Future of Jitsi

muppeth commented

2026-04-05 20:15:41 +02:00

Owner

placeholder (needs more information)

*placeholder* (needs more information)

muppeth added the

🔥

jitsi

🙌 Decission needed

labels

2026-04-05 20:15:41 +02:00

muppeth self-assigned this

2026-04-05 20:15:41 +02:00

antilopa was assigned by muppeth

2026-04-05 20:15:41 +02:00

avg_joe was assigned by muppeth

2026-04-05 20:15:41 +02:00

fede was assigned by muppeth

2026-04-05 20:15:41 +02:00

meaz was assigned by muppeth

2026-04-05 20:15:41 +02:00

meaz commented

2026-04-05 21:39:00 +02:00

Owner

We do have issue with some people abusing Jitsi service.

We more or less have three solutions:
A- Keep the service and do nothing about it.
B- Keep the service but set it behind login.
C- Kill the service.

I don't thing keeping it behind login is a good idea as we already have xmpp or nextcloud.
We got quite a few people that wrote to us while it was down / closed saying they really needed it. So I don't know about killing it. BUT I don't think we should be doing nothing as probably those weirdos will use the service again.

So I'm not sure what to do about it... For sure not B.

We do have issue with some people abusing Jitsi service. We more or less have three solutions: A- Keep the service and do nothing about it. B- Keep the service but set it behind login. C- Kill the service. I don't thing keeping it behind login is a good idea as we already have xmpp or nextcloud. We got quite a few people that wrote to us while it was down / closed saying they really needed it. So I don't know about killing it. BUT I don't think we should be doing nothing as probably those weirdos will use the service again. So I'm not sure what to do about it... For sure not B.

pfm commented

2026-04-05 21:46:18 +02:00

Member

If people reached out about it being unavailable, maybe we could ask them for feedback: why aren't they using other available services?
Maybe something could be done to change/increase NC Talk adoption?

If people reached out about it being unavailable, maybe we could ask them for feedback: why aren't they using other available services? Maybe something could be done to change/increase NC Talk adoption?

meaz commented

2026-04-05 21:56:14 +02:00

Owner

they mostly wanted something that doesn't need log in. And something not tech saavy.

muppeth commented

2026-04-06 09:29:52 +02:00

Author

Owner

Yeah that's pretty much the feedback. Quite few people that have been using our jitsi dont even have disroot account. One person actually did make an account and was positively suprised by the extra features that come with nextcloud.

I think that if the decission is to put it behind login, I would opt for killing it and instead making sure nextcloud talk work good enough. I dont see the point of keeping jitsi as it provides pretty much the same experience as nextcloud talk.

Yeah that's pretty much the feedback. Quite few people that have been using our jitsi dont even have disroot account. One person actually did make an account and was positively suprised by the extra features that come with nextcloud. I think that if the decission is to put it behind login, I would opt for killing it and instead making sure nextcloud talk work good enough. I dont see the point of keeping jitsi as it provides pretty much the same experience as nextcloud talk.

pfm commented

2026-04-06 12:44:37 +02:00

Member

Although that would be a larger effort, I'd like to remind an old idea of yours: a prosody separate from Disroot's regular identity and services, so something like a lightweight chat-only type of account. Maybe that would help some of the users? (Maybe Keycloak could then manage two separate LDAP orgs or whatever the backend would be, one for Disroot and one for those light chat-only identities?)

pfm commented

2026-04-06 14:40:48 +02:00

Member

Another question: does jitsi allow creating public conferences by logged in users? Then any Disroot user could start and invite non-Disroot users.

muppeth commented

2026-04-06 16:07:11 +02:00

Author

Owner

Another question: does jitsi allow creating public conferences by logged in users? Then any Disroot user could start and invite non-Disroot users.

Yes. both jitsi and nextcloud talk allow to invite non-disroot users.

Although that would be a larger effort, I'd like to remind an old idea of yours: a prosody separate from Disroot's regular identity and services, so something like a lightweight chat-only type of account. Maybe that would help some of the users? (Maybe Keycloak could then manage two separate LDAP orgs or whatever the backend would be, one for Disroot and one for those light chat-only identities?)

The idea was actually to allow disroot users to use xmpp directly without need for approval which could apply only to email.
I don't see much of a difference if we would use the same authentication (keycloak) for Jitsi and rest of disroot. It would require the same amount of work and resources and it could only confuse people (some would think they have disroot account while it woudl not be the case, and the other way around). It would have potential to confuse people and increase amount of support tickets.

Depending on the new registration system (which I hope we can create avoiding the need to manually approve accounts), I dont think it would make much difference if people just get a disroot account. No resources are used if people don;t actively use services. So if someone just uses it for Jitsi is will have no effect on eg. nextcloud.

> Another question: does jitsi allow creating public conferences by logged in users? Then any Disroot user could start and invite non-Disroot users. Yes. both jitsi and nextcloud talk allow to invite non-disroot users. > Although that would be a larger effort, I'd like to remind an old idea of yours: a prosody separate from Disroot's regular identity and services, so something like a lightweight chat-only type of account. Maybe that would help some of the users? (Maybe Keycloak could then manage two separate LDAP orgs or whatever the backend would be, one for Disroot and one for those light chat-only identities?) The idea was actually to allow disroot users to use xmpp directly without need for approval which could apply only to email. I don't see much of a difference if we would use the same authentication (keycloak) for Jitsi and rest of disroot. It would require the same amount of work and resources and it could only confuse people (some would think they have disroot account while it woudl not be the case, and the other way around). It would have potential to confuse people and increase amount of support tickets. Depending on the new registration system (which I hope we can create avoiding the need to manually approve accounts), I dont think it would make much difference if people just get a disroot account. No resources are used if people don;t actively use services. So if someone just uses it for Jitsi is will have no effect on eg. nextcloud.

muppeth commented

2026-04-06 16:08:38 +02:00

Author

Owner

We could have a seperate realm for as you say light chat identities. We could host it and perhaps even give choice when creating account or logging in to eg. jitsi. I just wonder if it would be of any significant benefit for users, resources or core team.

meaz commented

2026-04-07 21:26:03 +02:00

Owner

Once again, I insist: what people wanted is something simple, not tech saavy...

👍 1

muppeth commented

2026-04-11 07:50:29 +02:00

Author

Owner

Once again, I insist: what people wanted is something simple, not tech saavy...

What are you proposing then?

> Once again, I insist: what people wanted is something simple, not tech saavy... What are you proposing then?

meaz commented

2026-04-11 13:03:00 +02:00

Owner

I don't know what is the best. But if it is hard for not tech saavy to use jitsi behind logins and so, I would just kill jitsi.

avg_joe commented

2026-04-12 15:55:39 +02:00

Owner

what exactly did happen on jitsi? was it like a live stream? or was it used as file drop? didn't know it supports this actually.

pfm commented

2026-04-12 17:53:38 +02:00

Member

I think we don't know what it was exactly, but I suspect a kind of steam with illegal contents, regardless of how it was streamed (live or not).

muppeth commented

2026-04-16 22:05:28 +02:00

Author

Owner

Our server was filled up with webcam porn rooms and childporn. It has been reported by a person two times. Just like I explained on the meetting and on the chat, there are no tools to moderate this. The only solution is putting a login on top of it.

Since last two weeks after our server was off for few weeks, seems like the amount of shady rooms is much smaller, but I am not checking all the time. Even if we see there is a bad actor, there is no way to even close the room and even if you would make it impossible ( I was blocking access to the room url on web server level), they can and did create new rooms.

Solutions are three:

Put login on jitsi - require disroot account
Keep is as is - take on the fact that abuse is possible and will happen and just react to reports and ocassionally check what's up (sort of agree that in order to provide easy access calling solution we will deal with this type of things)
Shut down jitsi

Our server was filled up with webcam porn rooms and childporn. It has been reported by a person two times. Just like I explained on the meetting and on the chat, there are no tools to moderate this. The only solution is putting a login on top of it. Since last two weeks after our server was off for few weeks, seems like the amount of shady rooms is much smaller, but I am not checking all the time. Even if we see there is a bad actor, there is no way to even close the room and even if you would make it impossible ( I was blocking access to the room url on web server level), they can and did create new rooms. Solutions are three: 1. Put login on jitsi - require disroot account 2. Keep is as is - take on the fact that abuse is possible and will happen and just react to reports and ocassionally check what's up (sort of agree that in order to provide easy access calling solution we will deal with this type of things) 3. Shut down jitsi

Shadowstreik commented

2026-04-16 23:00:25 +02:00

I agree with requiring a login. I was almost expecting it, to be truthful. I happen to use Jitsi as a backup for my associates and myself when our main instance (Switched To Linux) isn't available for use.

I believe that by having the login requirement, dealing with 'bad actors' will be less of a nuisance. Perhaps even having a login requirement may squelch the number of Bad Actors.

I agree with requiring a login. I was almost expecting it, to be truthful. I happen to use Jitsi as a backup for my associates and myself when our main instance (Switched To Linux) isn't available for use. I believe that by having the login requirement, dealing with 'bad actors' will be less of a nuisance. Perhaps even having a login requirement may squelch the number of Bad Actors.

muppeth commented

2026-04-17 08:02:05 +02:00

Author

Owner

I would personally opt for option 3 at this point. Less hastle and perhaps focusing more on nextcloud would be good in long run. However requiring long on jitsi is also an option I can take on if there is enough demand, or people see it's important to use. I would consider this because of the following:

Jitsi might be easier to use for people and is one app for one purpose type of deal
Jitsi might be less resource hungry then Netcloud and so more managable in case of demands

I would personally opt for option 3 at this point. Less hastle and perhaps focusing more on nextcloud would be good in long run. However requiring long on jitsi is also an option I can take on if there is enough demand, or people see it's important to use. I would consider this because of the following: - Jitsi might be easier to use for people and is one app for one purpose type of deal - Jitsi might be less resource hungry then Netcloud and so more managable in case of demands

meaz commented

2026-04-17 10:27:38 +02:00

Owner

You get arguments... Indeed, even if behind login, jitsi may be easier for not tech saavy people than Nextcloud.
Though, if people have to go for the whole registration process, I would got for option 3 also!

You get arguments... Indeed, even if behind login, jitsi may be easier for not tech saavy people than Nextcloud. Though, if people have to go for the whole registration process, I would got for option 3 also!

avg_joe commented

2026-04-17 19:06:44 +02:00

Owner

option 3 as well.
iirc we setup jitsi during covid situation.
times have changed and i don't see the urgent need to provide an easy accessible solution right now.

option 3 as well. iirc we setup jitsi during covid situation. times have changed and i don't see the urgent need to provide an easy accessible solution right now.

muppeth commented

2026-04-20 09:30:11 +02:00

Author

Owner

Ok I think I agree with you too. Let's wait until the end of the week to finalize the decision.

muppeth commented

2026-04-27 21:28:30 +02:00

Author

Owner

Ok. So the decission is to close down Jitsi. I will prepare it (make a little info page when going to the url pointing to this thread as well). I will create the entries in proxy ansible etc so we can roll in during the deployments.

@meaz if you have time could you then remove info about jitsi from the website? We could then merge it on the same day as the deployments

Ok. So the decission is to close down Jitsi. I will prepare it (make a little info page when going to the url pointing to this thread as well). I will create the entries in proxy ansible etc so we can roll in during the deployments. @meaz if you have time could you then remove info about jitsi from the website? We could then merge it on the same day as the deployments

meaz commented

2026-04-29 07:01:24 +02:00

Owner

done @muppeth
I'll add PR for Privacy Policy also, please check it

done @muppeth I'll add PR for Privacy Policy also, please check it

Rows
Columns

Future of Jitsi #1373