Matrix is email wearing a hoodie
11 hours ago
- #Matrix
- #Open Source
- #Federated Communication
- Matrix aims to be an open, secure communication fabric similar to email but instantaneous and secure.
- Users primarily adopt Matrix to replace platforms like Slack, Discord, or WhatsApp, expecting it to be a federated alternative.
- Matrix's trust model resembles email, with users signing up on homeservers, but this leads to latency and storage issues.
- Matrix struggles with spam and abuse due to its open federation, requiring complex moderation tools.
- The platform's directed-acyclic graph (DAG) structure ensures strong eventual consistency but can cause message order issues.
- Performance issues, such as slow room joins and high resource usage, are attributed to implementation rather than the protocol itself.
- End-to-end encryption is a key feature, but bridging to other platforms can compromise encryption.
- Matrix faces challenges in meeting user expectations for a seamless, low-maintenance experience.
- The project is at a crossroads, needing to decide whether to focus on being an email replacement or a Slack alternative.