I’m working on an open source classification system for the web (alphanumeric calls with an XXX.XXX.XXX format) – called the Open Classification System. I’d like to have open forums for public discussion and feedback, but restrictive voting for board members.
Thinking of going old-school democracy and appointing board members randomly, instead of by vote – to keep things relevant to laymen.
Basically, like the Dewey Decimal System, things will need to be moved around and recategorized over time.
SOC.ANT.CUL may eventually become SCI.ANT.CUL, for example.
Unlike the OCLC, I don’t plan on suing everyone who uses the system for every tiny IP violation.
I’m needing it broad enough to cover a range of topics: from product domains and local municipalities to academic disciplines.
All I’m seeing right now is Reddit. Lemmy isn’t nearly as restrictive enough, but I don’t want to worry about all the moderator tools and restrictions and BS either.
In your experience, what platforms work best for this kind of thing?
- Public discussion
- Approved board member voting


A combination of Nextcloud (with Forms) and Matrix. You can create users in Nextcloud and, with OIDC, avoid needing people to register separately in the chat system. You can group users into a board and share a Forms document with them, so they can do a ranking vote, and the UI will show you a Borda count.