Hi all,

Given how Discord is following age verification to all users or so it seems. Plus the problem of information being stored in 1 central place that cannot be indexed or searched without a discord account, has any thoughts been given to some form of alternative or backup option? Archive team have written up about the problems of Discord https://wiki.archiveteam.org/index.php/Discord One idea is to have a bridged platform so that users who are not on discord can still join an element server that is bridged to discord. I believe fedora does a great way of supporting across discord, IRC and element. This is not just the only option. Steve from Gamers Nexus did a video on Discord alternatives some that do look like quite promising https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpjcmXbmMVM

What I will add is that I am not saying migrate to platform a or use option z or anything like that. But there are concerns with how centralised everything is becoming. Which is great for convenience but let's imagine if Discord in 10 or 20 years time gets brought out or discontinues. All the knowledge and help people have offered or talked about would suddenly be gone. Example article https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/1dj1xkv/internet_forums_are_disappearing_because_now_its/

I hope the unraid team and other communities start to wake up and put together some form of a contingency plan and look into other options or consider a self-hosted option.

Thank you

Edited March 27Mar 27 by Goldmaster

Matrix for example: https://youtu.be/dGv5zUwYX_k

But Stoat, Matrix, ... are on your Videos present.

Bridges are one Way and Part of the Video.

Yes, Fedora and other Linux are great Ways to support the #DID aka Digital Independence Day or the own Independence!

Edited March 27Mar 27 by Revan335

On 3/26/2026 at 8:06 PM, Goldmaster said:

I hope the unraid team and other communities start to wake up and put together some form of a contingency plan and look into other options or consider a self-hosted option.

Thank you

Let me get this straight, you want Limetech to self host some sort of alternative place where users can go to get help, talk with each other and the developers, and access an archive of discussion and knowledge from years of interaction. Some place that is not tied to a centralized platform, like discord or reddit. Some place that can be accessed without an account and can be indexed and searched from the wider web. Yeah that sounds pretty useful...if only a place like that already existed.../S

Edited March 28Mar 28 by primeval_god

I wonder what we could use

23 hours ago, SimonF said:

I wonder what we could use

I've heard tell of places called forums that started publically being web based back in like 1994. Im not sure if they ever took off or not though ....... /s

A new user from 2025. Yes, I always found it odd that Lime sells Unraid as an OS for secure and private self-hosting but at the same time hosts its discussions on other hosts whose privacy and security they cannot attest to. They don't believe in their own product? In my use it seems to live up to all of their marketing claims - or is it that I have not (yet) created an environment where it fails? Are they not telling me about some weakness or backdoor that they know exists.

2 hours ago, zulu153 said:

A new user from 2025. Yes, I always found it odd that Lime sells Unraid as an OS for secure and private self-hosting but at the same time hosts its discussions on other hosts whose privacy and security they cannot attest to. They don't believe in their own product? In my use it seems to live up to all of their marketing claims - or is it that I have not (yet) created an environment where it fails? Are they not telling me about some weakness or backdoor that they know exists.

What on earth are you talking about? unRAID is a consumer focused home NAS OS. Its not designed for hosting public facing services.

Edited March 30Mar 30 by primeval_god

I made a unraid lxc matrix Discord alternative that I'm running a few for quite a bit of folks...

see post:
https://forums.unraid.net/topic/127917-guide-matrix-synapse-w-postgres-db-chat-server-element-web-client-coturn-voice/page/4/#findComment-1611571

13 hours ago, zulu153 said:

A new user from 2025. Yes, I always found it odd that Lime sells Unraid as an OS for secure and private self-hosting but at the same time hosts its discussions on other hosts whose privacy and security they cannot attest to. They don't believe in their own product? In my use it seems to live up to all of their marketing claims - or is it that I have not (yet) created an environment where it fails? Are they not telling me about some weakness or backdoor that they know exists.

• "Lime sells Unraid as an OS for secure and private self-hosting but at the same time hosts its discussions on other hosts whose privacy and security they cannot attest to."

  - It says at the bottom "Powered by Invision Community" You can begin Your security audit there.

• "They don't believe in their own product?"

- Unraid's product is the Unraid OS/Software. They dont develop forums. In fact I would wager 90% of the worlds companies use forums from another company. PHPBB, Invision, Flarum, SMF, etc. For example Debian, Raspberry Pi, Gentoo, etc all use PHPBB officially; with many other companies using either one of the others I listed or another provider entirely. I dont think its because they dont believe in their own products ......... I think its because they would rather focus their resources (time, money, etc.) on Unraid and not developing their forum software.

• In my use it seems to live up to all of their marketing claims.

- That's how an honest company operates. They tell You what You get when You pay and then give You what You paid for. I fail to see the problem.

• Are they not telling me about some weakness or backdoor that they know exists.

- This is a multi fold question. First You would have to assume that there is or possibly could be a weakness or backdoor present. Then You would have to assume that Unraid is fully aware of it. Then You would have to assume that since Unraid knows about it they had to make a choice to fix it or leave it alone and "not tell anyone" Finally, assuming all of those things You would then have to assume that Unraid's goal is to destroy their own reputation and brand simply by not addressing those security issues and losing their customers and losing tons of money to refund request/lawsuits. I doubt that is what is going on here. In fact they have a dedicated section in the forums where they not only tell Us about the issues but keep Us up to date with post and direct interactions for You "whitehat hackers" to discuss all about it right here: https://forums.unraid.net/topic/185572-critical-security-vulnerabilies-discovered/

• Finally, not many companies in the world give a FULLY FUNCTIONAL trial for 30 days (which can be extended if needed) for You to test it out and be sure that it works fully the way You want it. They even provide You the support You need to acheive this. Would I like to see a few more admins/moderators added to the team for a faster response time; Yes but this is the same for almost all companies. In fact Unraids support is the same regardless if You are on the free trial or a lifetime member. This might sound trivial but I can name several companies with much higher budgets who wont give You support at all on the Free/Trial Versions and some even make You pay for "Expert" Support seperately even after You buy the product. Unraid gives You support for Free; even if You dont appreciate it.

• Regards

First off, I never suggested replacing forums with Discord.

Forums are excellent for long posts, guides, detailed troubleshooting, and anything that benefits from being searchable years later. They’re structured, persistent, and much better for in‑depth support than a fast‑moving chat.

The only point I was making is that forums aren’t ideal for quick, simple questions or situations where the conversation shifts rapidly. In those cases, real‑time chat on Discord can be more practical — but it comes with the downside that information isn’t easily searchable and sits behind an invite link and an account.

A possible middle‑ground is using a Matrix client with bridging. For example, Fedora and MusicBrainz both run Discord, Matrix, and IRC, all bridged together. That way there’s no single point of failure or reliance on one platform, and people can use whichever system they prefer.

That was the spirit of my post — not replacing anything, just discussing resilience and accessibility.