Is There a Fediverse Equivalent to Discord?
from Teknevra@lemmy.world to fediverse@lemmy.ml on 14 Jan 18:27
https://lemmy.world/post/24275363

I’ve been wondering—does a Fediverse-based equivalent to Discord exist?

I know there are alternatives like Matrix, Revolt, etc., but what I’m looking for is something more akin to Discord that’s Decentralized, Open-Sourced, and makes use of ActivityPub.

If it doesn’t exist, has anyone ever thought about attempting something like this?

What I envision is something that would potentially serve as a decentralized clone of Discord, with features like voice and video chat, text channels, stickers and emojis, customizable communities, etc.

Perhaps make each of the communities an instance, self-hosted by the instance owner(s).

Names for such a project could reflect its functionality or ethos, perhaps something like:
ActivityChat
SocialHub
MeshTalk

Or maybe a name that’s the complete opposite of “Discord,” such as:
Harmony
Concord
Rapport

Unfortunately, I don’t have the time, energy, or technical knowledge to start such a project myself, but I thought that this might be an interesting idea for the community to discuss or brainstorm.

Would this kind of platform fill a gap in the current Fediverse landscape?

What challenges do you think it would face?

Would it gain traction in the Fediverse?

#fediverse

threaded - newest

TheRealCharlesEames@lemm.ee on 14 Jan 18:33 next collapse

Matrix doesn’t use ActivityPub as far as I know, but it seems to work the same way…

toothbrush@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 14 Jan 18:37 next collapse

Well, Matrix is all of that already, it uses its own protocol also called matrix, but its properly federated(unlike bluesky) and its open source. It also has a big userbase. The Matrix protocol is seen as a honorary member of the Fediverse. I think using activitypub may be a bad fit for real time messaging, so them using their own protocol makes sense. There are also XMPP server and clients, who do similar things to matrix, also federated and open source, however they are more like Whatsapp/Telegram etc.

Atemu@lemmy.ml on 15 Jan 00:11 next collapse

Honestly, I don’t think it’s a good idea to say that fediverse == activitypub in the first place.

IMHO all services that work in an open federated manner based on open federation standards are part of the Fediverse. Whether that protocol is AP, Matrix, XMPP or, yes, even Email; it’s all open standards where instances openly federate with other instances that implement the same standard.
Hell, we could even bridge between protocols. Not saying it should but if Lemmy had a mailing list bridge, would you consider someone replying to Lemmy emails from their self-hosted email server as not being part of the fediverse?

For the same reason I don’t consider AT to be part of the fediverse because it doesn’t operate in a federated manner as control is entirely centralised.

haverholm@kbin.earth on 15 Jan 12:45 collapse

I agree with your initial paragraph, certainly to the point that we shouldn't focus on ActivityPub as some grand unifier or a goal in itself. It's just the protocol that currently federates with the most different platforms.

AFAIK some bridges from AP to other protocols currently exist, but we would really need to bridge (or somehow fully integrate) all the federated protocols you mention to talk about one fediverse. Whether it will be made possible through ActivityPub or some other protocol, that remains to be seen.

semperverus@lemmy.world on 15 Jan 05:17 next collapse

WhatsApp uses XMPP under the hood, but doesn’t federate with anyone.

smeg@feddit.uk on 15 Jan 17:45 collapse

Does matrix have it’s own built-in video/voice group chats now? Last time I checked (several years ago) they were just using Jitsi for groups.

django@discuss.tchncs.de on 14 Jan 18:39 next collapse

XMPP would be a better fit than activitypub.

poVoq@slrpnk.net on 14 Jan 19:00 next collapse

ActivityPub is not very well suited for real-time communication, but there are some attempts like Sup.

I think the best is to integrate an existing Fedivserse instance with XMPP. We do that on our slrpnk.net instance where every member automatically has a XMPP account reachable under the same address as on the Fediverse. We also host a Movim client that does chat as well as 1:1 A/V calls (group calls are coming soon).

will_a113@lemmy.ml on 14 Jan 19:01 next collapse

ActivityPub is not a great fit for realtime chat. As others have noted, the Matrix and XMPP protocols are federated and designed for exactly this use case.

meldrik@lemmy.wtf on 14 Jan 20:21 next collapse

The closest you can get to a Discord alternative is Revolt, which also can be self-hosted.

hperrin@lemmy.ca on 14 Jan 22:20 collapse

Email can work similar to Discord with mailing lists and chat apps like Delta Chat. Email is pretty awesome, but the big email services like Gmail and Outlook 365 are garbage.