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6/thread
Now for some discord alternatives.
#Slack: proprietary and close source. cant self host. and free version limits messages
#Stoat (Revolt). This one is interesting. Its basically a clone of Discord. While you can self host. The client being taken from Discord is hard coded with a server. So you must fork and publish your own version of the Apps to use your own server. otherwise no different than just sticking with Discord. (data on stoat's servers instead of discords.)
7/thread
#MatterMost this is one I used to love but now grown sour. MatterMost is a business focused server like Slack but you can self host. They have made some decisions to limit their free/open source version. to 50 users and 10k messages. You could modify the source, and compile your own but now thats maintenance nightmare for individuals
8/thread
Both Stoat and Mattermost have another issue. Data. Neither of these encrypt your data. so depending on what your needs are and where it is hosted. Anyone with access to the server would have full access to chat history in clear text.
So if your random club member offers to run a server, then leaves they now have potentially sensitive information from private chats in their database.
This is the big concern for many and why I would recommend @matrix for your move.
9/thread
#Matrix is a open protocol with server and client implementations.
#synapse a popular matrix server but there are others. https://github.com/element-hq/synapse
servers.joinmatrix.org/ is a well maintained list of public reg servers
https://matrix.org/ecosystem/servers/ for servers
and @element is the most complete/popular matrix client.
But there are others too https://matrix.org/ecosystem/clients/
I personally use Element on desktop and Fluffychat on mobile.
https://fluffy.chat/en/
