4 ms·

Matrix – An open standard for decentralized persistent communication

45 points by stelonix 10y ago

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
gcb0 10y ago
this claims to solve very hard problems that eluded many great minds so far. paint me skeptical.
theaustinseven 10y ago
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.
- Perceptes 10y ago
  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.
  - gcb0 10y ago
    so will it die the same way as xmpp? death by spam
    - Bromskloss 10y ago
      Oh, does XMPP have trouble with spam? I guess it makes sense, since it works like email, but I have never received any.
      - rakoo 10y ago
        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.
        gcb0 10y ago
        it wasnt said... it was the official reason Google gave for shutting it down.
Perceptes 10y ago
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
Bromskloss 10y ago
Can you send a message directly to a specific person (who might not await it) or is it all about chat rooms?
- Perceptes 10y ago
  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.
  - Bromskloss 10y ago
    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?
unicornporn 10y ago
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.

45 points by stelonix 10y ago

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

gcb0 10y ago

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

theaustinseven 10y ago

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.

Perceptes 10y ago
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.
- gcb0 10y ago
  so will it die the same way as xmpp? death by spam
  - Bromskloss 10y ago
    Oh, does XMPP have trouble with spam? I guess it makes sense, since it works like email, but I have never received any.
    - rakoo 10y ago
      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.
      - gcb0 10y ago
        it wasnt said... it was the official reason Google gave for shutting it down.

Perceptes 10y ago

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

Bromskloss 10y ago

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

Perceptes 10y ago
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.
- Bromskloss 10y ago
  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?

unicornporn 10y ago

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.