Let's try Discord (because Freenode is under attack)

If you're wondering where the invite link is, scroll down, but please read the content below first.

Seriously, it will tell you everything you need to know.
Also, this from 09/27/16 (-5 GMT):
(15:47:46) ouroumov__: Freenode twitter feed says there's an ongoing DDoS attack
Ouch. Sucks for them!

Wait a second, this looks like an advertisement...

Yes, yes it is an advertisement. But this isn't a sponsored post; Discord doesn't need that. This is an advertisement about the group I've created using Discord, in the hopes that enough people see any benefit in its existence. So before people start bashing me for making an ad, there is one thing you need to know;
The link at the bottom of this post will not direct you to an ad website; it is not a referral link, you will be taken directly to Discord for web whereby you can then input your username and skip setup to not register yourself, until you are comfortable with using this service.

It should also be noted, this is an unofficial project, with no accreditation by the moderating team and for the time being is a side resource. While this has every intention of superseding IRC in the future, I've set this up only for us to try it out.

@wizd3m has relayed @Wimpy's approval of this project to me.

What is this, and why should I care?

Expand to learn more.

Discord is a service that is made by gamers, for gamers but at the same time is simple enough for non-gamers to use due in part of people who play games, also wanting an easy means to hang out with their friends. With its easy-to-use interface, lack of complicated, convoluted steps to use the service, capability to facilitate spontaneous voice chat, as well, recently-added capabilities to pin messages, call other users, use Discord almost entirely via the keyboard and upcoming video support in phase three of Discord's service rollout, there isn't any better time than now to check it out and see if you like it.

The rational behind this project

So far, I've set this up only for us to try out and see if we like it. The intention of this project was to supersede IRC and provide a means for us to act as a virtual LUG with as little software and setup for the end-user as humanly possible. Discord can also be used to highlight Linux for gaming, as Discord is a gaming-centric service lots of specialized gaming groups already use, so it would only strengthen and embolden the image of Linux as a viable gaming platform.

Why is this better than Mumble?

Mumble is a viable alternative, but because of Discord's easy get-up-and-go setup, due partially to Discord defining most of what the end-user needs and having centralized servers for everything, most people can just hop on via an invite, with no need to know an IP or web-friendly address to join in on any conversation held there.

Why is this better than TeamSpeak?

Because everything, so far has been free-of-charge. For small gatherings of people, to a moderately-sized group Discord seems to just work with no paywalls or other barriers that stand in the way.

Why is this better than Skype?

Microsoft has been really behind the ball with updating their Linux client, and only just now are they beginning to care about the Linux space as more people move away from Skype for reasons that keep close-knit communities between systems together.

Why is this better than IRC?

Because IRC is old and tired. Let it rest in peace.

But no seriously, despite my love for Pidgin, Discord's presentation and overall functionality had overcome my stodgy viewpoint that if I can't use it in Pidgin, it's clearly not worth my time. So if it can do that, and compel me away from my other IRC servers then I believe it's compelling enough for most end-users to prefer over IRC.

IRC is a good platform, don't get me wrong; For general help via text there's nothing that can beat it. But as an interactive platform beyond that, IRC often falls short and is augmented with voice and / or video anyway, or is superseded with XMPP. There's nothing like simply speaking with people, especially where written word is more inconvenient and interferes with other tasks.

Why is this better than Slack?

Beyond built-in voice chat It honestly isn't, more like it's on-par with Slack with the featureset it has now. When video chat features become a thing, it may become above-par compared to Slack.

For logging, however, it's free logs for the life of the service, far as I know. Audit logs may be limited, but chat logs as of present bear no cost to any end-user to access.

Getting on with it

There's no desktop client for Linux!

yes there is, get it here. It's still beta, they'll have an official Linux version available from discordapp.com some time soonTM.

Once you've made your account, then use sc9dv8P as an invite code, or click it to join via URL.

If you do not feel like registering for an account just to use the desktop version of Discord, you can try it out in your web browser; After clicking on the invite link below, Discord will first request your nickname, then it'll want to "get right to business" with the whole registering thing; choose to Skip setup instead and you can sign in without needing to commit much further than that. Remember to claim your identity (which will be stored in a cookie) before somebody else does, should you enjoy what Discord provides and wish to move over to the desktop version of the client.

Channels (04/10/20):

Onboarding

rules
Please read these. No really please read these. I'm not kidding don't play around like that.

welcome
Introducing... you! Feel free to let us know about yourself and how you heard about this.

roleassign
Self-assigning roles for people who want to join them. Presently, it's for QA testing.

Discussion

advocacy
Rallying the troops to introduce the world something better

gaming
Chatter about gaming in general, preferably Linux-aligned.

code
Talk about coding stuff — programming and development, general assistance, etc.

hardware
If you can push a button or short some pins to turn it on, chat of it probably belongs here.

else
Stuff and things... and stuff!

streams
View previously-recorded streams about Ubuntu MATE here! You should also be able to catch streams while they're live in case you miss or don't have a notification from YouTube.

Assistance

suggest
Server improvements? Fun bots? Other ideas for improving the guild? Post them here!

support
Need help with Ubuntu MATE or Linux in general? Post your support queries here!

Extra

botcmds
For doing the bot stuff. Music, votes, and so on.

vent
Having a bad day? Something not going well? Just peeved? Let us know here!

Voice channels

Discussion

Publlic (1 | 2 | 3)
These three channels exist to hold separate voice discussion. Handy in case things get a little too loud elsewhere, or if multiple chat topics are ongoing.

Away
Silent? You go here. AFK time is fifteen minutes before being forcibly moved to this.

There are more other channels than these, depending on assigned roles. Stick around for long enough and you may be granted access to additional channels based on roles provided to you!

2 Likes

I may as well mention, I am having occasional internet trouble. If I am not there, sorry about that!

I joined just now :slight_smile:

I will take a look at this when I get home tonight. Looks interesting.

Were you ChromaticRanger?

Im in. Is there like a newbie experiment channel?

Huh? What do you mean?

And yeah, the Discord thing is new and mine. I’m hoping it gets some traction and become a part of the community rather than my little side project.

I meant a server to join for a newbie to look around and talk to maybe YOU or something :slight_smile: I made a server but just to learn about how to do it. Looks really professional bro.

Like, just join in man. And hang for a bit.

Uh, no. I’m not chromatic as far as I know

Maybwe could collect a few things and organize a live stream with a discord chat so anybody can ask how to do stuff, we could explain bugs and new features. Maybe even @wimpy or @lah7 could show of some new stuff to come and answer questions.

We could take an example from the Virtual LUG (Linux User Group) from Jupiter Broadcasting. And organize this on a regular basis.

Sounds like a great idea that will most assuredly backfire due to the lack of notoriety our Discord space has at the moment.

If you want to organize something, go for it. I am just setting up the framework so its potential can be seen in time.

LOL, discord would be at the pinnacle of this. The stream could just be @wimpy’s desktop so he can show things. Anyone logged into Discord could use the chat or a mic to join.

It is also possible to set up a Mumble server, but why would we when we could be using Discord for this :wink:

Good point. It’s also way easier to set up and other people can just pop in any time, with an absolute bare minimum of setup. I just hope that doesn’t mean other people can also cause trouble easier, hehe.

Then again, moderators can simply mute problem members and move lesser problematic people elsewhere. So yeah, we’ll figure out this stuff in due course. The more trustworthy hands at the wheel, the smoother sailing we’ll get.

Actually I thought about something you said; Whle Discord would be great for voice chat, for text chat what would stop people from talking in the chat a video service provides?

Is there a streaming service that just lets people stream video and have text chat disabled?

Further, how would this work for Wimpy? There's no overlay functionality for Discord Canary yet, unlike in Windows where he could have an overlay that shows who is talking in whatever application can support it.

There are some interesting things we should consider before Wimpy streams his desktop as part of a presentation to hype Discord. That being said, as a large pool of Linux users, we can also beat the crap out of it and tell Discord support what breaks so they can refine it and finally make their Linux build available to the general public.

###It's only dead if you want it to be.

Opening with that because it seems like there was very little interest in other users to even attempt trying it out. But then again, when opening a community resource and making it publically available, some heavy consideration must be put into whether or not it would be worth it for the community. I'll edit my OP to include a rationale, so people understand where I was coming from when I began humouring the idea.

Having a lot of people there as members who just happened to come on and look is fine, but a community full of offline people doesn't bode well to anyone coming on. Instead of anyone introducing themselves, they believe the place is a barren waste when really, this resource is in its most infant times.

Could anyone provide sound advice on how to distribute the existence of this place in a way that would not cause me to be removed from those other resources? Further help and more moderating for when we do blow up (as the kids call it) would be appreciated.

I think an official app would be a fantastic idea. Im fresh to the whole computing world again as its been some years but…being the first OS i have tried and even p2p communication application being Ubuntu Mate and also Discord I am just gonna give my positive feedback in support of the application being made readily available (if i havent already missed something) before I’m yet to try the others already listed.

Regards

This resource still exists.

I am going to try cleaning up the OP so it looks less imtimidating.

Sorry I haven’t been on lately, I haven’t hardly started my personal laptop in the last ween and a half.

Well, we have Wimpy now, and he's going to do the fancy backend stuff to make it more of a community arm. Still our little secret but that might be changing soon.

Also, @lah7 and @franksmcb is there (as their pseudonyms), so we're pretty much set for onboarding and some moderation.

(Oh god, four years later. Geez!)

2 Likes