I'm trying #cinny to replace #element as a daily #matrix client because not only it is one of the featured clients with beautiful and consistent UI, but also I've been really fed up with governance of vector-im, to which I had essentially provided just free labor.
If you like a simple UI centered on text based communication without a bunch of features such as widget and thread, cinny should be a better choice than Element, though the client seems to lack basic features like permalink.
The Messaging Layer Security (MLS) protocol is a new encryption standard defined by the IETF (RFC9420), to provide a way for users of a messaging service to communicate securely without servers being able to eavesdrop on their conversations.
Matrix has been working on this with Cisco, Google, Mozilla, AWS, Wire and so on.
Matrix is working on making MLS decentralized too.
#PlasmaMobile news for April: 3 new #apps, PowerPlant, MarkNote, and OptiImage land in Plasma Mobile; Tokodon invites you to explore #Mastodon; NeoChat helps you organize events through #Matrix with #location sharing; and much, much more.
How do you feel about #Beeper, #Automattic and Automattic acquiring Beeper?
TBH credit is due where credit is due. Nobody can predict the real intentions of a company, least of all engineers, but Beeper has from day 1 built its product on top of #Matrix, it has made it much easier to install and configure messaging bridges (even to those less likely to go through the hassle of configuring a full Synapse server and install bridges with huge configuration files), and it has challenged Apple head-to-head with the iMessage bridge.
I feel that Beeper joining forces with Automattic will give the company both:
Stronger shoulders to defend themselves from lawsuits coming from the likes of Apple and anybody who has made it their business mission to oppose inter-operability as long as they can - Apple can’t simply take down a Github repo with a snap of their fingers if that Github repo is owned by the same company that also owns Wordpress, at least not without a lengthy legal battle on the blueprint of Epic v Apple. Moreover, sclerotic corporate scum with an outdated business model like Apple will just never understand how big of a favour they do to small companies like Beeper when they attack them. Beeper was in beta until recently. Then it got a lot of attention after Apple declared war to its iMessage bridge. Consequence: the largest company on earth suddenly put a relatively small product like Beeper under the spotlight, its user-base went up by an order of magnitude or so within a short time frame, they rushed their way out of beta, and now Automattic is acquiring them. There’s no better publicity than an aggressive rent-seeking parasite waging war against your product.
More opportunities to sit at a table with the likes of Google, Meta etc. and get them to actually build the open alternatives together, instead of reverse engineering their closed garden and play and endless catch-up game with them.
The timing of this announcement is also perfect, as the EU’s #DMA is just about to make inter-operability a requirement for messaging gatekeepers - and Beeper seems to be eager to capitalize on its opportunity of being at the right place at the right time.
Let’s keep an eye on how this product develops. I see a lot of potential for growth, and I’ll be looking for all the signals of early-exit/lock-in/enshittification.
There’s a major convergence of OAuth/OIDC support across #fediverse applications, #Matrix is going all-in on it as its root default, and other social web protocols are tagging along as well.
Like the separation of church and state, it seems prudent to keep the management of our digital identities separate from our social network servers.
Domain-based OIDC accounts with web sign-in, especially when self-hosted, serve the function of a minimum-viable #nomadicidentity
A few months ago, I persuaded a client to abandon an external cloud system and use Nextcloud on their own server instead. Powered by FreeBSD and ZFS, it has already demonstrated its strengths on a couple of occasions (such as in the case of a snapshot rollback). This morning, they expressed the desire to abandon the various WhatsApp groups they use for coordination and to use a solution "all on their servers." I was inspired and quickly installed both an ejabberd and a Matrix server (Synapse) - which they will probably prefer, according to the latest news they sent me - on two FreeBSD jails.
Today, we have the awareness and experience of what it means to give our data to large companies, completely losing control over it. We have the tools, so why not use them?
And I'm really happy when someone like them, thanks to their willingness to try "new" solutions, realizes the alternatives to the colorful, advertised, warmly recommended (by salespeople) "proprietary" solutions.
Tipp Nr.29: Verwende einen sicheren und datenschutzfreundlichen Messenger. Für Umsteiger von #WhatsApp empfehlen sich Signal und Threema. Für mehr Autonomie und/oder öffentliche Chats bieten sich Messenger auf Basis des Matrix- oder XMPP-Protokolls an. Hilfe bei der Auswahl bzw. beim Wechsel bietet die Messenger-Matrix.
Pour que la tragédie des communs liés à Matrix n'en soit plus une, les serveurs d'implémentation de référence de Matrix passent sous license AGPLv3 🎉🎉
Ainsi, les modifications du code source des serveurs devront être publiées sous la même license auprès de leurs utilisateur·ices, donc du monde entier.
Wir suchen EntwicklerInnen, die Lust auf #matrix und #Kotlin / #KotlinMultiplatform haben. Wir entwickeln den https://timmy-messenger.de und möchten Menschen finden, die gut in unser kleines Team passen und Spaß an agiler Produktentwicklung ohne Hierarchien haben.
Würde mich freuen, wenn das gut geteilt wird, da es gerade ganz schön schwer ist, Leute zu finden als 2-Personen-Startup 😊
We're proud to bring you the Creative Freedom Summit as a free virtual conference hosted entirely with open source software!
The talks are hosted on Jitsi, piped into @element where we also use a @matrix room for live chat, and also streamed live on @peertube where they will be immediately available for viewing after the event. Pretty cool!
Ideally, this section would introduce a guarantee that this type of notice would not be imposed on providers of end-to-end encrypted communications. Instead it relies on questionable concepts such as “accredited technology” to wistfully wave some form of assurance that ‘this sort of thing’ is technically possible and it’ll all be fine, secure and appropriate.
Be under no illusion; “accredited technology” is no more reassuring than a lock which can be opened by a skeleton key.
It’s this aspect of the Online Safety Bill - the potential for undermining of end-to-end encryption - that we refute as completely flawed. It is not possible to have both secure communications and blanket surveillance, in the same way you cannot “have your cake and eat it.”
We Distribute is a CC-licensed open media project. It serves as a people-focused tech publication, with the goal of informing and educating people about three things:
Decentralized Communications
User empowerment
The future of the Internet
Most of what we do involves reporting on the day-to-day developments of the #Fediverse. In fact, our articles are ActivityPub-enabled, and integrate directly into the network.
However, the Social Web / Decentralized Social movement involves far more efforts and technologies that we think are also worth reporting on: #Matrix, #XMPP, #Bluesky, #Nostr, #SecureScuttlebutt, and #Solid all bring interesting pieces to the puzzle.
Our ultimate goal is to showcase the ongoing efforts to change the shape and form of the Internet itself, at a grassroots level. Join us on this exciting journey. #WeDistribute
#Followerpower. Die Überarbeitung der Messenger-Matrix ist nun vollständig abgeschlossen. Über einen Tipp/Klick auf Teilen würde ich mich riesig freuen, damit sich die Messenger-Übersicht (weiter) verbreitet. ❤️ 👍
Introducing the nominees for our first ever Governing Board elections 🎉 We are grateful to everyone who has raised their hands, and are positively overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and vision expressed by our nominees: https://matrix.org/governing-board/elections/2024/
Get to know the candidates, and get ready: voting begins on May 18th.
Matrix certrainly has its rough edges, but I find it awesome that pretty much every major Linux community now has their dedicated space. All federated, of course.