Free opensource chat?

[exxos]

Anyone know of any simple but useable web-browser based chat programs which are open source?

I used to use Facebook messenger to send messages to my girlfriend about all sorts. Links and sharing files etc.

There used to be things like x7chat which I used but I spent more time fixing all the bugs in it than actually using it :roll:

I know there's apps and chatrooms which are web based. But in the age of digital spying and ransomware etc I want to run my own chat server where I'm in control of it all.

[Steve]

I think IRC would be a good choice. You can run your own IRC server very easily, and there's a multitude of web based IRC clients you could integrate into this forum. Also - since IRC is vintage friendly, there are IRC clients on our Atari's. So people could join from the browser on their main computer, or even chat from the Atari (Amiga/Apple/etc) Makes sense to me for a vintage forum.

I don't know how relevant it is (or how old it is) but here's a tutorial on Ubuntu talking about setting up an IRC server and here's another very quick and simple tutorial on medium.

[sandord]

I think IRC would be a good choice. You can run your own IRC server very easily, and there's a multitude of web based IRC clients you could integrate into this forum. Also - since IRC is vintage friendly, there are IRC clients on our Atari's. So people could join from the browser on their main computer, or even chat from the Atari (Amiga/Apple/etc) Makes sense to me for a vintage forum.

I don't know how relevant it is (or how old it is) but here's a tutorial on Ubuntu talking about setting up an IRC server and here's another very quick and simple tutorial on medium.

However, IRC is not safe at all out of the box.

[exxos]

However, IRC is not safe at all out of the box.

That's going to be a issue keeping the spammers out.

I was looking for phpbb3 extensions just..


https://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/exte ... extension/

Have everything under one hood "in house"..

[Steve]

However, IRC is not safe at all out of the box.

Depends what you mean by safe really... I'd say: don't go listing your bank security questions or passcodes on IRC... obviously. But who cares about hacking the logs of a server where people just talk about retro computers and resistors/capacitors. You can use SSL encryption of course. It's a bit like the whole 'don't go out of your house, statistically you may get hit by a car' argument.

My SGI community has a Discord, but also complemented by IRC channels for people who want to chat from their retro machines. I've actually seen more spammers in the Discord, I haven't seen anything bad on the IRC side (mainly because troublemakers aren't interested in IRC since it's so dated)

The SGI community uses OFTC: https://www.oftc.net/

Screenshot From 2025-11-10 10-15-33.png

So for instance, Exxos could simply host the channel forum on the OFTC server which means all the hard work of setting up / configuring is done, the infrastructure is there. They have secure connection protocols.

[sety]

Would Stoat be of any use?

https://github.com/stoatchat

I have not tried it myself but self hosting seems to be a thing. If I had more time I would try it on my VPS.

[exxos]

Thanks for the suggestions..

I suspect that things like IRC, as already mentioned, there's already groups with that kind of stuff running anyway.

I am wondering though but people actually use the forum chat feature if I install that extension I mentioned earlier ? I suppose my girlfriend would have to login to some "chat site" anyway so it might as well be the forum I suppose..

The PM system works for most things. Just a little bit slow and annoying for basically throw away messages..

The only problem I see with a chat system is that it could potentially take content away from forum topics... Mostly we have discussion like the DFB1 stuff etc. But if all that "talk" went on in the message system, they are not really "public view" and the content will basically be lost. Its why I like forums as its saved and search engine friendly.

I really suck to the community really.. I can probably install the extension and see people find it useful or not :shrug: it be a lot easier than trying to install some other software and maintain it etc

[Steve]

I honestly would just prefer an Exxos Discord channel... I'm in a few other electronics hobby channels and really enjoy it. I like it because you can log in through the browser or phone app and checkup on any interesting activity / chats.

[exxos]

I honestly would just prefer an Exxos Discord channel... I'm in a few other electronics hobby channels and really enjoy it. I like it because you can log in through the browser or phone app and checkup on any interesting activity / chats.

Anyone could setup a room there. Doesn't need me for that. I wouldn't have time to run another channel. It's also why I'm not on any other chat type programs anymore as I just don't have time to keep watch on multiple windows and chats.

Facebook was ok.. While waiting for something to compile it would waste a few seconds here and there. Plus several of my old work mates use Facebook.. It had Messenger and was great for what I used it for.. Now all my chats are gone.. Like people who passed away and it was nice to have those old chats still.. But all gone now :( That's what I get all the time with 3rd parties.

But discord I just find annoying. It's written by someone who has no idea how to write GUI. I did briefly use it when I played a game.. But mix in language translations and it became impossible to follow the conversation of who was saying what. There was settings to change stuff but actually made things worse. I don't know why Discord even exists. Just assume the new kids don't wanna use old stuff like IRC and redid the whole thing.. Badly..

Plus going by how I get banned from 3rd party stuff constantly, I don't want to rely on 3rd party stuff which I have no control over.. If I can run opensource stuff on my server then that's fine.. But it's probably not worth the effort. It brings me back to the forum chat extension. It's all run on my server and I can backup everything.

[alexh]

I honestly would just prefer an Exxos Discord channel

Anyone could setup a room there.

Even I've got one. https://discord.gg/Fmkm8nwh

Facebook was ok.. While waiting for something to compile it would waste a few seconds here and there. Plus several of my old work mates use Facebook.. It had Messenger and was great for what I used it for.. Now all my chats are gone.. Like people who passed away and it was nice to have those old chats still.. But all gone now :(

I stopped using FB Messenger a long time ago and switched to Meta's alternative (and arguably better) chat system "WhatsApp". It has a feature where a backup of all your chats (including media) can be made regularly to a cloud storage vendor of your choosing (possibly your own server, never tried). I use Google drive but you can use others. Even if you were banned/restricted from WhatsApp (which I've never heard of) your backup is still your own. IIRC you can backup as an encrypted WhatsApp data file or folders+plaintext+media

WhatsApp integration (at least on Android) is very good. If you let it access your Android contacts list it will bring everyone (who's phone number it knows about) into the WhatsApp contact list. If you let it read your SMS msgs it will integrate SMS msging within the same GUI (sending msgs via whatsapp if you know the contact). But everything is optional.

But discord I just find annoying. It's written by someone who has no idea how to write GUI.

I like it. There are niggles but overall it is as usable (to me) as IRC ever was and more.

But mix in language translations and it became impossible to follow the conversation of who was saying what.

How does that differ from say IRC? I've personally never got the discord language translation plugins/addons to work.

I don't know why Discord even exists. Just assume the new kids don't wanna use old stuff like IRC and redid the whole thing.. Badly..

I strongly disagree. Discord is MUCH more user friendly than IRC. Invites work much better. nicknames + Avatars work much better. Embedded chat media works much better. Search works much better. It's just better. Plus new features that IRC doesn't have like

• The NEW line in sub-channels which indicates all posts below the line were made since you last logged in.
• Notifications. Various types, configurable, I like the "Only @Mentions" notification, e.g. If anyone posts a comment with your nickname in it.

Plus going by how I get banned from 3rd party stuff constantly, I don't want to rely on 3rd party stuff which I have no control over..

Makes sense.