30 Aug
2023
30 Aug
'23
12:14 p.m.
Hi all.
It helps to be clear on what you mean. Referring to a technology or app without being
specific may ruin its reputation and what is was intended to be used for.
Discord was not intended to be an archive for information, just a way to encourage the
dissemination of information in a usable/ timely way.
Wiki’s are good for archiving info, as is the Internet Archive, but both Wikipedia and the
IA are struggling financially and will probably fold unless they come up with a better
business model for growth and sustainability.
I don’t think any private entity will be able to save internet information long term.
Hell even Yahoo groups shutdown and a lot of info was lost there. Even HP has lost a lot
of the DEC archive of software and really made no attempt to recover it.
I think the governments of the world might have to try to take on this challenge. At
least, the library of Congress should be tasked with it.
Sent from my iPhone
On Aug 30, 2023, at 11:55, Seth Morabito via cctalk
<cctalk(a)classiccmp.org> wrote:
On Wed, Aug 30, 2023, at 11:30 AM, Wayne S via
cctalk wrote:
This dislike of “Discord” has touched a nerve for me. It’s also one of
the reasons the cctalk list has lost most of it value.
Discord is a collection of channels most devoted to specific subjects
that you more or less subscribe to. It’s just a server and you need an
invite to join a group. I’m in the Classic computer group and find it
to be filled with knowledge people willing to share that knowledge with
others.
Saying you don’t like “Discord” is like saying you don’t like TV. If
you don’t like the content, simply don’t watch it. Don’t blame the
medium.
It's not that I don't like the content, it's that content accessibility is
awful. We're moving important information from a publicly available, searchable,
indexable web, and putting it into a walled garden where you can't find it unless you
sign up for a service, find the right server, and join it.
Let me be more clear: I love the CHAT feature of Discord. It's perfect for that.
It's a great place to discuss things in real time. But it is dreadful as a replacement
for forums and archives.
Every time a phpBB forum shuts down and deletes its archive we lose history. The new
history being made on Discord is never going to be a viable replacement because it's a
closed system behind locked doors. Even when you get the key to the doors and join a
server, good luck finding information that's well laid out, organized, searchable, and
accessible. And good luck exporting that information.
We already have wikis, we already have forums. Let them do what they're good at,
leave Discord for real-time discussion. Anything less is just a sad, sad waste of
potential and robbing from the future.
-Seth
--
Seth Morabito * Poulsbo, WA * https://loomcom.com/