[rokoss21]

Lobsters is the natural choice - thoughtful tech discussion with strong moderation against hype. Also worth checking: comp.lang.* Usenet groups (surprisingly active), Reddit's niche programming subreddits (r/rust, r/golang), and specialty forums like electro-tech-online.com for hardware folks.

The key difference: smaller communities attract people who are there for the craft, not engagement metrics.

[firefax]

> Also worth checking: comp.lang.* Usenet groups (surprisingly active)

Do you know of a newbie friendly FAQ on how to access usenet in the modern era?

>Reddit's niche programming subreddits (r/rust, r/golang)

Even less niche places like /r/python seem pretty open to writing code by hand. (Though I like how python has libraries for many things)

[gtirloni]

you can't join lobste.rs without begging though.