Enter The Matrix!
Where have I been all this time? Well, I've been searching for and setting up an alternative to the trash that is Discord!
Discord, as much as I have been using it for ages as it seems to be the only platform anyone I know uses, is objectively a terrible platform. I've held this opinion for the entire time I've been using it, shared this opinion to others, but always to the response of "well, everyone uses Discord, so that's why I keep using it!". I can understand that, it is difficult to migrate people from a platform that both they have used for a long time (and therefore are familiar with), and from a platform that all their friends and contacts use, although I believe that for at least Discord, a migration would be worthwhile.
And so, I settled on setting up a Matrix-Synapse server on the same server that this site is running on. I chose Matrix over XMPP because, while XMPP is better for privacy and security (see Luke Smith's video on the topic), Matrix is significantly easier for the clients to connect to/use and is therefore a better platform for people coming over from such as the likes of Discord. The server is set up now, however still needs some configuration tweaks as to make it optimal for me and my friends/family to use (assuming that they actually migrate to it), and then eventually to open up to the public so that I can host my own public channels for you all to talk either to me or each other in.
Currently, the account system works via whoever wants an account needing to ask me to make them one through my server, and those accounts can only be used to communicate in spaces that are hosted on my server. This was a deliberate choice by me (for the time being) as for however long it is acting as an invite only service for, I want to be able to verify everyone who enters myself to make sure that it's safe for my friends/family who are using it. If this wasn't the case, people could join and pretend to be me (or another member) and my friends/family may not know how to actually verify that person's identity through their client itself, possibly opening them up to something such as a phishing attack. Additionally, I prevented them from using these accounts to communicate in spaces outside of my server (although they are free to make seperate accounts to do so) as to prevent a similar situation and to prevent them from inviting unverified people to the server.
I will keep ya'll updated on the progress of this server, any faults I run into, and when it becomes publicly available. If you have any questions about it, or setting up your own Matrix-Synapse server, feel free to ask me via any of my contact methods!
