This is a complaining post, but Matrix rocks. After years of IRC and "just host a bouncer", Mumble, TeamSpeak, Zulip, XMPP, Jabber, Gitter, Mattermost, Rocket, Revolt, etc.

There's finally one right choice that mostly works. And that's Matrix.

A Matrix channel is often a proxy variable that tells me if a dev project is serious or not. If it's on Discord, then my enthusiasm about contributing is halved. And I have a guilty appreciation for the gatekeeping implicit with the hassle of connecting to a Matrix server.

But... This is a complaining post. Matrix still, unfortunately, sucks to use.

I don't mean to denigrate open source software but I've been using Matrix in some form, off and on, for years! It's like regex-- I've never figured it out.

It's kind of a mess? Matrix (the protocol) is made by Matrix (formerly Riot) has the official server software Synapse (by Element-HQ, formerly by Matrix.org) and the official client Element (formerly Riot, and even more formerly Vector).

At least we can say Mastodon (the web service) has Mastodon.social (the instance) and Mastodon (the official app).

I don't exactly understand how to manage my identity or set up multiple devices, but that might be on me. Is my identity per-client? Is my identity per-server? Can I add friends and talk to them on Matrix?

And, while I love E2EE, I don't think it's meaningful when nearly every(!!!) server I've been in is either (1) unencrypted, or (2) has a bridge to an IRC or Discord.

I looked into self-hosting and... Synapse is the only mature server software and I don't want to run that for various reasons.

And, of the many client options, Element appears to be the one that's the most well-supported. The thing is, Element ranks among rendering and compiling as one of the few things that gets my Macbook warm.

It's the convergence of the IRC jank of the 2000s, and the electron/etc jank of the 2020s.

This makes me appreciate Signal soooo much more. It's the only E2EE messaging platform I'm aware of that Does Not Suck To Use.

As Matrix reminds me of "how things were", it really makes me appreciate Signal's whole "bring encryption to the masses". I know it's not within Signal's scope or budget, but I would love to see Signal's take on the Teams/Discord/IRC/Slack space.

tldr: I luv Matrix but it's soooo janky. I love Signal and I love that Signal is not janky. Matrix's jank makes Signal shine all the brighter in my eyes