do you wanna help with replacing it? go check out polyproto!
we're slowly inching towards defining a specification and implementing it so that we can build our very own federated discord-type chatting program :)
doesn't mean we want it to be a clone, though! we would like to take some...creative liberties down the line but that's for the future.
For now, if you're interested in working on this and wanna pick up some low-hanging fruit in rust or want to write documentation and specifications, we'd love to have u around!
also, feel free to leave questions! I've been meaning to write up an FAQ anyways.
@polyproto@alexia how will you organise the development of the protocol and it's implementations? In my view the problem with Matrix is not technical, it is mostly a matter of resources. There are limited resources to develop in the direction of discord or for queer open communities. So an alternative that challenges the protocol only on technical grounds (and queer aesthetics) is not attractive to me because it does not solve this problem. And it also has not had contact with end users in the way that matrix has yet, so will find its own problems that require a lot of resources to fix in the way of Matrix. There will not be a simple "we've fixed it because we solved it better technically" only "we've done it better because we have figured out how to explore the problem better and obtain the resources necessary to continuously develop the system"
protocol development is currently something that Flori and I take up mostly on our own. We do eventually want to have an e.V registered as a legal entity to, for instance, have the legal framework to hire people or adopt core members. As per implementations, we'll have our own, and I'll be doing developer outreach and stuff to make sure that other implementations can stay up-to-date on what's happening and can have a word on any changes (although the specs and extensions are already open on codeberg with a formal process to propose changes)
we don't really want to do the whole "move fast" thing that matrix.org did with element, we would rather move slower but in turn stick closer to our community values
we also try to keep the monetary resources needed to run our stuff as low as physically possible, and we also are planning ahead to Never Ever have a matrix.org-homeserver type situation where we are forced to maintain this enormous homeserver that requires constant upkeep and money to run with no exit path (which is one of the reasons why identity migration is a core part of the protocol)
though, all of this is still early days and I would love to hear ur thoughts on where things could be improved if we 'start fresh' so to speak, at least "fresh" in comparison to the matrix foundation
@Gnuxie@polyproto oh right, to be a bit more concrete on funding; because this will be an e.V. we will not have a for-profit corporate entity to bring in funds, and will rather be focusing on developing in a way that i.e KDE e.V or Codeberg e.V does, funded primarily by grants and donations, in addition to the whole "keep costs down" thing.
@alexia@polyproto Ok, but i urge caution, grants are not sustainable funding. Donations also are not sustainable unless they are being offered for something in return. Even then they are very hard to come by. You are electing to be charity workers and volunteers with all of the professional obligations of modern software engineers. Charity work that does not challenge any of the structure that is forcing us to instead beg for donations. And I think there is a shame among queer / anarchist adjacent hackers to unapologetically engage in markets and acquire resources because we are scared it would automatically make us capitalists. It's a mistake because it is tying more than one hand behind to fight or provide any alterative out of thin air or donations.
@Gnuxie@polyproto yeah that's fair! quite frankly, I've been focusing a lot more on getting spec work done than the organizational stuff, although this is the thing that should probably be discussed more right now.
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