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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 01:26:07 Hey what chat service would you recommend for use with a small nonprofit group of non-technical volunteers? Think: alternative to WhatsApp or group texting, but just as easy to set up. Ideally: free, open source, secure… MAYBE: Decentralized (but not at the expense of “easy to set up” and maybe also self-hosted (I could do it) |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 01:26:41 @scott @homegrown Watching this with interest |
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Föderation PT So 04.05.2025 01:35:48 @scott @homegrown xmpp |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 02:12:44 How about Discourse https://www.discourse.org/ ? |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 08:29:46 @JMMaok Thank you! I have used discourse a while back but it was forum-only. I see they have added a chat capability since then. I’ll give it a whirl. :) |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 03:56:41 @scott @homegrown Do you need ephemeral group chat, or something you can use for knowledge capture and go back to reference like a forum? If group chat will work, you might consider @signalapp |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 08:32:18 @ShaulaEvans @homegrown @signalapp Thank you! Great question. I think ephemeral is fine. Frankly a group text message thread could work except for the management hassles (occasionally need to add/remove group members as assignments change) and platform issues (some android some iOS users). I have never used Signal but I understand from the news I should be VERY CAREFUL 😜😜😜 |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 08:43:09 @scott @homegrown @signalapp Scott! 😂 Signal works on those platforms and more. And you'd be giving your members the gift of normalizing encrypted chat and protecting their data. |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 05:22:53 @scott @homegrown |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 08:34:11 @actinic @homegrown Thank you! You think that’s easy enough for non tech people? I have an account already but it was a few years ago… I don’t remember Matrix set up as too techy or not. |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 08:06:26 |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 08:35:50 |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 09:24:14 @scott @peter if you need any advise or support let us know :) We particular recommend onboarding with a pre-existing group because then the biggest roadblock, "who can I chat with", is mitigated. Many families, little orgs and ad-hoc groups like attendees in a conference talk, successfully started using #deltachat this way and particularly appreciated #webxdc apps that provide an in-chat interactive experience. |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 09:36:11 |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 15:41:56 @peter Thanks for the offer to help, @delta! So after reading your docs for a bit… it wasn’t immediately clear but I think I understand now that you actually use email infrastructure to exchange messages (right?). So if I set this up for my group, first everyone needs to set up a new email address just for use with Delta, right? And the easiest is to use your chat mail server. I use Fastmail regularly. Would I need a separate Fastmail account (inbox) or just a designated new alias? |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 15:48:34 @scott @peter nobody needs a pre existing email address. You can just hit "create profile" and get (a random) #chatmail address. If you create a first group, then in the members list there is an "invite" you can show for qr scanning or give as a link, and receivers then join this group. You can also use a pre existing email address but we strongly recommend to use a dedicated E-Mail address then and not share it with regular classic email usage. |
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Föderation EN So 04.05.2025 15:59:52 |
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Föderation EN Mo 05.05.2025 11:32:08 I'd personally recommend XMPP, as long as you're using a version that has OMEMO end-to-end encryption switched on. It's very easy to set up if you use a managed hosting service such as @snikket_im as they do all the technical stuff for you. In Snikket's case they even provide the apps, which are forked from established FOSS XMPP apps. I use Snikket myself, it's very easy. There are some features missing such as no GIF picker, but that's typical on decentralised networks. |
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Föderation EN Mo 05.05.2025 11:39:04 Another alternative if you just want internal communications is to set up a Nextcloud instance and use the Nextcloud Talk apps. This is very slick and simple, but it only works within your instance, there is no way to communicate with other instances. This is good for situations where you want communications to stay in-house without sharing with outsiders. Nextcloud is useful anyway for group collaborations etc, very nice and very easy, lots of add-ons. |
