libravatar-fans team mailing list archive

[Rohan Kumar <seirdy@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm new to this mailing list, but I was asked to share my perspective on 
the IRC/Matrix issue by Sheogorath.

Personally, I don't have a big problem with either since both are open 
platforms with some degree of federation; I use both daily through 
WeeChat and Gomuks. However, I do have a preference for IRC for a number 
of reasons:

1. Given that so many other projects are on IRC, it makes sense to not 
require people to use a different client just for a few select 
communities.

2. Many people, including myself, prefer TUI clients to graphical ones.  
Right now, the only TUI Matrix client that isn't missing essential 
features is Gomuks. While Gomuks development seems to be progressing 
well, I wouldn't say it's a replacement for other graphical clients yet.

3. Issues with Matrix itself: I described these in a bit more detail in 
a blog post, "Keeping Platforms Open".  
https://seirdy.one/2021/02/23/keeping-platforms-open.html.

Regarding features in Matrix that aren't present in IRC:

Long-form and long-term discussion already happens in a mailing list, 
which is well-suited for the task; I'm not aware of any other open 
platform that allows nested discussion threads delimited by subject.  
Given the existence of a mailing list, I think a chat platform should 
focus on a niche that isn't covered by mailing lists: ephemeral, 
real-time chat with less structure.

If a discussion needs marked replies and searchable history, it's 
probably better off happening in a mailing list. Given that these 
features aren't especially valuable given the existence of a mailing 
list, I'd say that IRC should fit the bill.

Honestly, I don't think a Matrix-IRC bridge hurts the Matrix experience 
too much since join/leave events can simply be filtered out from most 
clients. Most of the issues come from the perspective of IRC users, 
mainly long-form messages turning into pastebin links instead of being 
broken up. That being said, I find excessive pastebin links preferable 
to not having IRC support at all.

--
/Seirdy

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