
Matrix – An open standard for decentralized persistent communication - stelonix
http://matrix.org/
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unicornporn
This looks like an excellent alternative to Telegram or Signal group chats.
Telegram group chats work so darn good, but they're not end-to-end encrypted
if you want to be able to access them from more than one device.
Signal/WhatsApp group chats are end-to-end encrypted but aren't nearly as
seamless.

Self hosted but not end-end-encrypted would be a good compromise i believe. I
love that there's a web client. Has anyone really put it to work? I'd love to
hear how well it works, in practice.

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Perceptes
See this thread from a couple days ago for more discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11794914](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11794914)

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theaustinseven
Ok, so this is "decentralized" in the sense that a communication from one
client will be sent directly to another client, but you still have to have a
centralized discovery method. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't WebRTC
already cover the same bases? I think I might be missing what is really new or
interesting here.

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Perceptes
Matrix is not peer-to-peer. It's decentralized in the sense that it's
federated. Like email, (or other messaging systems before it, like XMPP,) each
user's account exists primarily on a specific server, but they can choose
which server that is, or run their own, and it doesn't change their ability to
message anyone else in the system or for anyone else to message them.

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gcb0
so will it die the same way as xmpp?

death by spam

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Bromskloss
Oh, does XMPP have trouble with spam? I guess it makes sense, since it works
like email, but I have never received any.

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rakoo
Not Spam issue itself, but there's been a lot of spammy bot accounts created
on many domains, which is the reason why In-Band registration is disallowed on
most of the public domains. It has also been said that when Google still
federated, a major part of the federation was for spam accounts to connect to
Google, and only very few actual humans used federation, so they just cut it.

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gcb0
it wasnt said... it was the official reason Google gave for shutting it down.

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Bromskloss
Can you send a message directly to a specific person (who might not await it)
or is it all about chat rooms?

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Perceptes
The data model isn't different for 1-to-1 chats. You're still in a room, it
just has only two people in it. Differentiating between the two visually (or
otherwise) would be a feature of a Matrix client.

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Bromskloss
OK, but would the recipient of my message have to actively connect to a room
to receive it, or can I send one out of the blue and have it come through?

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gcb0
this claims to solve very hard problems that eluded many great minds so far.
paint me skeptical.

