Although this doesn't make the issues brought up about Matrix go away, in the past I've only used Matrix as a FOSS alternative to Discord. (I am obligated to join some communities on Discord, one of them that is somewhat out of obligation - due to being a supporter of a crowdfunding campaign - but regardless, I still rarely check Discord.) For me, my personal UX of using Discord is terrible, as I currently have to perform the following in order to log into Discord without getting permanently banned:
I have used Matrix before with other FOSS projects, but I'm realizing that I actually don't use Matrix that often, either. From a non-technical POV, I've been using the official Element clients on desktop and Android; and both feel slow since Element is a "glossy" GUI. Ironically, the loading of messages is so slow that either a user needs to resort to constantly checking Matrix (and unintentionally instilling FOMO in the user), or a user simply doesn't check Matrix until absolutely necessary. However, this is probably my idiosyncratic experience with Matrix.
On the other hand, I've used IRC way less - yet every time I've needed to use it, it's always been super intentional. For both times, the servers didn't care that I used a personal VPN. (I should probably stop using Pidgin as a GUI application and go full-on Mr. Robot Season 2 with a proper IRC client that is either CLI or TUI, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.)
For the time being, I think most of what I post is most appropriate in either codeforge issues or forum posts here. Given the approximately +12 hour time difference between NYC and Australia, there could be a base threshold of difficulty for real-time chatting with users in North/South America time zones.
- I have to perform a cold reboot (to ensure I have no processes of any personal VPN running); or use a separate machine that has no VPN. (I actually should switch to Qubes OS at this rate.)
- I have to use the Guest View of Brave Browser (which has no privacy Chromium extensions by default), so that I approximate the browser profile of the typical Discord enough to satisfy the Discord auto-moderation mechanism.
I have used Matrix before with other FOSS projects, but I'm realizing that I actually don't use Matrix that often, either. From a non-technical POV, I've been using the official Element clients on desktop and Android; and both feel slow since Element is a "glossy" GUI. Ironically, the loading of messages is so slow that either a user needs to resort to constantly checking Matrix (and unintentionally instilling FOMO in the user), or a user simply doesn't check Matrix until absolutely necessary. However, this is probably my idiosyncratic experience with Matrix.
On the other hand, I've used IRC way less - yet every time I've needed to use it, it's always been super intentional. For both times, the servers didn't care that I used a personal VPN. (I should probably stop using Pidgin as a GUI application and go full-on Mr. Robot Season 2 with a proper IRC client that is either CLI or TUI, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.)
For the time being, I think most of what I post is most appropriate in either codeforge issues or forum posts here. Given the approximately +12 hour time difference between NYC and Australia, there could be a base threshold of difficulty for real-time chatting with users in North/South America time zones.
