tl;dr :
- Hexchat IRC client app development stopped
- Linux Mint team was building IRC client to replace Hexchat
- The team tried Matrix and liked it
- Linux Mint’s communication channels are moving from IRC to Matrix
- The desktop app will be named Matrix to avoid confusion
I‘m not sure if I like this. I use Matrix for a couple of years now and to be honest the more I use it the more I hate it.
Everything just feels slow, clunky and some basic things are quite complicated to archive and some functionality just does not work.
All that was okay for me in the beginning but it never got better.
IRC and XMPP also had their problems but I often wish them back nowadays.
I think Matrix is the future, it just needs better designers and implementation.
They really, really shouldn’t do things differently than discord just to be different.
Looks like you’re saying federation is the future, but Matrix is a bad federation implementation. And that sounds good.
I still think forums are the best way to handle support. Even phpBB is better than any chat. Have a bot alert a chat channel that the project team hangs out for every new topic or something, if that’s a concern.
Giving the users the choice to have IRC and a forum sounds nice to me. Forums for the longer conversations and be able to look up things with a search engine, and IRC for quick questions and informal chat.
the issue isn’t so much with IRC, XMPP, Matrix, or Discord per se (aside from Discord having its own issues) – it’s that every dev/org/group is trying to use a chatroom as a replacement for support channels, wikis, knowledgebases, FAQs, forums, announcements, mailing lists, etc.
[as the meme states: “I don’t want to join your fucking Discord server just to get basic information that should be on a proper website instead of hidden away in the archives of a fucking chatroom”]
Discord is the Gold Standard for you ? Why ?
It’s the easiest to use.
While this is true IMO, it’s needed to say that the redesigned Discord mobile app is complete shitshow.
It didn’t take over most of its competition’s userbase magically, they have a well designed system despite its flaws.
Taking away being Electron based, the UI/UX of desktop app is really good.
It’s been that way for much longer than a few years unfortunately. I don’t understand how people can tolerate it. Some projects switched to it because it seemed more beginner friendly than IRC, but to me it’s not focussed on making things easy.
My problem with matrix is that you need email address to use it. Compared to the irc, where you could just use whatever name and ask questions straight away. Most distros I used came with an irc client preinstalled and preconfigured to connect to the support channel when launched. In my opinion that is more beginner friendly.
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You son of a … 😫
this message was not encrypted for this device if we’re going to wish XMPP back
We dont really use/experience matrix. Same as we dont really use/experience debian, fedora, etc.
We are experiencing the clients (same as we experience the DE in the second example).
It does not make sense to hate on the protocol for clunky clients, same as it does not make sense to change distros because gnome isnt your thing, except if your OS doesnt handle anything else.
I had this discussion a billion times already. Element is not matrix and every other client is produced by actual people with very little money.
Be the change you want to see and make a client or donate to someone who makes the most promising ones instead of moaning about the good ol days please. Have a good one.
The pathway I see is unfortunately IRC/XMPP→Matrix→Discord