While there’s absolute radio silence from @element about the topic now (not surprising, they’re simply being very corporate, as usual), there’s been a reaction by the @matrix account, and instead of being like “don’t worry, we won’t let corporate or governmental interests influence Matrix in a negative way”, they’re just being sassy about it.
@Nour@tek_dmn#Cloudflare sees everything that happens on the matrix·org server, so there’s that. Speaking of CF, #Element has also put their website under control of the web’s police (Cloudflare indeed). Which makes them despicable enough even before the OP’s revelation.
"we fund Matrix dev by selling encrypted messaging to governments, which includes police: if you don’t like that then please feel free to use a different app" May 9th, 2023 -@element
@liaizon@theruran@alcinnz@tigase Most XMPP software is developed by individuals like @daniel without millions of VC funding. And they still manage to release modern features (Conversations and @dino released native A/V calls before #Element did) all while complying to current internet standards (instead of inventing yet another incompatible messaging protcol) and building on native UI libraries (instead of Electron bloatware). #XMPP truly was the right answer to instant messaging all along.
@aral
I understand your bad gut feeling about that. However, if they try introducing backdoors, I'll trust my beloved open source community to quickly figure that out.
Also, funding open source projects is sth I'd like to see our authorities doing much more than pouring shitloads of tax money into corps like Microsoft.
@hywan I don't know why they're banning this client. #Matrix is not a vendor-lock-in service, banning #Element would not stop users accessing it. This is different from WhatsApp or others.
Big controversy on mastodon over #matrix#element selling to police. I’m of two minds. It sucks but it’s normal. The whole internet was made for surveillance. I’m not surprised at all. Read Surveillance Valley: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34220713
Ok so @element now sells encrypted messaging to cops. When your only paying customer opposes privacy for all, how can you develop a product and claim that it's built for people who want privacy for all??
Complete loss of credibility🤦♂️
Also Leute, ich hab in Sachen #Element ja echt kein gutes Gefühl dabei, die Leute dafür fertig zu machen, dass sie sich offenbar von der deutschen (nicht amerikanischen!) Polizei für Anpassungen an ihrer Software bezahlen lassen. Will das strukturelle Rassismusproblem auch der deutschen Polizei nicht ausblenden, aber hier täte wirklich eine Versachlichung der Debatte gut, und es hilft auch nicht, auf Englisch darüber zu schreiben und Zielgruppen zu agitieren, die viel schlimmere Polizeien haben.
"Yes, we fund #Matrix dev by selling encrypted messaging to governments, which includes police: if you don’t like that then please feel free to use a different app."
fucking knew since day one that there was something off about the entire matrix-chat thing, from the list of sponsors to weird vibes from the founders and leaders of the project.
their software is about the only thing that’s worse than their politics. still appalled that people like #Mozilla moved their entire communities into the hands of such awful people.
This is the worst thread I've honestly seen in a lot of time. The person behind Element's Mastodon account wasn't even rude, at all.
Meanwhile people in the thread are telling them to f### off just because they are providing encrypted communications to governments and aren't afraid to make it clear.
How we ran a 300+ attendee conference online using an open source stack including tech like #Jitsi, #PeerTube, and #Matrix / #Element - and attendees had a great experience!
What is the state of notifications on #matrix#element (android) without #google push service? I mean by that havin own matrix server and no google play service on the phone (only frdoid, no microg)