There is also Matrix (matrix.org), an open standard for decentralized communications. Our goal is to let all apps talk to each other - including Slack, Mattermost, and Microsoft Teams!
it would be great if open source solutions like Telegram, Signal and Matrix (and others) would all interoperate. I work on Matrix (https://matrix,.org) but I don't really care which client you want to use - as long as we can still talk to each other!
What if there was a free, interoperable protocol that could connect anything to anything?
That's what we are trying to achieve with Matrix (https://matrix.org) - making apps connect either natively or via gateways/bridges.
We already have bridges to IRC, Slack, and libpurple! Ideally we would connect all services to each other, but obvs we can only do so for those who offer an API.
In Matrix, you can set up a WebRTC call with any Matrix-user, and the user can take the call in whatever Matrix-client he wants. We already have open source clients for web, iOS and Android!
Thanks! Vector (http://vector.im) has had a lot of UI/UX focus - but the nice thing with Matrix is that it enables you to pick the type of app/client that you like - and whether that's a web client like Vector, a terminal client like weechat (http://matrix.org/blog/project/weechat-plugin/), a mobile app, or even a different service like IRC - that's entirely up to you!
https://matrix.org is an open standard defining a communication protocol. The goal is to have an open ecosystem where any app can talk to any other app. You can talk to Matrix either natively - or via a bridge. We already have written bridges to IRC, Slack, XMPP and libpurple - if you visit #matrix on freenode you are also talking in the #matrix:matrix.org (https://vector.im/beta/#/room/#matrix:matrix.org) room in Matrix (and vice versa).
You can even connect to Matrix via your IRC client via http://pto.im/
Matrix is decentralised, you can run your own server (clone our server or write your own) and servers will create federated networks on a need-to-know per-room basis (see http://matrix.org/#about).
I agree. We're building https://matrix.org (a free and open communication protocol) and we've realised that until we have a client with better UX than proprietary offerings, people just won't switch.
We hope that a Matrix-enabled client (https://vector.im is looking promising) will get the UI/UX right - and thus actually offer an open and free solution where you can run your own server (should you choose) and own and control your own data!
Hey, have you looked at https://matrix.org? If you build on us, you don't have to fear ever being cut off - we're completely open source and free! We do also have a slack-bridge, and we're building more bridges - our goal is interoperability rather than isolated silos!
IRC is great, and I'm sure it could be great for non-geeks too! When we started working on Matrix (matrix.org) we based a lot of the messaging/chat side of things on the features we like (and the ones we miss!) from IRC, and now we have a bridge to our IRC channels which means you can chat to Matrix-users from irssi or whatever - or you can use the webbrowser or android/ios matrix client and still keep an eye on IRC.
Auto-backfill is really nice. And being able to send rich content is something we kind of take for granted these days.
Hi there, I work on Matrix - please also feel free to come ask any questions on https://matrix.org/beta/#/room/#matrix:matrix.org -- or #matrix on freenode which is linked to the same matrix "room"!
Hi Duncan - another option is matrix.org - we're similar to XMPP although at the same time different: Matrix is effectively an eventually consistent DB with open federation and pubsub semantics - it's all about synchronising state, whereas XMPP is about federated messaging - sending stanzas around rather than synchronising conversation history.
In fact in Matrix we don't even have the concept of sending a message over federation - the only thing you can do is to synchronise the history datastructure.
We don't see Matrix as undermining XMPP: if you want decentralised conversation history then use Matrix. If you want fast stateless message passing, use XMPP. Infact, we're building an XMPP<->Matrix bridge, so that XMPP can federate with Matrix - so it's not like we're fragmenting things further. The point for Matrix is to try to defragment all the different protocols out there.
Check it out using any Matrix-enabled app: https://matrix.to/#/#matrix:matrix.org