What is Matrix?

What a fantastic question! The best way to describe Matrix is like the Fediverse but for chat. If you’re familiar with the Fediverse, great! You can skip to the next section. Otherwise, keep reading.

So, what is Matrix, but without the Fediverse analogy? Sheesh, now you’re challenging me. Okay, uh… you know e-mail, right? You know how e-mail works? How you have your provider and you can send e-mails to other providers? It’s a lot like that, except it’s also Discord.

That was terrible. Let me try again. Matrix works a lot like e-mail, in that you have your provider (referred to as your “homeserver” from here), which hosts your account. Your homeserver talks to other homeservers in a process called “federation”, which allows them to share information such as who you are and who you’re talking to. For instance, let’s say that Alice has an account on Matrix.org, the official homeserver, and she wants to talk to Bob, whose account is on the doginahat.net.nz homeserver. Alice would open a DM with @bob:doginahat.net.nz, who would receive a message from @alice:matrix.org.

Simple enough, right?

Why is Matrix?

Ah, now we’re getting into the real meaty questions, I like it! Let me tell you what I like about the platform.

Traditional chat platforms, like Messenger or Discord, are centralised. All services are run through one provider’s servers. If that provider makes a decision that you don’t like and you decide that you can’t support it anymore, or they decide that they don’t like you, that’s it. You have to leave the entire app, and lose basically all of the connections you have.

Matrix is different. A lot different. Instead of one provider, there are thousands of providers, and if you dislike one? Just move to another one! Much like e-mail, it’s a lot easier to be a hermit crab. And if you run your own homeserver, which is much easier than it sounds if you’re only a little savvy, then it’s all yours and under your control. You can do whatever you like.

Another feature that I think deserves mention is the support for encryption. Some chat platforms have support for end-to-end encryption in DMs, which is fine. Matrix supports not just that, but entire rooms to be encrypted. That’s right, you can fedpost all you like and be at far less risk of your server getting subpoenaed! Isn’t that fun?

How is Matrix?

W-what? That doesn’t make sense.

Just kidding. Getting access to Matrix is simple. Just make an account.

Oh, right, the homeserver thing. Yes, there are a lot of homeservers you can use! While we humbly recommend making use of the one we provide, doginahat.net.nz (we have voice support!), you can really sign up with any one you like. There’s a convenient list here. You can also use whatever client you like, but we heavily recommend using Sable.

Please note that we do not recommend using Matrix.org as your homeserver. It has poor performance compared to other homeservers since it’s the default one, it’s often behind on features (lol Synapse), and some servers have been known to defederate from it due to the amount of spam that comes from it.

Simple and Easy Guide

Just want to join up with no faff about decisions? That’s absolutely fine. Follow our convenient guide!

1. Go to https://sable.doginahat.net.nz/
2. Register for an account. When prompted, use the registration token secret-codeword-scruffle.
3. You’re done! Create DMs, find spaces and rooms to join, do whatever you like.
4. If you want access outside of your browser, download Sable from here (or, if you’re a little daring, grab the latest nightly build from here). Unfortunately, we can’t help you figure out which one to download without further information. Fortunately, if you really need, just look at the contacts page for how to get in touch!

Beware of us!

Now that you’re in, there are a few things we’d recommend doing. Your client is likely telling you that your device is unverified. It’s okay, that’s not a problem, you don’t need to do some kinda e-mail verification or anything. It just wants you to put in a password to let you store and access your encryption keys, which is integral to how the end-to-end encryption works, and lets it persist across multiple devices and sessions. Set a good password and SAVE IT IN A PASSWORD MANAGER OR SOMEWHERE SECURE. It’ll spit out a passphrase, too, which is your last-ditch verification code if you can’t access any of your devices and also forgot your password. SAVE THAT TOO. Seriously, it’s impossible to understate just how important these are. If you don’t save them, and your devices somehow become unverified, you’ll lose access to all of your messages. Well, okay, you won’t lose unencrypted ones. But that’s still a lot! Potentially!