TaigaChat is an open-source instant messenger for communities aiming to provide autonomy and fun.
- FOSS
- Handwritten (no slop)
- Decentralized not Federated
- Voice channels
- Very lean code
- Very few dependencies
- RYOK support
- 5 years in the making
- by a 1-person team
Come Join Us
The easiest way to get in touch with other users of TaigaChat is to simply create and account and become active in the TaigaChat HQ server. Whenever you register under normal circumstances you will automatically join the HQ. This will be changed in the future! The URL of this server is: https://home.taigachat.se
Also in the list of plans is creating an IRC plugin for TaigaChat. Details on how to connect to it will be announced when it is ready. But the initial implementation will be very bare-bones. Don’t expect IRCv3 features initially.
If you don’t feel quite ready yet, users can also be found on the deprecated Discord server. Whatever method you decide to get in touch by, I hope you will receive a warm welcome!
Governance
TaigaChat is currently a small one-man project. So there isn’t much to say about governance. I hold the BDFL style of leadership found in other FOSS projects in high-regard. This is something that I would emulate with TaigaChat should the project expand. I really don’t want to create another design-by-committee protocol. My vision for what I want TaigaChat to be is quite clear, but I’m also very open to adapting it for the needs of others as long as the project scope doesn’t get too out of hand. That said now is a great time to come and leave a mark as I’m quite open to working together with others. Anything fun will probably go over well! 
Sustainability
I develop TaigaChat on my free time as a passion project. Because of it just being me and my text-editor, my only expense is time. And I am willing to spend that time because I find the project fun to work on. This is why I’m not in need of funding currently.
Looking into the future, I expect the small codebase and decentralization to make the upkeep cost of TaigaChat very small. When the day comes that the free hosting (for those that do not self-host) actually starts cutting into my living-expenses, I might try to find willing volunteers that can offload the server costs for me. Another solution would be to reach out to the larger TaigaChat servers that use our hosting and see if they are able to chip-in. In either case, the operating overhead will be tiny.
More importantly, if you like TaigaChat, what I’d appreciate more than any material patrons is simply your word of mouth. I believe introducing TaigaChat to friends is a healthier way for us to spread than some massive advertising campaign. If you’re self-hosting your own community then I’d love to hear about it. Few things warm my soul more than seeing people have genuine uses for my projects. 