The D language forums[1] are a good example of an alternative approach. I don't know what their server/storage costs are, but all that information from the last couple decades is easy to find with a search. The forum is fast, it doesn't require registration, and it's open source.[2]
[1] https://forum.dlang.org/
[2] https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed
In Stop Using DiscordCyberShadow
DFeed
D2012–2024
CyberShadow / DFeed
DFeed
D news aggregator, newsgroup client, web newsreader and IRC bot
32Distinct people
45Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
384GitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
D news aggregator, newsgroup client, web newsreader and IRC bot
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 5:04:57 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year45 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2012-02-15 06:46:25 UTC to 2024-05-31 13:00:03 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2013 | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2015 | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 2016 | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
DFeed
DFeed is a multi-protocol news aggregator and forum system:
NNTP client
Mailing list archive
Web-based forum interface
ATOM feed aggregator
IRC bot
Demo Instance
A demo instance is available here: https://dfeed-demo.cy.md/
Directory Structure
src/ - Application source code
site-defaults/ - Default configuration and web templates (tracked in repo)
site/ - Site-specific overrides (gitignored, your customizations go here)
Files in site/ override files in site-defaults/. This allows you to customize
your installation without modifying tracked files.
Quick Start
git clone --recursive https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed.git
cd DFeed
Building with Dub (executable only)
dub build
Building with Nix (executable and minified resources)
nix build .
Configuration
Create your site-specific configuration in site/:
mkdir -p site/config/sources/nntp
cp site-defaults/config/site.ini.sample site/config/site.ini
# Edit site/config/site.ini with your settings
# Add an NNTP source:
echo "host = your.nntp.server" > site/config/sources/nntp/myserver.ini
# Configure web interface:
echo "listen.port = 80" > site/config/web.ini
Running
./dfeed
On first start, DFeed downloads messages from configured NNTP servers.
Access the web interface at http://localhost:8080/.
Site-Specific Deployments
For an example of a complete site-specific setup, see the
dlang.org forum configuration.
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
45 sourcesIt appears to be written in D. It uses SQLite.
https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed/blob/master/dub.sdl
In AsmBB – a lightweight web forum engine written in assembly languageI'm not familiar with the codebase, but from my understanding it saves messages in a database [1], then periodically send out a formatted email to people who subscribed to the thread/group [2]
Anyone can post on the forum, you just have to provide an email address (you don't have to register, but they can enforce it)
[1] - https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed/blob/master/src/dfeed/w...
[2] - https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed/blob/master/src/dfeed/s...
In Don't use Discord as your Q&A forumDlang did it right, a mailing list that act like a forum [1] with various instant messaging bots (IRC, Discord, Matrix)
I wish more projects would take inspiration from them, the software is open source [2]
[1] - https://forum.dlang.org/
[2] - https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed/
In Don't use Discord as your Q&A forumhttps://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed
README:
DFeed is:
an NNTP client
a mailing list archive
a forum-like web interface
an ATOM aggregator
an IRC bot
In Trying to find some life on the Usenet (2020)Yes--the DLang forums are what I'd consider the best.
> About (https://forum.dlang.org/help#about)
> This website is powered by DFeed, an NNTP / mailing list web frontend / forum software, news aggregator and IRC bot. DFeed was written mostly by Vladimir Panteleev. The source code is available under the GNU Affero General Public License on GitHub: https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed
> This DFeed instance (forum.dlang.org) is a frontend to the DigitalMars NNTP server and mailing lists. Portions of the web interface (including style and graphics) are Copyright © by Digital Mars.
In Why did Usenet fail?https://forum.dlang.org/ is a web forum.
Which is also on Usenet/NNTP.
Which is also a mailing list archive.
And also an IRC bot.
AGPL. https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed
In Google Groups has been left to dieI never used it but the D forum has an nntp interface: https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed
In Feedbase is an Atom/RSS-feed to nntp gatewayDFeed is underrated: https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed
In LemmyBB, a federated bulletin boardWhere do you use USENET? Do you host your own and if so any resources about getting started?
Edit:
My curiosity regarding USENET was piqued after seeing DFeed on here, a forum front end to USENET, made for and in use at forums.dlang.org.
https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed/
In Thredded Forums – An engine for Ruby on RailsIt's all at the link someone else posted: https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed
In Don't contribute anything relevant in web forums (2020)And incredibly fast page loads! https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed seems to be the source – is it general enough that other communities use it too?
In Don't contribute anything relevant in web forums (2020)Not to be confused with https://github.com/CyberShadow/DFeed (admittedly poorly named) :)
In Show HN: Dfeed – a feed reader you can use without an accountShowing the 15 most recent of 45 sources. Enable JavaScript to search and browse every indexed mention.