I’m hosting a matrix chat server right now, (continuwuity FTW) and so far I like it. I like the encryption, and I like being able to host it. It’s responsive and has some compatibility with reactions and stickers, etc.
Only problem is getting people to adopt it too. Matrix apps are definitely a bit confusing, and as much as I want them to I don’t think my mom or my grandparents would ever really use it long term, if at all.
So just want to see what everyone thinks! I’ve read a bit about other options like IRC, XMPP, SimpleX… But have no clue which one is the fan favorite
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I feel the adoption rate depends largely on who is adopting it. Many of the more tech savvy community are more likely to adopt IRC, and those less tech savvy might adopt Matrix, but depending on how many hurdles it takes it may not even be good for those less tech savvy which means Matrix sits in a very odd place, as I get the feeling the more tech savvy people would rather just stick with IRC. (at least in the circles I’ve been in)
And the biggest problem with IRC is that the clients available do not offer enough ease-of-use in their UI. (things like, if you accidentally make the wrong keystroke you could expose your password to the whole chat)
So at the end of the day the best service depends on the community you’re hosting it for and what clients they interact with the best because that’s where anything is going to sink or float.
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What on earth? Is that a serious example?
Yes, that is a thing that is possible to happen. Have you used IRC much? it was something I was always very much afraid of when password verifying my account, because if there was just a space in front of my / (something that could very easily happen by accident) then it wouldn’t register my login string as a command and it would post it like any other message.
No, never, and I was thinking of it as a backup way to access the IWC chat if I quit Discord, but now I’m second guessing that idea.
maybe going for just a signal chat is the better option for my use case. It’s MUCH easier to get started with and is definitely more usable by the old ones. SimpleX seems decent but I worry about long term usage. Signal isn’t self hostable, and thats a little worrying, but maybe thats just the trade off at this point
This is why I’m really hoping IRC V3 gets more traction, it’s been in the works for a few years now, but it’ll have a much more user friendly/less accident proof login system. But the compatibility of servers vs clients isn’t consistent at the moment.
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