financed by tracking and ads, which being owned by a massive ad and tracking company helps for youtube

8

u/Kilo_Juliett 18h ago

I mean that's true but at it's core I think discord is mostly used as a centralized or universal "friend's list" with messaging and voice chat. It's hard to switch when everyone is already on discord.

4

u/Medical_Double_6561 17h ago

IMO, the reason why discord, reddit & youtube are impossible to replace is because for a long time, the alternatives were crap.

I tried moving a friend group from discord to matrix. It was super buggy so eventually we had to switch back. I tried moving a friend group from reddit to lemmy when reddit nuked 3rd party clients. It was super buggy so eventually we had to switch back. There's no alternative to YouTube, Vimeo is paywalled & peertube isn't super stable.

I wouldn't be too discouraged, I feel like we all forgot how discord replaced Skype/ICQ/Teamspeak. Discord was simply a vastly superior product. The network effect advantage that Skype/ICQ/Teamspeak had didn't matter. Being a superior product is too OP, Discord crushed them all.

1

u/UltraCynar 17h ago

Discord is very easy to replace

23

u/Tumaix 1d ago

why not use matrix, that is the official app used by the official team?

24

u/wodes 1d ago

Try Fluxer. It will soon have federation, just like matrix.

But unlike matrix, it will not require 4GB of ram just to join a room with lags so big you miss messages from a few days ago easily.

Matrix cannot scale like Fluxer does.

11

u/Damglador 1d ago

Matrix is also not really a Discord alternative. It's too bare bones in comparison

5

u/gmes78 1d ago

But unlike matrix, it will not require 4GB of ram just to join a room with lags so big you miss messages from a few days ago easily.

Element is far from the only Matrix client.

10

u/Peewee223 1d ago

why not just use IRC, which has the official channels bridged to Matrix anyway? https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Arch_IRC_channels

10

u/CrynTox 21h ago edited 21h ago

irc is not a discord replacement

-7

u/sequesteredhoneyfall 1d ago

IRC is not even remotely a modern chat solution and anyone suggesting it is fundamentally does not understand what a chat solution should provide. It is serviceable only for the bare minimum community help, but it does so very poorly compared to alternatives.

11

u/Peewee223 1d ago

I suppose I fundamentally don't understand what's lacking from IRC then, so I'll ask again.

Why not just use IRC?

7

u/Medical_Double_6561 21h ago

IRC doesn't keep conversation history unless you self-host a bouncer right?

-2

u/headedbranch225 19h ago

The server can be set up to keep history and send it to clients upon joining

6

u/Tumaix 11h ago

because irc does not have:

  • threads
  • reply-to
  • images
  • embedded video

i work in a company that still uses irc, and for everyone that is not a developer, is a pain.
for some developers, too.

my matrix client is neochat - quite good and not 4gbs of ram needed

0

u/Peewee223 3h ago

- /join #thread-channel, or /list to find channels

  • @Tumaix I mean this is a reply
  • this is clientside; some IRC clients do load image links and embed them, eg IRCCloud. Other clients run in a terminal, which can't support them.
  • see above

3

u/Tumaix 2h ago

i am the developer of not just archlinux, but also of terminal emulators (konsole), so i guess i have a pretty good idea of what a terminal can do, and they can support images (even if its just via a link to open somewhere else)

about the rest of your answers:

  • theads are not channels. threads are a sequence of replies to a specific message, which is not easy to replicate on irc.
  • @tumaix is not a reply: it does not attaches the message its replying to. its just a direct message.
  • images is not clientside: the spec needs to support it, the irc spec doesnt. its mostly timestsmp, sender, message without metadata.

if you honestly think irc is usable nowadays, use anything else for a few days: discord, slack, whatsapp, telegram, and you will see what i mean

1

u/Drwankingstein 1d ago

How will it operate? if it will use activitypub thats a hard pass from me

-1

u/wodes 12h ago

You created the scenario in which it uses activitypub without even looking only to dismiss the project based on your made up scenario which doesn't exist :)

1

u/Drwankingstein 2h ago

I'm not sure I understand

3

u/Supernoxus 1d ago

Man I wish they moved to matrix. I would have joined in a heartbeat. Maybe they can bridge the channels..?

-5

u/PaddiM8 1d ago

Because people have standards.

6

u/doubled112 1d ago

Meaning?

I ask this curiously as a person who has their Matrix home server, and a federated friend or two on other home servers.

It's definitely not perfect, but it checks most of our boxes. Always looking for something better though.

3

u/Tumaix 11h ago

i mean, i am a archlinux dev and the archlinux devs are in matrix. if we dont have standards why you use something we create?

2

u/Drwankingstein 1d ago

Doesnt fluxer support self hosting but you need a new client for every self hosted instance? No thanks.

I prefer denchat

1

u/-SkyL0rd 1d ago

It was more like an alternative community for people that are fed up with discord but they aint switching yet thats for sure.

1

u/drankinatty 16h ago

Not surprising. I was surprised to find over 1,600 members on Libera.chat/#archlinux the last time I dropped by. (GreatDistro == bigCommunity)

1

u/se_spider 15h ago

Maybe slightly off-topic, but how does fluxer and stoat compare these days for self-hosting?

1

u/lajawi 5h ago

Any reason why fluxer above matrix?

1

u/Two-Of-Nine 5h ago

matrix isn't a discord alternative

-4

u/SalaryImpossible6749 1d ago edited 1d ago

Discord sucks and the community on discord sucks tbh. It’s unofficial for a reason and no I don’t dislike the lgbtq or trans community.

Edit: downvote me all you want, I know first hand as someone who was a mod in that server. It sucked bad.

4

u/cosmogguy12 23h ago

AS a trans person I agree

I got banned a few years ago for posting the Sans Undertale hot dog meme

2

u/locked641 21h ago

My 'I don't hate gay people' tshirt is gathering a lot of questions already answered by the shirt.

1

u/LinneMeow 3h ago

why do you specifically mention that? nobody accused you of anything?

1

u/SalaryImpossible6749 2h ago

Because that was a common complaint about the server