I’m looking into a few different chat servers, probably just for family on my tailnet.

I like the idea that simplex allows video chat. My server is a repurposed optiplex 3060so I think it should be able to handle it. Is anyone doing this? Do you think it’s worth it?

Should I be considering other options like XMPP?

  • Yaky@slrpnk.netEnglish
    18·
    4 days ago

    IMO Snikket (XMPP) is the easiest all-in-one solution with audio/video chat at the moment. Pretty good on resources too.

    I currently host a Matrix Synapse server, but:

    • Matrix seems to be expanding in the corporate / institutional direction, more services are expected for regular functionality
    • Element X (upcoming client) breaks calls compatibility with old Element, now requiring Element Call. It’s kind of a mess, I presume this is to support group calls, but makes it a PITA to use currently.
    • Even with small number of users, Synapse DB grows in size due to state_groups_state table, non-deletable users, and copying ALL data from other servers’ rooms (this one is by design but still…)
    • ohshit604@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      3·
      4 days ago

      Snikket locked my docker service up, their documentation sucks for when you want to use your own reverse proxy or bind it behind a docker network and not the host.

        • ohshit604@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          4·
          3 days ago

          Doesn’t cover Traefik, plus the docker-compose.yml contains 4 separate images and researching into them didn’t provide much info. snicket_proxy, snikket_certs, snikket_portal and snikket_server. All four of these images bind to the host but if I am supplying my own reverse proxy then both snikket_proxy and snikket_certs are redundant right? Or do they serve another purpose? And if I wanted to take them off the host network, follow their firewall guide and expose the necessary ports manually behind a docker bridge network what images do I bind those ports to? When I tried binding them all to snikket_server that’s when my docker service crashed and I gave up.

          • Botzo@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            3 days ago

            I see. Yeah, that compose file is gross unless you’re running this on a dedicated vps, and even then…

  • mistermodal@lemmy.mlEnglish
    1·
    2 days ago

    XMPP, but also Delta Chat! The Webxdc apps for Delta work in XMPP client Cheogram despite there being no cross-compatibility between the networks. It can access ordinary email servers so long as they were not set up maliciously (Apple, M$, Gmail, etc). It can do a couple things XMPP cannot, but it’s not suitable for anyone outside close friends and family. I basically only use it for email, automation, and other personal matters. XMPP is for general use and can replace Discord. The Movim project looks very cool they have a community here also join their XMPP chat. Cheogram services can connect to the regular phone network.

  • Lemmchen@feddit.orgEnglish
    4·
    3 days ago

    If you like SimpleX, you can host a server and configure your clients to use that. You don’t use only your server though, so I don’t know if this will satisfy your requirements.

  • poVoq@slrpnk.netEnglish
    3·
    3 days ago

    I mean, XMPP is great, but if you are only interested in private chats with your family in a virtual LAN then it (and Matrix) is probably overkill and a bit of a hassle to configure without a public domain (as that is expected for federation).

    Maybe a Nextcloud Talk or a Jitsi Meet instance would be simpler?

    • Dremor@lemmy.worldEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      Nextcloud Talk ils a great option for families. But if you expect to use the Video Call feature, prepare for a lot of headache. I tried multiple time configuring it, never managed to make it work for longer than one call.

      • Willdrick@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        3 days ago

        I finally made it work last week. I was overcomplicating, as usual: nextcloud AIO includes all the requirements to run Talk, I just had to modify the config file to point at my domain and add a new entry at :8081 on my reverse proxy. Hosted a 2 hour video call with 3 friends without issues!

        • Dremor@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          3 days ago

          Well you are lucky, or they fixed their mess a way or another. I spent at least a full week to try to make it work, to no avail.

  • Drunk & Root@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    43·
    3 days ago

    matrix using smth like tuwunel or xmpp using prosody could intrest you if you want smth more video zoom only esc you can look into jitsi

  • BrightCandle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    3 days ago

    Every one always says XMPP and there were a lot of recommendations for ejabberd. I tried this recently and it was a total disaster, I do not have a working chat server. If I followed the docker instructions the server would just crash with no details of what went wrong. Where it should have been creating a default server config file it was instead creating a directory with the wrong permissions then promptly crashing. I tried following their documentation but after about 6 hours of messing about and adding more and more I still couldn’t get a client to login to it. I have no idea how to make this work.

    So whatever the solution ultimately is I can’t recommend Ejabberd.

    • poVoq@slrpnk.netEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      Ejabberd is definitly for more advanced users, but you can usually get help over at joinjabber.org (which has a webclient that you can use without an xmpp account).

      But yes, Snikket and Prosody is easier to set up.