Hackers' Pub

Syntax	Description	Examples
`"` keyword `"`	Finds the string within quotes, including spaces. Case-insensitive. (Escape quotes inside with `\"`)	`"Hackers' Pub"`
`from:` handle	Finds content written by the specified user.	`from:hongminhee` `from:hongminhee@hollo.social`
`lang:` ISO 639-1	Finds content written in the specified language.	`lang:en`
`#` tag	Finds content with the specified tag. Case-insensitive.	`#HackersPub`
condition condition	Finds content that satisfies both conditions on either side of the space (logical AND).	`"Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
condition `OR` condition	Finds content that satisfies at least one of the conditions on either side of the OR operator (logical OR).	`#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" lang:en`
`(` condition `)`	Combines the operators within the parentheses first.	`(#HackersPub OR "Hackers' Pub" OR "Hackers Pub") lang:en`

Ben Zanin @gnomon@mastodon.social

2/19/2026, 1:11:23 PM

Public

Some friends and I have been exploring alternatives to Discord and Slack since both services are heading in intolerable directions.

We've looked at obvious choices like Matrix and Zulip, less obvious ones like Signal and Delta Chat, and some weird ones like the chat system built into the Fossil version control system.

I hoped Delta Chat would add channels, but no luck. I kind of expected we'd end up defaulting to Matrix.

But IRCv3 (Ergo / Goguma / Irctoday) is in the lead. Surprising.

If you have a fediverse account, you can quote this note from your own instance. Search https://mastodon.social/users/gnomon/statuses/116097462032963849 on your instance and quote it. (Note that quoting is not supported in Mastodon.)