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Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

revolt.chat

171–180 of 413 posts

Re: Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their FAQ on “Why no federation?” is relevant: https://developers.revolt.chat/faq/federation

I think the punchline on the FAQ entry is: > Matrix is incredibly buggy at times and it’s left a sour taste in my mouth. Speaking as project lead for Matrix... I can see where this is coming from. Were we doing Matrix from scratch again, we'd have a smaller scope and polish each feature more before releasing and moving onto the next thing. However, we're very aware of this, and these days do almost nothing else other…

Element keeps getting notably better :D

Keep polishing it and silence the haters

Re: Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

#173
post #94
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, only the backend is written in Rust. The desktop client is an Electron app: https://github.com/revoltchat/desktop

Now I want to know if HN hates Electron more than it loves Rust. Or do they perfectly cancel out?

Rust people tend to love Electron, since (as with most niche programming languages), Electron is arguably its best GUI story

Re: Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

#174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally I see “Written in rust” as more of a meme, often using buzzwords like “blazing fast” and “memory safe.” Electron is definitely worse than rust is good.

Is Rust as blazing fast as Electron is slow?

Rust is about as fast as C++, so I'd call that normal speed.

Re: Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

#175

Finally, something that outright says that its intent is to be a discord alternative. So many platforms try to sell themselves on some other feature, rather than just being open source and self-hostable. So many things, like Matrix, come close, but lack key components to really competing, such as voice channels rather than calls. I hope this goes somewhere!

The whole "matrix doesn't have voice channels" thing is a bit frustrating, because... in Element, you can hit the voice or video call button in any channel (not just voice channels!) and it will spin up a voice/video conference in that channel. If you then switch channel, you'll stay in the original conference, unless you drop and rejoin the new one.

I think that's basically precisely the same capability as you get in Discord - except in Discord you can switch between the 'voice rooms' by clicking on them in the room list, rather than 'opting in' to the one in your current room. Also, you can do toggle mute via hotkey (which we have a draft for at https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-react-sdk/pull/2280), but this is surely a bonus feature.

So, am I right in saying that Element effectively has voice/video rooms today - it's just that the UI is very subtly different to Discord? Or am I completely misunderstanding something fundamental about Discord's voice rooms?

Re: Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the punchline on the FAQ entry is: > Matrix is incredibly buggy at times and it’s left a sour taste in my mouth. Speaking as project lead for Matrix... I can see where this is coming from. Were we doing Matrix from scratch again, we'd have a smaller scope and polish each feature more before releasing and moving onto the next thing. However, we're very aware of this, and these days do almost nothing else other…

Element keeps getting notably better :D Keep polishing it and silence the haters

Thank you :) and yup, this is our masterplan :D

Re: Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

#177
post #4

How does it compare to matrix? Would have been nice to use that since it’s an open protocol that already takes privacy seriously

My question, maybe a bit more meta - is why not instead work on features for matrix and a client like element? As if the world needs yet another slack-like. xkcd_15_competing_standards.png

> As if the world needs yet another slack-like.

You mean another IRC-like? :)

Re: Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

#178
post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now I want to know if HN hates Electron more than it loves Rust. Or do they perfectly cancel out?

Personally I see “Written in rust” as more of a meme, often using buzzwords like “blazing fast” and “memory safe.” Electron is definitely worse than rust is good.

I’ve always seen “written in Rust” as relevant for a specific sort of software. Because CVEs are inevitable in C/C++ software and dealing with CVEs has become part of the user interface to that software. Knowing something is “written in Rust” means its attack surface is much smaller. Working in tech, the “drop everything and migrate to a version that isn’t vulnerable” instances are far too common and disruptive.

But as soon as you get into consumer software with auto-update mechanisms and an expectation that end users won’t be computer professionals who know how to read a CVE and evaluate its urgency, the “written in Rust” distinction becomes a mostly irrelevant implementation detail. Or, worse, it’s an indication that the GUI will feel wrong in some way because the Rust community seems averse to writing GUIs with GTK, UI Kit and whatever the hell Microsoft recommends using for Windows these days.

Re: Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

#179
post #94
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, only the backend is written in Rust. The desktop client is an Electron app: https://github.com/revoltchat/desktop

Now I want to know if HN hates Electron more than it loves Rust. Or do they perfectly cancel out?

Hatred for misleading headlines outranks hatred of Electron.

Re: Revolt: Open-source alternative to Discord

#180
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really "disturbing" if it's maintained by mostly college students? If this was done by industry veterans I could understand your stance, but the way things are this feels uncalled for.

I mean it is a little absurd, when everyone on the planet is using email, which is federated...

Also absurd that so many of us use SSDs but still don't know what quantum tunneling is...
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