77 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
77 lines
3.7 KiB
Markdown
|
---
|
||
|
|
title: Matrix Has U
|
||
|
|
date: 2015-11-27
|
||
|
|
tags:
|
||
|
|
- matrix
|
||
|
|
- irc
|
||
|
|
- legacycontent
|
||
|
|
---
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
[This is an old post that didn't survive the port of my website from Lua to Go.
|
||
|
|
I have rescued this post from archive.org. Hope you enjoy 2015 Xena
|
||
|
|
posting!](conversation://Cadey/enby)
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
As a lot of people close to me know, I am a very avid IRC user. I like the
|
||
|
|
simplicity of IRC and how easy it is to set up your own node. I like how the
|
||
|
|
protocol is easily scriptable for and think that a lot of the extensions are
|
||
|
|
well thought out and useful.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
That being said, a lot about the protocol is absolute garbage. It is poorly
|
||
|
|
understood by nearly all but the most sophisticated developers and a lot of
|
||
|
|
companies that offer IRC gateways to things half-ass it. Not to mention of
|
||
|
|
course the other core problem that ircd in 2015 acts the same way as ircd in
|
||
|
|
2005 did.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Every time your TCP socket to the server dies, your session is deleted and you
|
||
|
|
need to start over from scratch. Bouncers basically just make it harder for the
|
||
|
|
TCP socket to die by having another server with a (hopefully) more stable
|
||
|
|
connection keep your IRC socket open. You have to verify your identity to a bot
|
||
|
|
in order to get access to places from another bot, and if you're lucky that
|
||
|
|
will be done by default and not require additional commands in order to enter
|
||
|
|
invite-only secret rooms. You'll have to be even luckier to have an IRC server
|
||
|
|
or bot setup that caches the most recent channel messages so you have context
|
||
|
|
to what is going on there. Private messages are one-to-one and adding another
|
||
|
|
person to a conversation means having to create a private channel, meaning you
|
||
|
|
just bring on the pain points mentioned earlier.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Things like this are also causing IRC networks to slowly hemmorage users to
|
||
|
|
things that do the job even worse like Slack, Skype and Telegram.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
It's a mess. There has got to be a better way, one that lets you still have
|
||
|
|
channel moderation controls, doesn't have clients that look terrible in
|
||
|
|
comparison, still lets you have file uploads and the like, seamless mobile
|
||
|
|
integration and not losing messages when connecting from a different device.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Luckily, we live in the future, and there is an option. This option is
|
||
|
|
[Matrix](https://matrix.org).
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
From a high level, it will look like the new XMPP. It kind of is, but at its
|
||
|
|
core it is far superior to XMPP in my opinion. Its protocol is nothing more
|
||
|
|
than JSON over HTTPS. It is built for multi-user rooms from the beginning
|
||
|
|
instead of [half-assing it in an extension](https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0045.html).
|
||
|
|
Its reference home server [synapse](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse)
|
||
|
|
is under the permissive [Apache](https://github.com/matrix-org/synapse/blob/master/LICENSE)
|
||
|
|
license. You can even set up your own homeserver and have it federate to
|
||
|
|
other home servers, or if you like you can also choose not to.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
You can even join channels hosted on IRC networks like Freenode or Moznet by
|
||
|
|
joining channels formatted like `#freenode_#ipfs:matrix.org` or their main home
|
||
|
|
base `#matrix:matrix.org`. The bridging is seamless, with one matrix user
|
||
|
|
created per active IRC user and vice versa.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Usage of matrix via the [Vector](https://vector.im/beta) client is very simple:
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
1. Sign up for an account by clicking on "Create a New Account"
|
||
|
|
2. Enter in a valid email address, a password and your desired username
|
||
|
|
3. Check your email for the activation link
|
||
|
|
4. Click it and click the button on Vector that says you did so
|
||
|
|
5. Join a channel and start talking
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
My current home-base on Matrix is `#ponydevs:matrix.org` and I'd love see you
|
||
|
|
in there too.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
TL;DR: IRC is dying, Matrix is a very valid sucessor. Matrix has u.
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
To find out more about Matrix, read their [home page](https://matrix.org) or
|
||
|
|
their [FAQ](https://matrix.org/docs/guides/faq.html).
|