My experience with Discord on Linux

I use Vesktop, it has a flatpak release and flatpak auto-updates it for me. Also it includes Vencord, so I can add as many plugins and custom themes I want.

All that work, and it's a web wrapper.

When l was on it I saw no point in running it outside a browser tab

I fucking hate discord.

No wait.

I fucking hate the people who use discord.

Idk about you, but for me Manjaro just auto manages that via AUR. dont even have to do anything.

Huh, why does it use the AUR for discord? In Arch it's just part of the Extra repo.
- That repo always seems to lag quite a bit behind official releases. Multiple times on arch I’ve edited config files to have it lie about its version number to get it to keep working.
Samesies, but on EndeavourOS

i just use this bad boy

Btw
Yay!
Was going to say. I've been lucky. My only experience with Discord has been sudo pacman -S discord. I barely use it, but I have some friends I keep in touch with on it.
Hell yeah

Why do you need to update so much, Discord? What the hell are you doing? Suspicious. Very suspicious.

Does the same on windows. Either they're constantly changing some really deep stuff that we don't see or notice, or it's not actually updating just "checking" for updates or loading but it's just slow AF.
- Nah, this isn't the launcher doing checks and applying patches, I mean like I gotta download a new .deb (basically .exe) file with an incremental difference in the version number and unpack it over the old install.
  Ridiculously frequently. Like, once a week at the very least.

If you really need to use discord, use the flatpak version or better yet, use Vesktop.

This. Use Vesktop. Expand the features of Discord while outright blocking the shit.
Or better yet, host your own TeamSpeak server.
Speaking of which, are there any decent FOSS alternatives? Discord got banned in my homecountry and forcing it through VPN or proxy is a total pain in the ass. Forced my friends to move to TS as that's what we used back in the day... like a decade ago, but maybe there's something modern and more open nowadays?
- Teamspeak doesn't even have a fraction of Discord's features. It's a bad alternative.
- from what i know either Matrix or Revolt
  Revolt is more closer to discord but Matrix is better cause it has ee2e, you can host your own server and my favorite feature Clients
- Are you looking for something like mumble?
- Peersuite
- There was a post recently on c/privacy for a self hostable (relaying) peer-to-peer web based option! Its effectively release 1.0 and has some bugs (some serious security ones at the moment), but I think it has lots of promise!!
  I'll go grab the link for the post I saw...
- teamspeak 6 (beta) is pretty nice.

"SKIP_HOST_UPDATE": true

~/.config/discord/settings.json

"SKIP_HOST_UPDATE": true,

Ooohh a useful response.
Wait seriously? Does this stop it from forcing me to update it when an update is available but it's not in my package manager yet?
- Yes. I can confirm, it works even on Gentoo. But I stick to the Flatpak version, anyway, because there I was able to tell it to use Xwayland instead of wayland directly (through Flatseal).
  It seems the wayland support isn't great yet and it tries to grab keys combination that are reserved for my window manager (Gnome). In the flatpak sandbox I don't have any issues.
  Only game running game detection will not work in the sandbox.
  Or is there even a setting to tell it, using the X11 backend so that the keybind issues for the native version go away?

Just use a flatpak sheesh

I just use the web version of discord :)
cause i have more control on the web version and i dislike electron
i cannot leave discord at this time

https://flathub.org/apps/com.discordapp.Discord

Packaging desktop apps via deb (or other system package managers) is obsolete and should be frowned upon.

cue the angry comments from cranky old people

@gamer @DesertDwellingWeirdo
discord
desktop apps
/0
Also, packaging electron to flatpak sounds most stupid idea ever...
- Sandboxing proprietary apps and containerising their outdated dependencies is a good thing.

In all honesty I just use the browser now as that's been the best experience with Discord for me.

Third party apps are way better than the native client
Yup this. Tho if matrix gets desktop streaming I'm gone.
- Element already has desktop streaming as an experimental feature. Worked fine last i tested it. Currently planning how to trick my social circle into using it.
  I also want to go check out the new TeamSpeak, it's supposed to be a decent Discord alternative - Even though Discord originally replaced it.
- get fluffychat :)
When you use the Discord app, you use a browser - Chromium specifically: Discord is an electro app.
In other word, if you already run a browser that burns hundreds of megabytes of RAM, disk, and requires tons of CPU do display simplistic things, as browsers do, you might as well use it to access Discord instead of running a second insanely wasteful browser disguised as a native app.
Vesktop
When I do, audio slowly shifts to one ear only, perhaps over 20m. Then I have to leave the channel and come back to reset it. This does not happen anywhere else, and also doesn’t happen on the desktop app, so I have to use that.
Oh shit I forgot that was an option lmao. Deleting the app once I get home lol
Discord has become really annoying to use with all the ads. I confine it to my browser because I don’t trust it.
With that said, I used to run Flatpak version and it never had this issue.
Recently, while it was "out of date" and refusing to run but not yet updated in the Arch repo, I started wondering why I don't just use the website. I now use the website.
Same! Never have to worry about updates anymore its great!

Ever since the update where screen sharing works FINALLY natively in plasma I just used the flatpak discord

I have to use Discord Canary for that but yeah. Flatpak all the way.
- Well that's just their beta branch of discord, the main branch now has the screen share fix, been using it for a few months now

My experience with Discord, period:

That's why I use third party apps
Thank God im not the only one. I feel like I'm going crazy when all my friends do nothing but worship discord.
- Not at all. I loathe discord with a passion. I can't understand how such a unintuitive piece of software gained such mainstream acceptance.
- I fail to see Discord as anything other than IRC with too many emojis and primary colors for the short of attention span, implemented as a humongous pile of Web 2.0 nonsense, with Big Data surveillance built in.
  Privacy and resource comsumption issues notwithstanding, the few times I've had to use it to connect with people in certain communities that could basically only be found on Discord, it was unbearable to this gen-Xer: it's just as fast and as shallow as IRC, but somehow I feel the extra symbolic and color overload would have triggered a seizure if I was epileptic. It's maddering.
  Oh well, maybe I'm old.

I've been using the browser client.

Same cause i dont like electron
The browser can't do push to talk though, right?
- It can but it's useless
  It only works if the browser tab is focused.
  Not very useful as a PTT key.

I don't get it - on Mint I click the Discord icon and just use Discord, same as on Windows.

That's mint tho. I've used it off and on for more than a decade myself and I'm still scared of other distros.
It really is baby's first distro. Easy mode for someone coming from windows. And I love it for that. I really do. But im not a programmer. I would be lost as a mfer with some distros.
- I am a programmer and I love Mint, because I can just use it instead of having one more thing in my life that I have to fuss with.

Use the Flatpak or better yet stop using Discord.

It is so annoying when communities really want to have a discord. Particularly when they are somewhat technical and so any solutions that they might have are not search able.
- communities really want to have a discord
  And
  they are somewhat technical
  Something seems fishy.
The flatpak has (had?) Issues of not being able to stream application or desktop audio. The system package can and is way more up to date.
Flatpak is not the solution to everything lol
- Using the flatpak version on Fedora. That issue seems to be recently solved not sure when exactly just tried it the other day and it worked!
- That's a wayland specific issue and I believe the Flatpack version was right behind the version that finally fixed that about 3 months ago. It should have the good version finally but I won't bother to check.
- I believe the audio streaming issue on flatpak is resolved as of a month or two ago. But I’m typically with you, system packages for the most up to date experience in most cases.
- I never said it was. The Discord Flatpak always worked for me. Not saying it didn't for you, it just hasn't been my experience.
Flatpaks are a really bad idea.
- Because?

Why? The browser client is ok.

Not if you need system wide PTT

Discord is trash software. Always has been.

Are there better alternatives you don't have to self host?

I mean there is always the flatpak version

I actually use the Vesktop Flatpak. It's got working screen sharing with audio on Wayland (not sure if the official client has implemented that yet) and it has Vencord preinstalled for plugins and themes.
I must be getting old.
Yep. I didn't realize the flatpak version worked better. I never get those manual update prompts anymore and Software Center automatically updates Discord when there are updates.
Came here to say this. I was dealing with constant required .deb downloads and switched to flatpak. All the noise stopped.

I started using Discord in 2015 and around 2019 uninstalled it in favor of using it exclusively through a web browser (blocking as much of it's nonsense as possible). Discord takes too many resources hostage if anyone in your server is streaming something, even if you're not watching it. I don't have that issue when using Element (Matrix), Jitsi or any of Steam's broadcasting tools. The only reason I haven't deleted my Discord account yet is because some people I hold dear are incapable of trying something better nowadays (even when they already have it installed as is the case of Steam).

Honestly activitypub should get extended with support for realtime data
That would allow for all sorts of cool things
Steam is not better than discord lmao

I see some recommendations for Vesktop in this thread.

For some reason, launching Vesktop's Flatpak version presents a blank window. It worked perfectly fine a few weeks ago. Going back several versions doesn't fix the problem.

Does anyone else have this issue? What doesn't help is that the repo doesn't have an issue tracker:

https://github.com/Vencord/Vesktop

Edit: Appimage version works just fine

I think it's an x11/Wayland incompatability issue.
Ran into that as well. Just use "repair vesktop" option from the right click menu on the icon when it's running. That fixes it. You'll stay logged in etc.
I've had this issue too. I'm at work rn so I can't provide an exact process. But on KDE I right click on Vesktop on the task bar and there is a "fix Vesktop" option that resolved it for me.

My experience with discord on Linux : programs.nixcord.discord.enable = true

(I use vesktop, actually, but most people don’t know what that is)

Vesktop is nice.

Flatpak

discord.com/app

So. Very important for everyone here. You can bypasss the forced discord update.

To disable the update check, add the line "SKIP_HOST_UPDATE": true to ~/.config/discord/settings.json

I'm running with native electron (sure, electron) but it works great tbh

https://github.com/Vencord/Vesktop

check out vencord (or vesktop) just in time for discord to completely enshittify. while you're looking, consider something like revolt chat instead?

Revolt is still extremely beta, at least last I checked it out?
Vesktop (on flatpak I believe) is just a discord wrapper with plugin support, actually a really great experience!!
Still, here's hoping literally any FOSS discord clone gets fully off the ground sometime soon. The enshitification is so fucking real.
Oh that looks nice! I was using Dissent which is very light on resources but I kept running on a couple issues. I'll try that.
- Another one I can recommend is equibop (web version wrap of Discord) and equicord (discord client modification with vencord)
Since the latest big discord update I had issues with Vesktop, other people could only watch my streams if they were in it when I started streaming and even then it usually would break after a few minutes. But I might try it again in the next few days to see if it got fixed
Edit: I quickly checked the GitHub repo and the latest release was 2 months ago so probably not :(

Yeah this is annoying.

"It's your lucky day!"

I'll figure it out
- I can't stand that I can't close discord until I have touched that stupid dropdown, to the point I have uninstalled discord and just use a matrix bridge or the browser version.
  I'm on endeavouros so the deb file is pointless

yay discord

Yes.

Even screen share is fixed in wayland now! I believe that the flatpak version was on the cusp of supporting it too so it might already. I kinda stopped caring about it when everything worked, which is certainly a good sign.

Everyone here is shouting flatpak, but I'm gonna shout flatpak of Vesktop!

https://github.com/Vencord/Vesktop
I like that I can make the light theme not ass
- I liked this one over Vesktop (if you use Desktop discord) https://github.com/Equicord/Equicord

idk i just use the website

for some reason it crashes on Firefox when i enable audio, but my mic doesn't work anyway so you know it's not a big deal

edit: fix typos

Vesktop

On my aging laptop, the Discord app consumed RAM like Goku at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Moving back to a browser tab eliminated the overhead from Electron and was dramatically more performant as a result. This completely side-steps any upgrade and/or snap issues.

I wrote a small bash script to curl the latest .deb, install it, and delete it because i was having this problem too. shame it can't just auto-update or let me use the old version

As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, check out this setting in Discord config for allowing you to use the old version: ArchWiki - Discord#2.2
- wait really? thank you!

me: so ppa?

discord: no ppa only deb

It behaves the same way on Windows, but is a little better at cleaning up after itself when it updates. It’s poorly architected.

The Windows version definitely does not open your default browser to download a new installation package which you then need to install yourself.

Browser. website. basically the same experience without weird and/or shit integration into anything, share resources with the browser that's open anyway, works fine, and allow easy customization because it's a webpage anyway and you get to mess with the CSS/HTML/JS if you want to.

There is a ppa though. I trust the guy behind it, he has good history

Mine updates with all my other stuff. Not sure why you'd need to download it every time. I installed it with pacman.

Flatpak 🤷

Discord sure does feel like a 0.0.x version

I don't use a Debian based distro like Ubuntu anymore (arch BTW), but could you not just add their repo and do an apt update && apt upgrade?

Honestly, I really dislike apt and how you have to add random repos which is why I don't use it anymore. I moved away even before snaps.

Ps, I love the AUR.

They don't have a repo as far as I know. Hence the manual .deb install.
- this, they can't be bothered with a repo
yay discord ftw

It's not just me!

I highly suggest using LegCord!

I just use the flatpak on arch, can't be bothered to have a link to a deb or do a system update when discord wants a update.

In endeavour all I need to do is close it, run yay to update, open. "Lucky Day" gone

Still annoying as fuck

I have been using goofcord, its functional. I am moving to matrix after the enshittification of discord though.

Why run an app when you can just run it in a browser tab?

Browser amnesia. I would have to login every time.
- But that's what cookies are for? Either way, save your creds in your password manager of choice and just let it auto fill. Easy.

I've been running ArmCord for a while. It also blocks Discords tracking.

this is my expierance but with jami

Help I use Debian on the desktop and don't understand the implications

I think it's about how Discord sends their updates, not sure tho.
If you want to install the desktop version of Discord I'd advice to install the flatpak. And if you don't want to install it system-wide you can install it on one user only. That's what I do anyway.
I haven’t used it on Linux, but on Windows I need to fight it to understand my headset, every freaking time the computer has been rebooted. Any other program just gets it. I feel like OP’s photo

Webcord

lol this is me. I know there are easier solutions but I can't bring myself to use any of them.

My biggest problem with it is that the updates are always kinda late hitting AUR.

Oh come on. This is every experience with linux.

I've been pretty deep in linux for years and never seen this.

It's a way of controlling the software .... it would be a lot more difficult to make changes, even change settings or adjusting the software from time to time if it's constantly being updated every week.

I noticed this with Chrome ... a few years ago, there were lots of settings, hacks and changes and adjustments you could make to the browser to avoid tracking, advertising and all sorts of other things and to generally make it run faster. All that activity is lost now because Chrome literally updates itself every week.

I run Linux and my software doesn't update it self that much ... the only thing that updates itself every week is Chrome .... the entire package about 50-60MB every time, wipes itself and reinstalls a new version every time ... so any changes you had made to the software or any attempt at adjusting anything in the deep software is all lost and reset over and over again.

My experience with matrix be like: (I still prefer it to discord)

Do they have a repo?

I’d rather just use a snap than that dumb shit.

How about legcord?

I assumed there was something wrong with my setup because this UX is insane. Good to know it’s just shit.

Had zero issue with the flatpak.

I'm going to link this thread the next time someone screeches at me for using windows. The responses in here are so diverse and some of them are just perfection.

yeah... its almost like corporations are actively working to make computing worse and keep you in the hands of profit-driven initiatives.
no, it's the Linux nerds who are wrong!
- Discord cares what OS you use?
- Nobody is sabotaging Linux desktop. It's simply too much effort for most of the general public.

Just because there is a new minor version you don't to update it immediately. Except for security updates of course.

Discord forces you to update if there is a new version
- Didnt know this. In this case i would uninstall discord and use the web version instead.
- I think there is some way to actually bypass the forced update, i don't recall the specifics but it had something to do with some discord settings.json

I get the message there's an upgrade. Say I'll do it myself, go to console.

yay -S discord (or more likely just do an overall upgrade and reboot, what they hell)

Restart discord.

Oh lord please don‘t do that. Partial upgrades are not supported. You WILL break your system sooner or later.
- Discord has no dependencies that would cause a breakage from doing that. It's entirely fine.
  Partial upgrades basically only applies to the system it self. Not random self contained apps.