this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2025
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My kid is 9, and it's all Minecraft and I just installed a non federated synapse server so they can text family without having to deal with parental controls. At that age, I figure it's more about having fun, and if they learn typing skills on the way, big win
Hi how hard is it for a complete beginner to setup a nonfederated synapse server at hardware at home? I am looking for a FOSS solution for a selfhosted messenger for family and friends to stay away from the corporations and governments and people recommend mostly either xmpp or matrix but the guides seem too complicated( Can you share the guide(s) that you've followed?
@ewigkaiwelo @Tolookah Yunohost has an integrated xmpp server I think
Honestly? It was a pain, I used several different guides and they were all out of date in different ways. Unfortunately, it looks like external users are having connectivity problems, that I'll try to solve next week when I have time.
I recommend to read a tutorial of docker and docker compose. Then the setup of stuff like synapse is a few minutes task. (Non-federation is a simple option in the config file).
After watching Luke Smith I've got an impression that docker and containerization is not a way to go, but maybe would be good for a start
There are certainly some discussions with whatever high level considerations. But for ease of setup it is definitely a way.
Ah, and with a non-federation setup you can skip all the more finicky parts of the installation (DNS, .well-known, bla bla) or just a simple server that needs to be reachable by the client.