Matrix

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/27749197

I've been trying to use Matrix to replace sites like Discord or Slack. But it seems that if a user creates an invitation-only room in a server, then invited users who are registered on other servers get errors when trying to join. Not very useful error messages either: "Failed to join room". (In my case, I tried creating accounts and rooms at nitro.chat and then at converser.eu, but friends registered at matrix.org don't manage to join).

Quite a let-down. Anyone who's facing the same problem and has maybe managed to solve it?

So I'll keep this brief. I really like Matrix's idea of a decentralized messaging platform, and after thr Telegram CEO got arrested in France, some friends are feeling iffy about staying there.

The main point of friction I'm encountering, however, is that whenever anyone goes and looks at Matrix and looks through available public servers to join, they're pretty quickly coming across some very undesirable rooms, to put it tactfully. Are there any ways that I could limit their visibility or ability to interact with those rooms? Server listing sites that make an effort to avoid listing those kinds of rooms, ways to block a room from showing up when you search within the client, etc? Currently we're running matrix.org accounts and using Element for PC/Android, to keep things simple.

It used to be extremely flimsy and unstable but more recently it actually runs pretty well. I can actually use my self hosted server now. It doesn't crash when I join a larger room.

I am part of a network of local groups spread across the world. We would like to set up a private Matrix space for the members of the network. Since the local groups are the only ones who have an overview over who their members are, they should be able to add and delete their members as needed.

Does Matrix allow such a federated permission model? The closest thing that I could think if so far would be that each local group creates their own space and manages their members there. The network space would be configured to be accessible for members of all those spaces. The problem with this approach is that as far as I understand, once a member has joined the network space and some of its rooms, they will remain a member of those even if they are removed from their local group space.

Are there any suggestions how such a system could be implemented? Surely this is something that many decentralized networks and organizations are facing.

I use the desktop app frequently and it would be great to have a modern, fast(er) app

Does it work well? Which one to choose? The official Matrix site shows 3 that seem maintained:

• matrix-appservice-discord
• mautrix-discord
• out-of-your-element

Does anyone have some insight? I don't want to try all of them.

Edit: I don't need anything super fancy like double puppeting. I just want the data from the several Discord communities I joined available through my Matrix server. And it's just me using it. But it should bridge the rooms properly and include the popular media formats, reactions etc.

Edit: Question based on DMA: element.io/blog/the-eu-digital-markets-act-is-here/

I have a TrueNAS scale NAS setup and I would like to host a matrix server. Do I have any options? Any particular implementation that I should go with? Does anyone have any experience with this?

I've set up my homeserver via matrix-docker-ansible-deploy, but made the mistake of using my domain as ansible_host variable at first. I think that is why now my Coturn server doesn't work as intended. Calls can only be made (in Element) when I enable turn.matrix.org as an alternative in the settings.

Since the initital setup, I've correctly replaced the domain with the server IP in the ansible inventory file and reran just setup-all, but I still can't make calls via my homeserver.

1. Is it likely that the mistake I made is causing this issue?
2. What can I do to correct the Coturn configuration or otherwise fix this issue?

EDIT:
I've found this in the docs: https://github.com/spantaleev/matrix-docker-ansible-deploy/blob/master/docs/configuring-playbook-turn.md#manually-defining-your-public-ip
I'll try this and report back.

EDIT2: This did not fix the issue.

Discord but good. Good luck to the devs, I sincerely hope this doesn't get abandoned.

I've used matrix-docker-ansible-deploy to set up Dendrite and the Sliding Sync proxy. Is there a way for me to test the sliding sync functionality?

I haven't really used any kind of messenger service since probably MSN Messenger and IRC back in the day so I'm a bit behind on a lot of the basics. Part of what's quite different now than the experience then is what modern messenger protocols seem to be used for, as in they have public channels dedicated to topics that function like communities, whereas I only really had experience using them for talking to people I personally knew IRL and manually adding some kind of username to establish talking.

I just got a matrix client and joined a community on a specific interest because I had a question I wanted to ask. I did something similar about a year ago on Discord. This worked.... sorta but the problem I had doing this on Discord is kind of what I think I'm going to run in to on Matrix. If the community is open to the public, there's going to be a lot of people some of whom will log on at different times. If I post a message asking a question hoping someone will have an answer for me, I feel like it's going to be hard to see anybody replying to me specifically because presumably there's going to be lots of people talking to each other on various topics including those with their own questions. The messages just come in a stream, much like you'd expect of something designed around chat but like, if I get up to make coffee and miss someone's reply to me, how would I ever find it. Or conversely if my question is not immediately answered but someone joins the room later that could have answered it, how would they see it?

If I make a post here on Lemmy, it's open and around for anyone to answer it for some time. Theoretically it's around forever but in reality it's more like however long it shows up on people's feeds but either way it'll be longer than a few minutes or seconds.

Just wanted to share a bot I wrote since I hate listening to voice messages. Maybe someone can use this, works pretty well for me. This bot will send you transcripts of audio files sent to you. I'm using it in combination with signal / whatsapp bridges. Setup instructions are in the repo.

I am interested in trying out matrix, but my first impression seems to reveal that by default, there may be some privacy or anonymity pitfalls if I use matrix.

Examples:

• using an instance I don't host means the host is trusted with my data
• self hosting might reveal a lot of information about me. Most likely, it is registered to a domain that has my info and could potentially be traced back to me.
• When self-hosting, being one of few users, basic analysis of my activity could reveal a lot about me, since all that activity could be easily identified as belonging to a single person

Now I understand not all threats could be mitigated, but my worry is that both self hosting or not have significant gaps. What's the most privacy and anonymity conscious way to use Matrix?

Element has been working with Meta since the end of last year to help test their DMA interoperability (given we’re probably the world leader in interoperable end-to-end-encrypted communication) - and Matrix announced last month at FOSDEM that Element has successfully integrated 1:1 chats between Matrix and WhatsApp via the DMA APIs, while maintaining end-to-end encryption (having implemented full Signal compatibility in vodozemac). We’ve also formally requested interoperability with WhatsApp, as of yesterday.

I want to host my own server, but I would like to know what I should know?

Element for Android doesn't support searching in encrypted channels and I think you can't use E2EE in the browser at all(?), plus basically every other client has even more drawbacks when it comes to E2EE.

My team recently tried RocketChat, but E2EE is obviously an afterthought for that project as it has even more limitations than non-Element Matrix clients (no searching, no pinning, no file upload, no edit, etc.). Plus Jitsi integration seems to be buggy right now (at least on my Windows installation).

What else is out there that's not on my radar? Is Matrix with Element really the best option right now? Is there no project that puts E2EE above all else?

Edit: Should be self-hostable and (FL)OSS.

The official announcement was mentioned in Matrix's blog post:

Next release 0.4.2 should also be published on F-Droid with push support using UnifiedPush.

In other news, thanks to Joshua, NeoChat now supports push notifications based on UnifiedPush.

Interestingly, the Element X issue regarding implementing UnifiedPush, has not been updated, and there is no related merge request that I can find. NeoChat appears to have their changes buried in merge requests.

I'm writing this post on behalf of my friend, a non-technical user who had the chance to use Matrix for about a week. I'd like to share his experience with you and ask what you think about it.

Matrix clients are incredibly challenging for the average user and seem unfriendly towards non-technical users. Unlike Discord, a non-technical person won't grasp most things without thoroughly reading the Matrix specifications. Many can't afford to do so for various reasons: lack of technical knowledge, limited time, or simply not wanting to, preferring a functional communicator like Discord or Facebook Messenger.

Discord's registration is straightforward, with a refined user interface that just works. You register, invite friends, and you can chat and voice call seamlessly.

Now, Matrix registration. You choose a client like Element, widely promoted as the flagship Matrix client. After registration, you face the user interface, with unclear options tucked away where you wouldn't expect. They are cryptically named, making it hard to figure things out.

After googling how to invite a friend, your friend joins, and a decryption error appears. Another 10 minutes spent reading how to fix it. Okay, problem solved.

Your friend calls, you want to answer, and... darn! You can't click anything because "the voice call is in an unknown state," and the dreadful ringing sound reminiscent of a '90s phone puts you in a gloomy mood.

This isn't something a new user should encounter right after registration. Element may be open source, but it's developed by a for-profit company with a team of programmers. The issue isn't exclusive to Element but extends to almost every Matrix client.

This way, the Matrix network won't attract new users. If users face such issues, they'll quickly flee to a stable, popular platform like Discord.