Lobsters

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What Lobsters is

Lobsters is a free, web-based community for sharing and discussing computing links. Submissions use tags from a predefined list, and members can subscribe to or hide individual tags or combinations. Story and comment rankings are based on user activity, with equal voting weight for all users. Search covers stories and comments and includes cached full text from submitted stories. Public RSS feeds are available for the entire site and for tags; logged-in users can create private feeds that omit filtered tags. Mailing-list mode sends stories and comments by email and allows replies from email clients. Private messages can generate email or Pushover notifications. The responsive website works on phones and tablets without a separate mobile app. Invitations regulate registration, and new accounts have restricted abilities during their first 70 days. Moderator identities and actions are public. Source code and deployment configuration are available under a 3-clause BSD license. The project describes itself as a volunteer effort with limited development time.

Who it suits

Lobsters suits people who want focused computing discussions, link sharing, tag-based feeds, and visible moderation. It also serves readers interested in learning about computing and member projects.

What it does well

Focused computing topics
Tag filters and subscriptions
Search includes cached story text
Email discussions and replies
Open source under 3-clause BSD

What to know first

Invitation required for new accounts
New-user restrictions last 70 days
No separate mobile app
Volunteer project has limited development time

Verdict

Lobsters combines narrowly scoped computing discussion with extensive feeds, email access, and public moderation. Its invitation system and early account limits shape how newcomers participate.

Facts from Lobsters's own pages

Access limits: New accounts need an invitation, and users are considered new for their first 70 days, during which some actions are restricted. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Email and messaging: Users can enable mailing-list mode to receive stories and comments by email, reply by email, and use private messages with email or Pushover notifications. · lobste.rs, 4 Oct 2026
Email features: Mailing list mode sends new stories and comments by email, and users can reply to discussions from their email clients. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Feeds: Public RSS feeds are available site-wide and by tag; logged-in users can use private feeds that exclude their filtered tags. · lobste.rs, 4 Oct 2026
Founded: 2012 · lobste.rs, 28 Sept 2026
Hosting: The site says it is hosted on two DigitalOcean VPSs and uses restic for backups to Backblaze B2. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Intended audience: The guidelines describe the community as a place to learn about computing and share what members have made. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Invitations: Invitations are used to control spam and pace registrations; new users have limited abilities during their first 70 days. · lobste.rs, 4 Oct 2026
Launch: The site launched on July 3, 2012. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Mobile access: Responsive design supports smaller screens without requiring a separate mobile site or app. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Moderation: Moderator actions and moderator identities are public, and banned profiles state who banned the user and why. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Notifications: Users can receive email and Pushover notifications about new private messages. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Open source: The site's source code and deployment configuration are available under a 3-clause BSD license, and the code can be used to start a sister site. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Operations: The site says it is hosted on two DigitalOcean VPSs and uses restic for backups to Backblaze B2. · lobste.rs, 4 Oct 2026
Privacy: Domains used for marketing analytics are banned and tracking parameters are removed from links. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Privacy and tracking: The site bans domains used for marketing analytics and removes tracking parameters from links. · lobste.rs, 4 Oct 2026
Project model: The project describes itself as a volunteer project with limited development time and says it does not take donations because it is cheap to run. · github.com, 4 Oct 2026
Purpose: Lobsters is a computing-focused community centered around link aggregation and discussion. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Ranking: Story and comment rankings come from user activity, and all users have equal votes. · lobste.rs, 4 Oct 2026
Search: Integrated search covers submitted stories and comments, including full-text caches of submitted story contents. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Support: The site administrator directs users with support issues to contact him or another moderator. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Tag feeds: Users can filter or subscribe to stories by one or more tags, and public and private RSS feeds are available. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Tag filters: Users can filter out or subscribe to submissions by one tag or combinations of tags. · lobste.rs, 4 Oct 2026
Topics: The community focuses narrowly on computing, with stories tagged by submitters from a predefined list. · lobste.rs, 11 Oct 2026

Where Lobsters stands on Freedom251

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