lemmy

🐀 A link aggregator and forum for the fediverse

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Quick Overview

Lemmy is an open-source, federated social news and link aggregation platform. It's designed to be self-hostable and decentralized, allowing communities to create and manage their own instances while still being able to communicate with other Lemmy instances across the fediverse.

Pros

Decentralized and federated, promoting user privacy and community autonomy
Open-source, allowing for transparency and community contributions
Customizable and self-hostable, giving users control over their data
Supports ActivityPub protocol, enabling interoperability with other federated platforms

Cons

Smaller user base compared to centralized alternatives like Reddit
May require technical knowledge for self-hosting and maintenance
Federation can lead to potential inconsistencies in content moderation across instances
Limited mobile app support compared to more established platforms

Getting Started

To get started with Lemmy, you can either join an existing instance or set up your own:

To join an existing instance:
- Visit join-lemmy.org to find a list of public instances
- Choose an instance and create an account
To set up your own instance:
- Ensure you have Docker and Docker Compose installed
- Clone the Lemmy repository:
```
git clone https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy.git
```
- Navigate to the docker folder:
```
cd lemmy/docker/prod
```
- Copy the example config file:
```
cp .env.example .env
```
- Edit the .env file to configure your instance
- Start the Lemmy instance:
```
docker-compose up -d
```

For more detailed instructions and configuration options, refer to the Lemmy documentation.

Competitor Comparisons

mastodon

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Your self-hosted, globally interconnected microblogging community

Pros of Mastodon

Larger and more established user base, leading to a more active community
More extensive documentation and third-party app ecosystem
Built-in support for content warnings and custom emoji

Cons of Mastodon

Higher resource requirements for hosting instances
Less flexibility in customizing the overall structure and functionality
Steeper learning curve for new users due to its complexity

Code Comparison

Mastodon (Ruby on Rails):

class Status < ApplicationRecord
  include Paginable
  include Cacheable
  include StatusThreadingConcern
  include RateLimitable

  rate_limit by: :account, family: :statuses

Lemmy (Rust):

#[derive(Queryable, Identifiable, PartialEq, Debug, Clone)]
#[table_name = "post"]
pub struct Post {
  pub id: i32,
  pub name: String,
  pub url: Option<String>,
  pub body: Option<String>,

Both projects are open-source federated social media platforms, but Lemmy focuses on link aggregation and discussions, while Mastodon is more of a microblogging platform. Lemmy is written in Rust, which may offer performance benefits, while Mastodon uses Ruby on Rails, which is known for its rapid development capabilities.

diaspora

13,391

A privacy-aware, distributed, open source social network.

Pros of Diaspora

Longer development history and more mature codebase
Larger user base and community support
More extensive federation capabilities with other platforms

Cons of Diaspora

Written in Ruby, which may have a steeper learning curve for some developers
More complex setup and deployment process
Slower development pace in recent years

Code Comparison

Diaspora (Ruby):

class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
  include Diaspora::Federated::Base
  include Diaspora::Guid
  include Diaspora::Socketable
  include Diaspora::Taggable
  include Diaspora::Searchable
end

Lemmy (Rust):

#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, Clone)]
pub struct Person {
  pub id: PersonId,
  pub name: String,
  pub avatar: Option<String>,
  pub banned: bool,
  pub published: chrono::NaiveDateTime,
}

Both projects aim to create decentralized social networking platforms, but they differ in their implementation languages and architectural approaches. Diaspora has a more established presence and wider federation capabilities, while Lemmy offers a more modern tech stack with Rust and potentially better performance. The choice between them may depend on specific requirements, developer preferences, and desired features for a decentralized social network implementation.

synapse

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Synapse: Matrix homeserver written in Python/Twisted.

Pros of Synapse

More mature and widely adopted project with a larger user base
Supports end-to-end encryption for secure communications
Offers a broader range of features and integrations

Cons of Synapse

Higher resource consumption and can be more challenging to self-host
Steeper learning curve for developers and administrators
Less focused on social media-style interactions compared to Lemmy

Code Comparison

Synapse (Python):

class FederationServlet(servlet.ServletBase):
    def __init__(self, hs):
        super().__init__()
        self.hs = hs
        self.clock = hs.get_clock()

Lemmy (Rust):

pub struct Community {
  pub id: i32,
  pub name: String,
  pub title: String,
  pub description: Option<String>,
  pub removed: bool,
}

Both projects use different programming languages, with Synapse written in Python and Lemmy in Rust. Synapse's code structure reflects its focus on federation and real-time communication, while Lemmy's code is more oriented towards community-driven content and discussions. The code snippets demonstrate the different approaches to defining core components in each project.

discourse

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A platform for community discussion. Free, open, simple.

Pros of Discourse

More mature and widely adopted platform with a larger community
Extensive plugin ecosystem and customization options
Built-in features for SEO and content discovery

Cons of Discourse

Heavier resource requirements and more complex setup
Less focus on federation and decentralization
Ruby-based backend may be less familiar to some developers

Code Comparison

Discourse (Ruby):

class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
  belongs_to :topic
  belongs_to :user
  has_many :post_replies
  validates :raw, presence: true, length: { minimum: 5 }
end

Lemmy (Rust):

#[derive(Queryable, Identifiable, Serialize, Deserialize, Clone, Debug)]
pub struct Post {
    pub id: i32,
    pub name: String,
    pub url: Option<String>,
    pub body: Option<String>,
    pub creator_id: i32,
    pub community_id: i32,
    pub published: chrono::NaiveDateTime,
}

Both projects use different programming languages and frameworks, reflecting their distinct approaches to forum software development. Discourse's Ruby code showcases its ActiveRecord ORM usage, while Lemmy's Rust code demonstrates a more low-level, performance-oriented approach.

humhub

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HumHub is an Open Source Enterprise Social Network. Easy to install, intuitive to use and extendable with countless freely available modules.

Pros of HumHub

More comprehensive social networking features, including user profiles, spaces, and content streams
Highly customizable with a modular architecture and extensive plugin ecosystem
Established project with a larger community and more frequent updates

Cons of HumHub

Heavier resource requirements due to its more complex feature set
Steeper learning curve for developers and administrators
Less focus on federation and decentralization compared to Lemmy

Code Comparison

HumHub (PHP):

public function actionIndex()
{
    $searchModel = new ContentSearch();
    $dataProvider = $searchModel->search(Yii::$app->request->queryParams);
    return $this->render('index', [
        'dataProvider' => $dataProvider,
        'searchModel' => $searchModel
    ]);
}

Lemmy (Rust):

pub async fn list(
    context: &Data<LemmyContext>,
    form: &ListCommunities,
) -> Result<ListCommunitiesResponse, LemmyError> {
    let communities = Community::list(context.pool(), form).await?;
    Ok(ListCommunitiesResponse { communities })
}

The code snippets demonstrate different approaches to handling community listings, reflecting the languages and frameworks used by each project.

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README

GitHub tag (latest SemVer)

Lemmy

A link aggregator and forum for the fediverse.

Join Lemmy Â· Documentation Â· Matrix Chat Â· Report Bug Â· Request Feature Â· Releases Â· Code of Conduct

About The Project

Desktop	Mobile

Lemmy is similar to sites like Reddit, Lobste.rs, or Hacker News: you subscribe to forums you're interested in, post links and discussions, then vote, and comment on them. Behind the scenes, it is very different; anyone can easily run a server, and all these servers are federated (think email), and connected to the same universe, called the Fediverse.

For a link aggregator, this means a user registered on one server can subscribe to forums on any other server, and can have discussions with users registered elsewhere.

It is an easily self-hostable, decentralized alternative to Reddit and other link aggregators, outside of their corporate control and meddling.

Each Lemmy server can set its own moderation policy; appointing site-wide admins, and community moderators to keep out the trolls, and foster a healthy, non-toxic environment where all can feel comfortable contributing.

Why's it called Lemmy?

Lead singer from MotÃ¶rhead.
The old school video game.
The Koopa from Super Mario.
The furry rodents.

Built With

Features

Open source, AGPL License.
Self hostable, easy to deploy.
- Comes with Docker and Ansible.
Clean, mobile-friendly interface.
- Only a minimum of a username and password is required to sign up!
- User avatar support.
- Live-updating Comment threads.
- Full vote scores (+/-) like old Reddit.
- Themes, including light, dark, and solarized.
- Emojis with autocomplete support. Start typing :
- User tagging using @, Community tagging using !.
- Integrated image uploading in both posts and comments.
- A post can consist of a title and any combination of self text, a URL, or nothing else.
- Notifications, on comment replies and when you're tagged.
  - Notifications can be sent via email.
  - Private messaging support.
- i18n / internationalization support.
- RSS / Atom feeds for All, Subscribed, Inbox, User, and Community.
Cross-posting support.
- A similar post search when creating new posts. Great for question / answer communities.
Moderation abilities.
- Public Moderation Logs.
- Can sticky posts to the top of communities.
- Both site admins, and community moderators, who can appoint other moderators.
- Can lock, remove, and restore posts and comments.
- Can ban and unban users from communities and the site.
- Can transfer site and communities to others.
Can fully erase your data, replacing all posts and comments.
NSFW post / community support.
High performance.
- Server is written in rust.
- Supports arm64 / Raspberry Pi.

Installation

Lemmy Administration Docs

Lemmy Projects

awesome-lemmy - A community driven list of apps and tools for lemmy

Support / Donate

Lemmy is free, open-source software, meaning no advertising, monetizing, or venture capital, ever. Your donations directly support full-time development of the project.

Lemmy is made possible by a generous grant from the NLnet foundation.

Crypto

bitcoin: 1Hefs7miXS5ff5Ck5xvmjKjXf5242KzRtK
ethereum: 0x400c96c96acbC6E7B3B43B1dc1BB446540a88A01
monero: 41taVyY6e1xApqKyMVDRVxJ76sPkfZhALLTjRvVKpaAh2pBd4wv9RgYj1tSPrx8wc6iE1uWUfjtQdTmTy2FGMeChGVKPQuV

Contributing

Read the following documentation to setup the development environment and start coding:

When working on an issue or pull request, you can comment with any questions you may have so that maintainers can answer them. You can also join the Matrix Development Chat for general assistance.

Translations

If you want to help with translating, take a look at Weblate. You can also help by translating the documentation.

Community

Code Mirrors

Credits

Logo made by Andy Cuccaro (@andycuccaro) under the CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.

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