The rampant use of Discord in FLOSS project is really disheartening. To join yet another Discord channel to receive any kind of support or discussions around the project, is off-putting.
Matrix the protocol & its blockchain-like eventual consistency model is incredibly expensive / wasteful to run since it requires duplicating all data to all servers for the entire history. Matrix uses so much storage & RAM on a machine. Medium-sized servers regularly close their door due to costs—which further pushes users to the de facto centralized hub in Matrix.org (or servers they host for others) which basically has a copy of all metadata on the network (scary since it was originally funded by Israeli Intelligence … so one might assume they still have access to that data). If a system isn’t accessible to a run for groups on a budget, it isn’t radical/revolutionary.
If you don’t care about the centralization or E2EE, IRC/IRCv3 covers all the bases. If you want decentralization with more features, XMPP + OMEMO + MUCs, covers the rest. Neither of these are resource hogs while having over a decade of extra stability. Matrix 2 is just trying throw a rug over the problems of eventual consistency—but under it is a fundamental issue to the protocol.
Having (re)started using IRC recently, I can see it being a good alternative. But more accessible options like Matrix and Discourse are being overlooked.
We need to stop this usage of proprietary MS GitHub + Discord in free software. It completely undermines the philosophy.
The rampant use of Discord in FLOSS project is really disheartening. To join yet another Discord channel to receive any kind of support or discussions around the project, is off-putting.
You’re not alone with your opinion.
Plus there’s Matrix 2 now so, no excuse
Matrix the protocol & its blockchain-like eventual consistency model is incredibly expensive / wasteful to run since it requires duplicating all data to all servers for the entire history. Matrix uses so much storage & RAM on a machine. Medium-sized servers regularly close their door due to costs—which further pushes users to the de facto centralized hub in Matrix.org (or servers they host for others) which basically has a copy of all metadata on the network (scary since it was originally funded by Israeli Intelligence … so one might assume they still have access to that data). If a system isn’t accessible to a run for groups on a budget, it isn’t radical/revolutionary.
If you don’t care about the centralization or E2EE, IRC/IRCv3 covers all the bases. If you want decentralization with more features, XMPP + OMEMO + MUCs, covers the rest. Neither of these are resource hogs while having over a decade of extra stability. Matrix 2 is just trying throw a rug over the problems of eventual consistency—but under it is a fundamental issue to the protocol.
damn that’s a bummer.
Does Matrix 2 have channels?
Like, IRC exists and it just as useful to me as discord. Set up a wiki for FAQ’s and documentation.
Having (re)started using IRC recently, I can see it being a good alternative. But more accessible options like Matrix and Discourse are being overlooked.
FAQs*
Indeed.