Falken

The specific distro doesn’t really matter. What matters is package choice (being able to do the few things you listed with the apps you would like to use). I guess if you’re among the Debian evangelists you probably value stability more than any other consideration. Just pick some server distro or Debian again.

Setting up an app in docker is the easiest option, even more than just simply installing the binary?

This isn’t new. I’ve been running my personal instance since last year using it.

This pretty much nails where I was in my previous job, where I was for years. In a better place now because I went back to school and got a different much better job (easier in a lot of ways, and much better pay and opportunities). I had to dig myself out of my wage-slavery and it took some time and dedication. I still think about the next paycheck but the stress is much lower now.

My main problem with live chat is its ephemeral nature. So you can end up having people asking the same thing that someone else asked but the previous answer is buried/lost. Forums are good because you can index and search.

Honestly a forum is much better than the endless stream of live chat that is basically Discord and Matrix, et al.

IRC > XMPP > Matrix > Discord.

Matrix is heavy. I ran my own instance once and it is very resource intensive (even using Dendrite) even if you have only joined a handful of rooms. XMPP chat gives most of the same things I need for chat and is much lighter but no one uses it (sadly). IRC deserves a mention for something that is rock solid and simple and will still be around after Matrix and Discord (if they ever end), however people can’t post their meme pics or their emojis so it doesn’t appeal to younger people.

Concerning Discord. I literally only made an account because I had classmates that made a server.

Why would you join when you can just follow the accounts that interest you on it from Lemmy or Mastodon/Pleroma/Akkoma/etc ???