With the recent news about discord asking for face or ID scan, what other alternatives are there that we can recommend to our less tech-savvy friends?

  • Default Username@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    71·
    13 hours ago

    I’ve been using Matrix for over a decade. It has its problems with stability, but it’s getting better over time, especially with the newer Matrix 2.0 and Element X clients.

    • Open source (clients and server)
    • Federated
    • Self hostable
    • Optional E2EE for rooms, and I believe by default for PMs/DMs, along with forward secrecy
    • Integration and bridging with other services, although it’s not as seamless as I would like
    • Has group calling/VC, but I don’t use that enough to judge how good it is. Should also be able to integrate with Jitsi Meet as an alternative.
    • Supports Spaces similar to Discord “servers”, but not as seamless as Discord. Each room (equivalent to a Discord channel) is its own separate thing.

    If an alternative isn’t open source and doesn’t support federation and E2EE, I wouldn’t even consider it.

    • BlushedPotatoPlayers@sopuli.xyz
      1·
      6 hours ago

      I tried it yesterday with a docker homeserver, it seems like if I log in from a new device all the previous chats are possibly lost if I can’t verify the user?

      Also user management seems to be a bit of a mess to me (although I didn’t spend much time with that, so I could be wrong)

      • Default Username@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        3·
        5 hours ago

        Correct. That is what forward secrecy is. That way, if a malicious/state actor gains access to your account, they won’t be able to see your previous messages. If you cross-sign by verifying the new device with an old device, you will be able to decrypt those old messages.

        This only applies to encrypted chats. Unencrypted chats’ and rooms’ history will be able to be accessed regardless.