[therealmarv]

a good open source comment system which works with static websites which let's me avoid vendor/one-point lock in.

[jonas123]

Take a look at https://github.com/gka/schnack https://posativ.org/isso/ https://github.com/adtac/commento :)

[therealmarv]

They all lack on one point. Schnack: Requires Github or Twitter account it seems (not everybody who comments has a twitter account). Isso: In princible ok too paranoia (strange icons, no Gravatar or any log in at all). Commento: Does not know how to handle links in comments and no login system.

So they are all ok but far away from a Disqus alternative.

[KajMagnus]

There's also EffectiveDiscussions (https://www.effectivediscussions.org), which doesn't have any of those drawbacks. It has email+password login, Gmail, FB, GitHub. Open source, and hosted too, if you don't want to provision your own server.

Demo: https://www.kajmagnus.blog/new-embedded-comments

It has improvements over Disqus and HackerNews: https://www.effectivediscussions.org/-32/how-hacker-news-can.... GitHub: https://github.com/debiki/ed-server. (I'm developing it.)

[gingersnap]

Agree. I would like open source + hosted version. Really simple hosted version for a couple of $ so you can have it on personal/project pages. There is of course disqus today, but never liked their ads, and of course its lock in.

[vortico]

Seconded. Disqus is bloated beyond repair. Open source + hosted is a fantastic model for consumers and entrepreneurs, and the hosted money would be enough to get rid of advertisements.

[KajMagnus]

@therealmarv, @gingersnap and @vortico:

I suggest you take a look at EffectiveDiscussions: it's open source + hosted for €2. Demo: https://www.kajmagnus.blog/new-embedded-comments

It has improvements over Disqus ... and HackerNews: https://www.effectivediscussions.org/-32/how-hacker-news-can....

GitHub: https://github.com/debiki/ed-server. It's more lightweight: the script bundle is just 140kb in comparison to Disqus 750kb. (I'm developing it.)