February 2026 - WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: Replacing discord...

by John Stoffel

>>>>> "eroc1990" == eroc1990 <eroc1990(a)protonmail.com> writes: Did you read the article i posted? Part of the issue is CSAM being pushed into matrix servers and the management was hard to make work. But maybe that's gotten better and if we ran our own server it wouldn't be a problem? Something to talk about for sure on thursday. I'm not up on these tools at all, but I do want to make sure that email chats and signal chats are shared widely as possible. And one of the choices I failed to list is: - instant messages (signal) - email threads. Those are two aspects. When I got home sunday and found 130+ messages in signal to catch up on, it was pretty funny. But did I really need to read them all? Maybe. Did I enjoy it? Enventually once I read them. But I like the mailing list and how I don't need to be watching it constantly, nor do I get dinged with notifications. Whcih is both good and bad. LOL! John > I feel like the obvious winner in this case would be Matrix. Synapse > can be a bit of a bear to set up, but you get E2EE in both 1:1 and > Rooms, things can be organized into Spaces and you're able to freely > join and leave any room or space that's irrelevant to > you. Administration isn't all that bad when you're running a Private > server, but it comes with costs in terms of the resources needed to > store and serve the various components of Matrix. Would be curious > if anyone has any proclivities toward another service with similar > offerings. > On Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at 3:49 PM, John Stoffel via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> A bunch of us are also chatting on signal (look in the email archives >> for a link to join!) and I feel like we're leaving the email forum >> users behind. >> >> And we need to keep the WLUG community working together and sharing >> together, no matter what their systems or resources are. >> >> I found this interesting article on replacing discord with something >> new. >> >> https://taggart-tech.com/discord-alternatives/ >> >> And I thought we as a group show evaluate some of these options as >> well. In order of requirements I think: >> >> >> - needs to be open >> - WLUG needs to control the data >> - needs to have clients across a swath of systems. >> - web based >> - CLI / plain text based >> - Apple/Android clients. >> - searchable >> - able to organize a bit into channels. >> - announcements >> - regular chat >> - questions or howtos >> >> Right now I enjoy the signal chat and how free form it is, but since I >> can only read it on my phone because getting a CLI client working is a >> pain... and I don't want to install the signal app on my work >> laptop. >> >> So what do people think? >> >> John >> _______________________________________________ >> WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org >> To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org >> Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ >> Change Settings: https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ >> Web Forum/Archive: https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/XQDKN… >>

Feb. 10, 2026

Re: Replacing discord...

by eroc1990

I feel like the obvious winner in this case would be Matrix. Synapse can be a bit of a bear to set up, but you get E2EE in both 1:1 and Rooms, things can be organized into Spaces and you're able to freely join and leave any room or space that's irrelevant to you. Administration isn't all that bad when you're running a Private server, but it comes with costs in terms of the resources needed to store and serve the various components of Matrix. Would be curious if anyone has any proclivities toward another service with similar offerings. On Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at 3:49 PM, John Stoffel via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > > Hi all, > A bunch of us are also chatting on signal (look in the email archives > for a link to join!) and I feel like we're leaving the email forum > users behind. > > And we need to keep the WLUG community working together and sharing > together, no matter what their systems or resources are. > > I found this interesting article on replacing discord with something > new. > > https://taggart-tech.com/discord-alternatives/ > > And I thought we as a group show evaluate some of these options as > well. In order of requirements I think: > > > - needs to be open > - WLUG needs to control the data > - needs to have clients across a swath of systems. > - web based > - CLI / plain text based > - Apple/Android clients. > - searchable > - able to organize a bit into channels. > - announcements > - regular chat > - questions or howtos > > Right now I enjoy the signal chat and how free form it is, but since I > can only read it on my phone because getting a CLI client working is a > pain... and I don't want to install the signal app on my work > laptop. > > So what do people think? > > John > _______________________________________________ > WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org > To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org > Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ > Change Settings: https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ > Web Forum/Archive: https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/XQDKN… >

Feb. 10, 2026

Replacing discord...

by John Stoffel

Hi all, A bunch of us are also chatting on signal (look in the email archives for a link to join!) and I feel like we're leaving the email forum users behind. And we need to keep the WLUG community working together and sharing together, no matter what their systems or resources are. I found this interesting article on replacing discord with something new. https://taggart-tech.com/discord-alternatives/ And I thought we as a group show evaluate some of these options as well. In order of requirements I think: - needs to be open - WLUG needs to control the data - needs to have clients across a swath of systems. - web based - CLI / plain text based - Apple/Android clients. - searchable - able to organize a bit into channels. - announcements - regular chat - questions or howtos Right now I enjoy the signal chat and how free form it is, but since I can only read it on my phone because getting a CLI client working is a pain... and I don't want to install the signal app on my work laptop. So what do people think? John

Feb. 10, 2026

Reminder: WLUG Meeting Feb 12th, 2026: Topic: DNS Interception.

by Tim Keller

Hey Everybody, We've got a meeting! Date/Time: February 12th, 2026 @ 7PM Location: Technocopia, 44 Portland St. Worcester MA Virtual Location: https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA Topic: DNS Interception. Speaker: Steve Thibault At every turn, companies are looking for ways to monetize data. It should be no surprise that DNS is one of these. Recently a fellow WLUG member Steve Thibault discovered that their upstream provider was intercepting his DNS queries and worked to fight against this. Steve is going to tell us his story of how he discovered what his provider was doing and what he did to foil their prying eyes. As usual, after the meeting we'll head out for dinner and keep the conversation going! Thanks, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Feb. 10, 2026