Nice! So this will replace jitsi for group calling then?
edit:
You’ll still be able to embed Jitsi conferences in Element too - and Jitsi has served us well. However, we want Element to be entirely decentralised and to build on Matrix’s existing encryption, identity and access controls rather than requiring an entirely separate stack for conferences, so going forwards we’ll be focusing on native Matrix VoIP. If Jitsi Video Bridge ends up implementing MSC3401 and speaking Matrix natively we might end up supporting Jitsi as an SFU however - and the story will come full circle!
native desktop client when 😠
So… they reinvented Jitsi?
@Yujiri not quite. it uses Matrix’s identity and signaling systems, and when P2P Matrix gets finalized it’ll be a peer-to-peer video calling application as well. it could easily integrate with Jitsi though, a bridge wouldn’t be terribly difficult to implement
I just don’t think it’s appropriate for a chat protocol to have built-in video and voice conferencing tbh. I think that’s best left to a separate protocol (like jitsi).
Jitsi Meet is just a slightly non-standard implementation of the video conferencing stuff standardized in XMPP though.
TIL
@Yujiri that’s true. i’m wary of Matrix and its rapid growth because i’m afraid it’ll end up bloated and impractical much like the Web itself
End up?
Very Nice feature. I like how element and matrix are evolving. Features implemented are solid.
That is literally build into every browser… Call me again when they have e2ee and SFU working.
How are decentralized video calls bulit into every browser exactly?
Its called Webrtc. Look it up. It needs a signalling channel to establish the p2p connection so it can’t be simply used out of the box, but it is not especially complex to utilize either.
That’s just the base to build video calls upon. I’m a big fan of p2p as well, but p2p only limits the number of participants pretty hard. (4 people, yes. 10? Maybe. 50? Nope.)
Exactly my point… for it to be really worthwhile Matrix needs to implement a SFU, which is considerably more complicated then just using what is build into the browser anyways.
Agreed.
What’s SFU? E2EE has been working for a long time
Context man. e2ee for the voice/video calls obviously which they say themselves isn’t enabled. Although that is a bit strange as p2p browser webrtc is somewhat e2ee by default. Maybe they mean the initial key exchange or so?
An SFU is a server side component that forwards video streams and which is required to have video calls with many people. The 8 they mention with their SFU less mesh calls is highly optimistic, in reality it starts breaking down at 4 participants or less.
