Daeraxa

You know IRC has been used alongside mailing list for open source software communities and projects for literally decades right?

The same could be said of Matrix though, I don't think you can see a Matrix chat without an account either. Discord does have a forum layout... ish. It is pretty bad though and not something we use as a forum. It is used but really only as a way to separate topics in what would be a busy single chat area - more akin to something like Zulip. Even IRC channels tend to need you to connect with a nickname but unlike the others you can't see chat history without a bouncer set up and at that point you have basically made an account in all but name.

That brings back memories... trying to play co-op games back in the day wasn't so easy as it is now...

I think that is more of a comment on incorrect use of such a platform and it would be the same whether it was IRC or Matrix. I've put a more detailed response to another comment if you were interested - https://lemmy.ml/comment/11850496

We use Discord rather extensively but we don't have this problem. I don't think the issue is Discord itself (or for that matter any chat, be it IRC or Matrix) but the way it is used. I think it unfair to just blacklist a project just because it uses it.

We use Discord for team chat and conversations, the instant nature of a chat app suits this purpose far more than an async platform like a forum for us. This is either commonly known or transient info, not something we are interested in preserving. Long form conversations (like the status of our OS packaging) that require input over a long period goes into a forum topic.

We also use it for support for short form questions and help - anything more than a quick answer or "active" help then we recommend filling in an issue form or using the forum.

If a question comes up more than a few times then we make sure that it is documented - either in an FAQ or in the main documentation as it is clear that information isn't readily available or easy to find.

I'm not necessarily defending their use of Discord as I don't know exactly what they are doing but it does seem they don't have any alternative community areas. In contrast, yes we have a Discord but we also have a Lemmy community, a Subreddit (I'm honestly against keeping that one going but we would rather not shut out users from support), Mastodon and forum.

So no, it doesn't increase volunteer load in all cases, it is a valuable tool for us. Not that I'm wedded to Discord in particular (I'd honestly prefer to migrate it all to Matrix) but the idea of a chat platform for projects is not a bad thing by itself, it is how the project uses it.

Depends where you go, the vegetarian and vegan scene in Brighton is pretty damn impressive.

Personally I think it's fine-ish given the actual number of topics being created - it seems to be easily low enough to not cause questions adhereing to the rules to be pushed down the list and buried with easier or more sensational questions. I think the danger of being a stickler to the rules is that you just drive people away or make them too intimidated to ask. Yeah it is annoying but I think it is fine to just downvote and move on as you say. Splitting the community I think would potentially do even more damage.

Now if there were significantly more topics being created per day then my answer would be different and I would absolutely encourage more active moderation and adherence to the rules.

Totally understand the limits on your server, I know why you would have it set that way hence why I was wondering about the limits if self hosting. Definitely going to have a play with this.

This is really cool and something I've been missing since we kind of got forced off our original CI platform (they changed their free tier and it would have been financially prohibitive) and moved to GH runners.

Is there a limit to the size? I notice that your example instance (and the default value) of file size is set to 100MB, is there a maximum size if you were to self host it or is it technically unlimited? Our CI artifacts tend to be around 700-800MB.

Are there any stats to suggest that? I don't mean in a "prove it or gtfo" kind of way but I maintain a community for the Pulsar text editor on lemmy.ml (back before it was cool /hipster) when there weren't really any other (popular) instances. We have no political ideology (as a group, not speaking for individuals within it) and it is meant to be a Fediverse alternative to our Subreddit for discussion and support. The last thing I want is for people to not have access to it because instances are blocking it or people are shying away from lemmy.ml in general.

Surprisingly good... I mean it is SORN atm waiting for time and money to fix it up a bit but it is ULEZ compliant! I only ever use it for fun now, I have a much more boring car for every day use. And although I've lived in London suburbs or commuter towns all my life I think I've paid the CC maybe once or twice? I refuse to drive in central london, public transport is much better for that.