Despite it being easier to self-host XMPP and less expensive on resources, Matrix is more popular. Why?
The real reason Matrix is popular is because corporate and FOSS developers like the encrypted group chats for their internal use. (XMPP is NOT encrypted group chats). So then devs host a Matrix room to answer end-user questions, and having all these rooms encourages overall adoption.
The part that's not usually mentioned, is that only the devs usually use self-hosted Matrix servers, and the vast majority of the public uses Matrix.org which is on Cloudflare with Gmail verification.
In theory Matrix is decentralized, but in the real world, everyone gets Cloudflare metadata surveillance, and uses the same Element client.
Here's my core message:
Try to be Self-Sovereign with what you're doing.
If you're hosting a website, 1 core VPS for email, whatever. Then host your own XMPP/Matrix. XMPP uses so little resources, it's near free.
If a VPS is really not for you, even if you pay someone like me $100 to set it up:
https://simplifiedprivacy.com/email-cloud-combo/index.html
Then public SimpleX/Session servers are right for you. That's fine. This isn't about me trying to force you to use my favorite protocol. It's about you not using Cloudflare (and Protonmail seeing your metadata) and thinking you're "doing privacy".
SimplifiedPrivacy.com
npub14sl…t5d6
2024-06-21 16:20:37
Author Public Key
npub14slk4lshtylkrqg9z0dvng09gn58h88frvnax7uga3v0h25szj4qzjt5d6Published at
2024-06-21 16:20:37Event JSON
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"pubkey": "ac3f6afe17593f61810513dac9a1e544e87b9ce91b27d37b88ec58fbaa9014aa",
"created_at": 1718979637,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [],
"content": "Despite it being easier to self-host XMPP and less expensive on resources, Matrix is more popular. Why?\n\nThe real reason Matrix is popular is because corporate and FOSS developers like the encrypted group chats for their internal use. (XMPP is NOT encrypted group chats). So then devs host a Matrix room to answer end-user questions, and having all these rooms encourages overall adoption.\n\nThe part that's not usually mentioned, is that only the devs usually use self-hosted Matrix servers, and the vast majority of the public uses Matrix.org which is on Cloudflare with Gmail verification.\n\nIn theory Matrix is decentralized, but in the real world, everyone gets Cloudflare metadata surveillance, and uses the same Element client.\n\nHere's my core message:\nTry to be Self-Sovereign with what you're doing.\nIf you're hosting a website, 1 core VPS for email, whatever. Then host your own XMPP/Matrix. XMPP uses so little resources, it's near free.\n\nIf a VPS is really not for you, even if you pay someone like me $100 to set it up:\nhttps://simplifiedprivacy.com/email-cloud-combo/index.html\n\nThen public SimpleX/Session servers are right for you. That's fine. This isn't about me trying to force you to use my favorite protocol. It's about you not using Cloudflare (and Protonmail seeing your metadata) and thinking you're \"doing privacy\".",
"sig": "379090b052bbea2026a01ce1ea46652085eeeaf3840cf4dc72c29162f61a198ba27e5d3811e04de617dbb5b3c365051e4483564dfb882e8fb1a561d19ba861a6"
}