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posted ago by Space_Monkey ago by Space_Monkey +35 / -0

So I can't be the only one who wishes this community had a better platform for connecting with the other people we meet here. This site works similar to Reddit - great for posting news and comments, but not very good for having private conversations. The problem with Discord is that it's centralized and insecure, and they monitor conversations. Telegram requires a phone number to sign up and has other issues as far as security and privacy.

But I have found some open source software called Matrix that solves these issues. It is a federated network of peers called homeservers. Every homeserver is independent and private and sets their own rules for users and chatrooms. Groups can be either public or private and end to end encrypted. Private messages are always end to end encrypted so not even admins can read conversations they are not party to. There are already apps developed for all platforms, including mobile. It even supports voice and video calls.

I've spent the last few days setting up one such homeserver and I'm proud to say it's now up and running, though still pretty barebones. Need people to join and start adding content now. Go ahead and sign up and check it out. No personal info required. Email is optional.

https://element.gaw.social/#/register