Matrix.org (both the protocol and the home server) are used quite a bit
by Wikimedia communities:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Matrix.org
Currently a number of channels have their primary home on
matrix.org and
we advertise app.element.io as primary client too. This means we're
currently relying on the resources of a central entity for what is
supposed to be a decentralised protocol.
Now we know that trouble is brewing: «This is completely unsustainable,
and Element is now literally unable to fund the entirety of the Matrix
Foundation on behalf of everyone else - and has had to lay off some of
the folks working on the core team as a result».
https://matrix.org/blog/2022/12/25/the-matrix-holiday-update-2022
https://matrix.org/blog/2022/12/01/funding-matrix-via-the-matrix-org-founda…
For context, Matrix currently has about the same number of users
WhatsApp had in 2012; in 2013, WhatsApp had expenses of 150 M$. You know
what happened next.
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=WhatsApp&oldid=1129148959#ci…
So the Matrix Foundation is extremely cheap for what it's doing, but
still it's not gratis. As Wikimedia movement we should at very least
financially support the parts of Matrix that we use the most, like the
IRC bridges.* Alternatively, "we" should switch to some collectively
funded hoster for "our" Matrix presence, like e.g.
feneas.org used to
be, and contribute to that. But that seems more complicated and
expensive to arrange.
The same argument applies to many of the upstream projects and assorted
software we rely on
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FLOSS-Exchange ,
especially where it's not realistic to contribute with software
development and where a managed hosting is preferable, but the Matrix
case seems to present some urgency.
Best,
Federico
(*) And Libera Chat itself, if a need ever arises. At the moment they
have practically zero expenses and they mostly ask for borrowed
hardware, which WMF can't really provide and Wikimedia affiliates
usually don't have.
https://libera.chat/contributing/sponsor/
https://libera.chat/annual-reports/2021/a1-financial-report/