Best FOSS Local Messenger Service?
So I want to setup a messaging server in my home that works like Telegram or Whatsapp - it should use the local network as we plan on moving around a lot of photos and files between our devices for some projects
What should I use? XMPP? Or Matrix? Or is there something else that's ideal for local networks?
Thanks!
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XMPP sounds great, but I heard it has difficulty with file transfer. How was your experience with it?
I've not used it as FTP as it wasn't built for that. It was, however, brilliant for messaging. In regards to some comment below about the domain - you could always spin up a little unbound instance (+wireguard for your own stuff everywhere).
Its not really designed for sharing large files and storing them, but it is not hard to get working.
However XMPP works better with a domain name and such, for a purely local solution something p2p or a local NAS is much better. Syncthing is probably the easiest to get going.
Ahhh
I use Syncthing already for a lot of my stuff, but it doesn't fit the bill right now. I've been reading about Matrix while looking around for this, do you have any experience with it?
Yes, don't bother with it for this specific use-case.
xmpp has a number of file transfer modes. http upload has been smooth sailing for me. It uploads the file to the server and holds it according to a retention period you configure. Shows up in the client you sent it to.
Hmm, that actually sounds manageable, as I don't plan on storing the files on server for a long time. Only issue is the notifications part I think, not sure how to configure that . I'll check it out
Notification works like any other message. http upload is just the method the client uses - it's more or less transparent to the clients involved. It's still sending and receiving as you would expect from a messenger.