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The Matrix CS API is super simple (although i’m biased having helped design it), and the fact that there are a large range of clients these days which frankly o

The Matrix CS API is super simple (although i’m biased having helped design it), and the fact that there are a large range of clients these days which frankly outperform historical Element while having feature parity - eg FluffyChat, Cinny, Nheko, NeoChat etc while using entirely independent stacks (flutter/dart, c++/qt, KMP etc) suggests the API’s ok. Meanwhile Element X shows concretely that Element’s problems are getting fixed too: https://element.io/blog/element-x-ignition https://element.io/blog/element-x-ignition

seabass-labrax 3y ago
Please don't take my parent comment as a disparagement of your laudable and much-needed effort in this space. I think you and the Element/New Vector team are doing a great job at developing the technology. But if you put aside the federation, VoIP and end-to-end encryption features, Matrix doesn't look great in comparison to other 'platforms' specifically for the user experience of getting a message from A to B. Even though Matrix is an open protocol, it doesn't even do particularly well for availability of client applications - there are better third-party apps available for various social networks and chat platforms, held to ransom though they are by their centralised overlords. Ironically, after seeing some of the amazing GNOME clients for Reddit and Twitter, for a brief moment I even found myself tempted to register for them just to use the GNOME app! Fractal, for instance, does not elicit a feeling nearly as positive for me, and I've tried multiple times to set it up. I'm indeed excited about Element X - but it's only available for proprietary operating systems. That's not particularly friendly for OSS communities either, although admittedly miles ahead of Discord. If there's one thing I would suggest that Matrix does differently, it would be to apply the same philosophy to the whole Matrix ecosystem as Element X: slow down for a year, focus on the polishing the basic functionality of federated chat, and let the third-party clients catch up. I'm proud to have a Matrix ID (@seabass:fosdem.org) and will use Matrix in favour of any other chat system, but it has a long way to go before I will be able to persuade my 'normal' friends and family to join me.

seabass-labrax 3y ago

Please don't take my parent comment as a disparagement of your laudable and much-needed effort in this space. I think you and the Element/New Vector team are doing a great job at developing the technology. But if you put aside the federation, VoIP and end-to-end encryption features, Matrix doesn't look great in comparison to other 'platforms' specifically for the user experience of getting a message from A to B. Even though Matrix is an open protocol, it doesn't even do particularly well for availability of client applications - there are better third-party apps available for various social networks and chat platforms, held to ransom though they are by their centralised overlords. Ironically, after seeing some of the amazing GNOME clients for Reddit and Twitter, for a brief moment I even found myself tempted to register for them just to use the GNOME app! Fractal, for instance, does not elicit a feeling nearly as positive for me, and I've tried multiple times to set it up. I'm indeed excited about Element X - but it's only available for proprietary operating systems. That's not particularly friendly for OSS communities either, although admittedly miles ahead of Discord. If there's one thing I would suggest that Matrix does differently, it would be to apply the same philosophy to the whole Matrix ecosystem as Element X: slow down for a year, focus on the polishing the basic functionality of federated chat, and let the third-party clients catch up. I'm proud to have a Matrix ID (@seabass:fosdem.org) and will use Matrix in favour of any other chat system, but it has a long way to go before I will be able to persuade my 'normal' friends and family to join me.