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Please don't use Discord for FOSS projects (drewdevault.com)

submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 38 points 9 months ago (2 children)

The convo on HN about this article is worth a quick scroll.

The first comment (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39570137) launches a discussion about freedom filled with anecdotes. There are even more anecdotes (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39570364). And even some praise (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39570484).

I am not a dev. I don't rice, I don't game. I'm a FOSS user and have been for years. If I run into a problem, there is no way I will be creating an account on Discord to get help. It might not be worth the time and effort. A searchable forum is good enough. IRC logs are good enough. Email lists are good enough. But, also, some open source software makes onboarding seem more cumbersome than it actually is. Getting on Matrix is easy, but in he eyes of a new user it comes off as Herculean. And when a dev decides to use Discord we shake our fists instead of proposing a solution like operating the bridge for them.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If I run into a problem, there is no way I will be creating an account on Discord to get help. It might not be worth the time and effort. A searchable forum is good enough.

I use Discord, but I actually agree with this. It's a really good platform for small groups of people to communicate with each other - for example, we have one for my class at university, which allows us to keep in contact about assignments, projects, deadlines, etc. What I don't want to do is join a Discord server for every single game or piece of software I need help with. It's just not a great platform for having hundreds or thousands of people trying to get help, often asking the same questions over and over, while the community regulars are chatting about their personal lives.

Searchable forums, website-based FAQs and help files, or any other option that makes help accessible without having to download new software or sign up for new accounts, are the most suitable options for making help available.

[–] delcake 10 points 8 months ago

What's more, Discord clearly wasn't intended to be used like this at the start. The 100-server limit on a Discord account ensures the user has to curate the servers they join, at least to some degree.

The only way to join more servers than that is to start using the higher-tier paid Nitro plan, or get comfortable running multiple Discord accounts.