- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
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This did not inspire confidence in using matrix as a valid alternative.
I don’t think it’s meant to inspire confidence.
I think it’s meant to moderate expectations, and give a peek into the current state of an evolving system.
The reason no other alternative has taken off is that there is no other alternative. I hate Discord too, but there just isn’t a drop-in replacement.
Some of the key features expected by Discord users have yet to be prioritised (game streaming, push-to-talk, voice channels, custom emoji, extensible presence, richer hierarchical moderation, etc)
What does it have? Those are some pretty major features.
End to end encrypted chat, with the possibility to host your own instance, federated or not, and voice / video calls with screensharing. However, bandwidth costs money, accordingly the free Matrix servers (remember: Discord was never free, you just paid with your data) can not provide the level of video streams that a commercial provider with a lot of money to throw at the problem can.
Also, federation of chat rooms.
Matrix is a mature chat client for secure communications, and more than that. But it is not aimed at gamers, it is not necessarily (as) trivial to use, and streaming gamers are definitely not the target group. So yeah, it’s not an alternative for a lot of what users seek from Discord, but it’s still a really good tool.
Complaining that matrix doesn’t have X & Y features of Discord is like complaining that you can’t use a Hammer to bake a cake. It’s designed for a different job :)
Basically fuck and all. It’s a barely functional corporate chat room with a mosh pit of a call feature that only sorta works. Matrix is about as ready for daily driving as Wayland was 4 years ago.
It’s useable, but I less you have your head so deep in the sand that your finding dune worms. It’s impossible to argue it’s useable for anyone but the most die hard foss folk who would rather mutilate themselves then use anything closed source.
The funny thing is it really hasn’t improved since the pandemic, the last time I really evaluated element. What the 100 employees of element have been doing for the last 6 years… I have no idea
push-to-talk
That is a must-have not just for me, but any other fucker in the channel who doesn’t want to be muted.
I don’t want to hear the fuckin darth vader breathing, dorito crunching, parents arguing, dog barking bullshit on the other end of the mic.
My private groups solved this by using Matrix for text chat and Mumble for voice. It has push-to-talk and outstanding sound quality. Hosted Mumble servers are cheap, and self-hosting is pretty easy.
When Element Call (MatrixRTC) eventually leaves beta, we might switch to that, but it’s hard to beat Mumble for audio.
Unless the servers can have separate channels and interface like slack or discord then it’s not going to work for most people. Correct me if they have implemented this. I tried using it for quite a while and it was just clumsy. Most people want/need a server with channels that can have categories
This is my experience with it so far. The bones are there but the current clients are all far from a replacement.
I feel like cinny feels the most like discord.
I’m holding out for a clear winner that will surpass discord. It can’t miss core features, be difficult to install, or use.
I may have to pick one before that happens, but I’m fine waiting to see how Discord responds to the backlash.
They’ve doubled down already, I can’t trust them if their shareholders are this dumb.
They do have this, unless I’m not understanding. I run a space (same as discords servers) and in there I have channels that are just like discord’s.
What client are you using? I set up a space a while back but have no way of putting my channels into categories so it’s all alphabetic and clumsy. It was less than ideal
If you want to order a list that would otherwise be alphabetical, use numbers before the name. I do that for Steam categories, as well as other places like dropdown lists where I can control the content of the list but not the ordering of its display.
- 01 - Horror
- 02 - Loved
- 03 - Good
- 04 - Alright
- 05 - Needs more play
- 06 - Unplayed
- 98 - Disliked
- 99 - Hated
Doing this has helped me stay sane in some situations!
You can nest spaces.
A space is just a group of channels. So to get groups of channels inside the space, you just create “spaces” inside the space.
This is how my discord servers show up in my matrix accounts since I use discord via a bridge.
Afaik element has it as a semi-hidden option and cinny has it by default
Its cinny.in, not .im
Just tried and failed to install cinny flatpak. Something about an error dispatching to Wayland display. The screenshot looks nice though
Something about an error dispatching to Wayland display.
Wierd, you can use it in the web browser though.
Some things to keep in mind if you’re getting started with Matrix after having been on Discord:
End-to-end encryption is available, but you might want to disable it when you create a room. This will help keep things simple for your users as they get familiar with Matrix. Connections between client and server will still be encrypted using HTTPS, which is the same level of encryption that Discord has. (And if it’s a public room, e2ee wouldn’t have any value anyway.) You can always add end-to-end encryption to your rooms later.
A few terms used on Discord are different in the Matrix ecosystem…
Discord term Matrix term channel room server space discord.com homeserver (there are many) If you don’t like the first Matrix client you try, consider trying others. Much like email clients, the features and user interface styles vary. The blog post mentions Cinny and Commet. Element X is probably the simplest mobile client with Matrix’s recent fast-startup feature (though it’s still catching up on other features). More clients are listed here.
Voice and video chat in Matrix are currently available only on some clients, and it’s done by integrating Jitsi. Not ideal, but still useful for at least some use cases. A better system is in development. Here’s a preview of it: https://call.element.io/
Matrix.org is by far the largest public homeserver. It’s convenient in that anyone can get an account without having to run their own homeserver, but it can also suffer slowdowns when an influx of users are arriving all at once, such as right now. You can choose to be patient, or look for a different public homeserver, or pay for a homeserver host, or (if you have the means) self-host.
Matrix.org and some other public homeservers ask for an email address when you sign up, so that they have a way to recover your account if you forget your password. It’s not required by The Matrix protocol, though, and some servers might allow new accounts with no contact info at all. I don’t know which ones; you’ll have to hunt for one (or run your own) if that’s what you want.
The blog post mentions account portability, which is not yet available in Matrix. This means that your user ID (@user:example.com) is currently tied to the homeserver where you create it (example.com). If you decide to switch to an account on another homeserver, you’ll have to get re-invited into any private chats you had joined with the old account. However, the rooms you create on your original homeserver are not tied to that server. So long as at least one room member is on another homeserver, the room will carry on (with its original ID) even if its original homeserver vanishes. This means, for example, that you could create a room on matrix.org today, and migrate its admin duties to an account on your own private homeserver that you set up a year from now. (Or even invite all your members to migrate to your private homeserver.)
They just had to invent new terminology. Also it seems their room join links have two different incompatible formats.
They just had to invent new terminology.
Matrix predates Discord, and room in this context predates both Matrix and Discord by about 20-30 years. They didn’t invent it.
Server as used by Discord has always been a conspicuous misuse of the word. It’s no wonder that Matrix chose not to adopt that nonsense.
I’m sorry, but most people are familiar with discord terminology. 20-30 years of history is of no consequence since the popular meaning and understanding of terminology has changed. It would’ve been at least acceptable if they used Server->Room->Channel structure (same as in teamspeak), but this is pure “We reinvent the wheel” syndrome.
This is like going to Britain and being mad they’re using British words for things.
DON’T U KNOW AMERICA IS MORE INFLUENTIAL CHANGE UR WORDS BRITAIN!!!1!
/s
Discord didn’t exist when Matrix was invented, and Teamspeak was never influential enough in the world for its conventions to matter outside of its own user base.
You seem to be overestimating the breadth and importance of your personal experience.
So this should be posted on a subLemmy? Reddit has a large history of terminology. People have adjusted to saying communities fine.
I was using the “room” concept on Q-Link (Quantum Link) 40 years ago. You know, when we had to connect on slow lines. Uphill, both ways.
Honestly I dislike using ‘communities’ there because it creates this forced ambiguity whether you are talking about a literal community of people or the software.
Haha…
Imagine Commodore 64 users denouncing a useful computing system for calling its own core a kernel instead of a kernal. (Or vice-versa.)
Realistic C-64 users: “It’s a misspelling in an early Commodore document that just carried over.”
Rabid C-64 users: “It’s not a word, it’s an ACRONYM!”
Me: I didn’t even realize it was wrong or knew it was a thing, then or now. TIL I think I saw “kernel” in my mind.
Actually it’s spelled colonel >.>
Thank you for bringing perspective, levity, and humility to an otherwise unfortunate thread. You brought a smile to my face.
