neiljohnson
Joined 17 years ago
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Comment · 3 months ago
Disclaimer: I work on the project.
Matrix started out with its early DNA in focusing on the problem of how to create a decentralised e2ee multi-client messenger.
Getting that right took a lot of time and effort, which initially came at the expense of UX.
Elsewhere in the comments, it is clear that there are not many (any?) similar projects out there that solve the same problem, especially to the level of maturity where it is trusted by governments and civil institutions around the world.
So the effort was worth it, and we have the proof points to show that Matrix solves a real problem. Now we need to continue to work hard to create a UX that matches (perhaps exceeds?) the quality of the proprietary, centralised and non e2ee messaging apps that set the UX standards users have come to expect.
This needs to happen both at the protocol level and in the client and server implementations. For me personally, this means Synapse and the Element clients, but we have many quality implementations in the wild.
Matrix 2.0, mentioned above, is part of this initiative, though there is a lot of additional work in progress to both improve existing features (like Spaces and Threads) and add expected features, such as user status.
The post calls out running on Dendrite, which, as a project not under active development, contributes to some of the problems. However, I would not want that to be an excuse, because there is legitimate feedback in the post overall.
If someone reading this is new to the project and wants to host their own server, I'd recommend checking out [ESS Community](https://github.com/element-hq/ess-helm) - though other distributions exist.
Thanks everyone for flying Matrix and sharing your experiences (good and bad), we're getting there.
Comment · 8 months ago
When Element X first launched, the goal was for it to cover the personal messenger use case. This worked just fine for some people, but for many, feature parity with the old apps and parity with the web experience was a hard blocker.
Both Spaces and Threads are about to land, and there are other lower-profile features that also need rounding out. We would expect full parity by April this year. At which point migration should be an obvious choice.
Comment · 8 months ago
The complexity associated with Matrix comes from wanting to build a multivendor ecosystem around an open standard, the decentralisation (and federation) to avoid building islands and then implementing things like multi-device e2ee and VoIP in such a context.
However, it is exactly these properties that make it so appealing to an organisation like the EC as they pursue digital sovereignty.
The goals of Matrix have nothing to do with being a social network. You could theoretically build a social network on top of Matrix (Matrix essentially syncs JSON in real-time), but I'm not aware of a project with traction, and more to the point, those projects are not relevant to this discussion. Yes Matrix is resilient to network partitions (that's a good thing for a messenger!), but that seems entirely orthogonal to your point on social networks.
Finally, I don't think it's fair to draw a comparison between the relationship between Kandra Labs and Zulip vs Element and Matrix. Yes Element is a major player in the Matrix eco-system having originally formed to hire the Matrix founding team, but since then many Matrix vendors have sprung up and if Element were to disappear tomorrow Matrix would continue. In fact, this is the whole purpose of having an independent Foundation, which in turn encourages multiple vendors to operate side by side.
Comment · 1 year ago
You can learn more about Element X migration plans from last weekend's Matrix conference here https://youtu.be/_cahXxr8d-4?si=0b9qyjiEYVpMczDy&t=442
Comment · 1 year ago
Matrix Con 2024 had a public sector track where various organisations such as NATO, the French Government and the German Healthcare industry outlined the problems they are solving with Matrix.
Though in short, as a large public institution, being able to self-host a secure and decentralised communications network is highly preferable to needing to rely on a centralised service administered by a company in a foreign jurisdiction.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLl5dnxRMP1hX5u7TZ1FNa...
Comment · 1 year ago
The Matrix Foundation's goals and structure are described here (https://matrix.org/foundation/about/)
Element is a for-profit company, originally set up to hire the Matrix Core team and is the primary driver for many projects in the Matrix eco-system. Element cannot be successful without a thriving Matrix eco-system.
In the early days the line between Element and Matrix was rather blurred, which is why we set up the Foundation as a separate entity in 2018 to ensure that whatever happened to Element, Matrix could continue as an independent entity.
Comment · 1 year ago
The intention is very much to offer greater financial transparency, in fact doing so is a prerequisite for multiple funding sources.
The Matrix Foundation Governing Board now has a dedicated finance committee, I don't have concrete timelines for publishing, though I would expect this to happen within a small number of months.
https://matrix.org/blog/2024/12/governing-board-first-report...
Comment · 1 year ago
Not related to the Matrix protocol. https://matrix.org/blog/2024/12/unrelated-cybercriminal-netw...
Comment · 1 year ago
No, it is an unfortunate naming collision and has nothing to do with the Matrix protocol.
https://matrix.org/blog/2024/12/unrelated-cybercriminal-netw...
Comment · 1 year ago
Signal and WhatsApp only address the personal messaging usecase, whereas the letter is also talking about wider chat services like Teams.
More to the point, even with e2ee, there is still communication metadata that is leaving your network for a third-party service. In a defense context, you would almost certainly prefer that the data does not leave your network unnecessarily.
In terms of Matrix usability and performance, Matrix 2.0 (https://matrix.org/blog/2024/10/29/matrix-2.0-is-here/) represents a huge step forward and can be used today with compatible clients such as Element X (https://element.io/blog/deep-dive-into-element-x/)
Comment · 2 years ago
The OP is calling out the need for any large org that depends on a FOSS project to contribute to its maintenance.
Currently we don’t have good mechanisms to make this happen.
The post uses Matrix as an example but it applies equally to any project deemed as critical infrastructure which would of course include XMPP, IRC and plenty of others.
To solve this, FOSS projects must work together to advocate for practical funding mechanisms. This is not a zero sum game.
http://fragile.org.uk/
email: neil@ the domain above