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If this got more development energy put on matrix bridges, this seems like a net win. IRC still works, but is used through a matrix bridge… I would love to have

If this got more development energy put on matrix bridges, this seems like a net win. IRC still works, but is used through a matrix bridge… I would love to have a unified chat layer

hammyhavoc 3y ago
It's totally sweet. I consolidated WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger and Instagram into my Matrix server, and get it all via Element. Battery life is many magnitudes better on my Pixel and ThinkPad as a result instead of running all this background crap. One app to install on any device, any OS, including Linux, and all my messages appear, SMS included. What's not to love?
- greatquux 3y ago
  This comment made me go down a serious Matrix + bridges rabbithole. Seriously considering getting a cheap VPS and doing it. But would you recommend using matterbridge for all the protocols or using some of the individual protocol bridge projects I've seen out there? I only really need XMPP, WhatsApp, and Facebook.
- resuresu 3y ago
  My only gripe about element is its too easy to get encryption locked out of rooms if you switch devices and cant access the old one anymore. They need to get rid of that crap. And no im not backing up keys and remembering more passwords. Enough!
  - hammyhavoc 3y ago
    Can't say I've ever had that happen, and backing up keys is trivial. Why don't you use a password manager in 2023 instead of being forced to remember things?
    - em-bee 3y ago
      i don't know. i thought i had a backup of my keys, but they aren't recognized. doesn't seem trivial to me.
  - tristan957 3y ago
    I keep my key in my password manager.
- syntaxing 3y ago
  I setup my synapse about 6 months ago, and it was not easy to get the bridges working. I would argue I’m pretty technically sound but getting everything running took a lot of trial and error. If the bridges deployed easier like a snap package, it would help a ton.
  - wkat4242 3y ago
    There's an amazing Ansible playbook. Use that, it's great and easy to keep everything up to date.
    - endigma 3y ago
      Link?
      - wkat4242 3y ago
        Yeah sorry I was on mobile when I wrote that so I didn't have it to hand. Here it is: https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy
  - DoItToMe81 3y ago
    What bridges were you using? I've set up several and the hardest part was reading through the default configurations.
    - syntaxing 3y ago
      I’m running a WhatsApp and signal bridge, I use everything through Docker. The biggest issue was registering the bridge to work with synapse. If everything fails, you need to delete specific folders in your volume and it gets messy. I also have a Postgres image running that isn’t as obvious how to set up from the docs.
xinayder 3y ago
Matrix bridging to IRC is a pain for server administrators and tbh I think IRC should be left out of this "bridge everything" goal. It's totally different and IRCv3 is working on modernizing the protocol, bringing a lot of new features available on IM services to IRC. There's no need to bridge IRC to Matrix or vice-versa, IRC is much more simple and lightweight than Matrix. I am not bothered by running The Lounge + ZNC and having to use Matrix for everything else. EDIT: I don't like this push for Matrix everywhere and essentially only having Matrix as the means of contact for open source projects. I installed Dendrite (lightweight golang homeserver) on my cheap VPS and I realized that federation is a big no-no for me, Matrix uses a LOT of resources for federation.

If this got more development energy put on matrix bridges, this seems like a net win. IRC still works, but is used through a matrix bridge… I would love to have a unified chat layer

hammyhavoc 3y ago

It's totally sweet. I consolidated WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger and Instagram into my Matrix server, and get it all via Element. Battery life is many magnitudes better on my Pixel and ThinkPad as a result instead of running all this background crap. One app to install on any device, any OS, including Linux, and all my messages appear, SMS included. What's not to love?

greatquux 3y ago
This comment made me go down a serious Matrix + bridges rabbithole. Seriously considering getting a cheap VPS and doing it. But would you recommend using matterbridge for all the protocols or using some of the individual protocol bridge projects I've seen out there? I only really need XMPP, WhatsApp, and Facebook.
resuresu 3y ago
My only gripe about element is its too easy to get encryption locked out of rooms if you switch devices and cant access the old one anymore. They need to get rid of that crap. And no im not backing up keys and remembering more passwords. Enough!
- hammyhavoc 3y ago
  Can't say I've ever had that happen, and backing up keys is trivial. Why don't you use a password manager in 2023 instead of being forced to remember things?
  - em-bee 3y ago
    i don't know. i thought i had a backup of my keys, but they aren't recognized. doesn't seem trivial to me.
- tristan957 3y ago
  I keep my key in my password manager.
syntaxing 3y ago
I setup my synapse about 6 months ago, and it was not easy to get the bridges working. I would argue I’m pretty technically sound but getting everything running took a lot of trial and error. If the bridges deployed easier like a snap package, it would help a ton.
- wkat4242 3y ago
  There's an amazing Ansible playbook. Use that, it's great and easy to keep everything up to date.
  - endigma 3y ago
    Link?
    - wkat4242 3y ago
      Yeah sorry I was on mobile when I wrote that so I didn't have it to hand. Here it is: https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy
- DoItToMe81 3y ago
  What bridges were you using? I've set up several and the hardest part was reading through the default configurations.
  - syntaxing 3y ago
    I’m running a WhatsApp and signal bridge, I use everything through Docker. The biggest issue was registering the bridge to work with synapse. If everything fails, you need to delete specific folders in your volume and it gets messy. I also have a Postgres image running that isn’t as obvious how to set up from the docs.

xinayder 3y ago

Matrix bridging to IRC is a pain for server administrators and tbh I think IRC should be left out of this "bridge everything" goal. It's totally different and IRCv3 is working on modernizing the protocol, bringing a lot of new features available on IM services to IRC. There's no need to bridge IRC to Matrix or vice-versa, IRC is much more simple and lightweight than Matrix. I am not bothered by running The Lounge + ZNC and having to use Matrix for everything else. EDIT: I don't like this push for Matrix everywhere and essentially only having Matrix as the means of contact for open source projects. I installed Dendrite (lightweight golang homeserver) on my cheap VPS and I realized that federation is a big no-no for me, Matrix uses a LOT of resources for federation.