Some things to keep in mind if you're getting started with Matrix after having been on Discord:
End-to-end encryption is available, but you might want to disable it when you create a room. This will help keep things simple for your users as they get familiar with Matrix. Connections between client and server will still be encrypted using HTTPS, which is the same level of encryption that Discord has. (And if it's a public room, e2ee wouldn't have any value anyway.) You can always add end-to-end encryption to your rooms later.
A few terms used on Discord are different in the Matrix ecosystem...
Discord term
Matrix term
channel
room
server
space
discord.com
homeserver (there are many)
If you don't like the first Matrix client you try, consider trying others. Much like email clients, the features and user interface styles vary. The blog post mentions Cinny and Commet. Element X is probably the simplest mobile client with Matrix's recent fast-startup feature (though it's still catching up on other features). More clients are listed here.
Voice and video chat in Matrix are currently available only on some clients, and it's done by integrating Jitsi. Not ideal, but still useful for at least some use cases. A better system is in development. Here's a preview of it: https://call.element.io/
Matrix.org is by far the largest public homeserver. It's convenient in that anyone can get an account without having to run their own homeserver, but it can also suffer slowdowns when an influx of users are arriving all at once, such as right now. You can choose to be patient, or look for a different public homeserver, or pay for a homeserver host, or (if you have the means) self-host.
Matrix.org and some other public homeservers ask for an email address when you sign up, so that they have a way to recover your account if you forget your password. It's not required by The Matrix protocol, though, and some servers might allow new accounts with no contact info at all. I don't know which ones; you'll have to hunt for one (or run your own) if that's what you want.
The blog post mentions account portability, which is not yet available in Matrix. This means that your user ID (@user:example.com) is currently tied to the homeserver where you create it (example.com). If you decide to switch to an account on another homeserver, you'll have to get re-invited into any private chats you had joined with the old account. However, the rooms you create on your original homeserver are not tied to that server. So long as at least one room member is on another homeserver, the room will carry on (with its original ID) even if its original homeserver vanishes. This means, for example, that you could create a room on matrix.org today, and migrate its admin duties to an account on your own private homeserver that you set up a year from now. (Or even invite all your members to migrate to your private homeserver.)
Discord didn't exist when Matrix was invented, and Teamspeak was never influential enough in the world for its conventions to matter outside of its own user base.
You seem to be overestimating the breadth and importance of your personal experience.
My private groups solved this by using Matrix for text chat and Mumble for voice. It has push-to-talk and outstanding sound quality. Hosted Mumble servers are cheap, and self-hosting is pretty easy.
When Element Call (MatrixRTC) eventually leaves beta, we might switch to that, but it's hard to beat Mumble for audio.
The only real difficulty I foresee with users down the line is what happens when people lose their recovery keys.
Yes, the possibility of someone losing their recovery codes is a risk shared by practically all e2ee systems, authenticators, etc. (Have you backed up your Steam Guard recovery codes?) When a user is the only one with access to their secrets, they are also the only one who can be responsible for them.
This is part of why I suggested in my top-level comment that admins coming from Discord leave end-to-end encryption disabled when creating their first Matrix rooms. This keeps things simpler while their users get acquainted with Matrix, and reduces the consequences if someone loses their account recovery key. The point-to-point HTTPS encryption between client and server will still be in place, providing the same level of protection that Discord offers. End-to-end encryption can always be added to a room later, once everyone is familiar with the new environment.
I kind of wish Lemmy called them rooms, or boards, or something like that. Community is a lot of syllables to say and letters to type. Oh well. I'm mainly just glad Lemmy exists.
Eufy is based in China, has already had at least one scandal for lying about data exfiltration, and (when I investigated last year) could remotely update their products with new behavior at any time. I do not recommend them where privacy is desired.
Discover the exciting new features of TeamSpeak 6, including a complete redesign, screen sharing capabilities, and community server management, all aimed at improving user experience in gaming communication.
Most clients are probably waiting until it's out of beta before they implement it. From what I've seen of the design, it does look pretty great. Looking forward to it being fully specced and released.
Mumble is great. I don't think there's anything with better voice quality.
I hope Element Call comes close when it's out of beta. Using a single app for both text and voice chat would be slightly more convenient than using two.
When was the last time you used it? They've been working hard on fixing the encryption bugs, and it shows. I haven't seen a glitch in... maybe half a year now?
Out of curiosity, which client and OS sent the messages in question, and which client and OS says it can't decrypt them?
I've seen that behavior in the past, but like I said, it has been more than a few months. It's possible that at least one end of your conversation is using a client that hasn't received the recent-ish fixes. It might be helpful if we could identify it.
(Note that what Discord calls a "server" is not what anyone else in the networking community calls a server; it's a confusing misnomer. Matrix calls it a space, but calling it a community would be understood by most people as well. Also, what Discord calls a "channel" is what Matrix calls a room.)
I don't know what problems you found, but the biggest bugs I encountered in past years seem to be fixed now, at least on recent clients. (Element X is recent, and I've seen praise for FluffyChat.)
Matrix for text and Mumble for voice works well for me.
Careful: Discord misuses the word "server" to mean community, so a lot of Discord users here might misunderstand and think you just said the average Joe doesn't need to set up a community. (Of course, I'm sure you actually mean the average Joe doesn't need to set up his own homeserver instance, which is true.)
My TTRPG groups use Matrix for text and Mumble for voice. This arrangement works pretty well.
We don't use video, so I can't vouch for that. The Matrix client called Element currently does it using Jitsi, and there's a new approach in development that will eventually be supported by more Matrix clients: https://call.element.io/
Just installed KDE Plasma on my Ubuntu system to replace GNOME and Wayland. Mainly to get rid of an issue where my games would lose mouse lock, but now I can have two different wallpapers on both monitors and have a clock on my second monitor which is AWESOME. ...
“Hey, man, is that GNU/Linux on your computer?”, “Yes.”, “Great, but I use Microsoft Windows.” You get the idea. A “heavy” academic exchange like that would sound comical, to say the least. And that’s exactly the point of this article. One of the long-running debates in the Linux ecosystem: whether the system ...
In response to user feedback on AI integration, Mozilla announced today that the next Firefox release will let users disable AI features entirely or manage them individually.
The new AI controls panel will also enable users to manage five AI-powered features individually: browser translations, alt text generation for images in PDFs, AI-enhanced tab grouping with suggested names, link previews showing key points, and sidebar access to chatbots (including Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Le Chat Mistral).
I'm glad for that. I don't want most of these things, but the translation feature is very useful, runs locally, and only activates when I click it. I intend to keep it enabled and switch off the rest.
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Wow; that's surprisingly short. That means I get hit with Anubis at least six times a day when I use three browsers, and eight times a day when I use four. I often do switch between devices throughout the day, so I think this explains it.
If it can't be made login-aware, how about extending the session time to 24 or 48 hours? That would at least reduce the continual annoyances that some of us are now experiencing.
I haven't reviewed the relevant policies lately, but I suspect those should have been separate packages, not thousands of entries in a single package's Provides: field.
The recent federal raid on the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson isn’t merely an attack by the Trump administration on the free press. It’s also a warning to anyone with a smartphone. ...
explicitly authorized law enforcement personnel to obtain Natanson’s phone and both hold the device in front of her face and to forcibly use her fingers to unlock it.
Ergo saying “it’s aSsAuLt” is missing the point and hysterical, preaching to the choir.
You're projecting a lot of tone and intent that doesn't exist in my comment, nor in my view of the issue, and you're doing it with a hefty dose of snark. That's unnecessary, unhelpful, and unkind.
In future, you might consider multiple ways that other people's comments could be interpreted, rather than leaping to assumptions that give you an excuse to criticise them and control the conversation.
Be well. Goodbye.
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The need being served here is for an alternative to Google's spyware, not for an alternative to Android.
The Android operating system itself is not a significant privacy problem. (It might seem like one because most Android distributions include Google Play Services, but without that, Android is pretty tame and very useful.)
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https://web.archive.org/web/20260210152220/https://www.404media.co/with-ring-american-consumers-built-a-surveillance-dragnet/
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I was quite out of the loop, but it sems like TeamSpeak 6 is now a full fledged self-hostable Discord alternative? TeamSpeak 6 Is Back: New Design, Screen Sharing, and More ( www.tech2geek.net )
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TIL that I18n is Internationalization, and why ( en.wikipedia.org )
I had always known about what it meant, translation etc, but not the actual meaning ...
I wish I installed Plasma on my Ubuntu sooner
Just installed KDE Plasma on my Ubuntu system to replace GNOME and Wayland. Mainly to get rid of an issue where my games would lose mouse lock, but now I can have two different wallpapers on both monitors and have a clock on my second monitor which is AWESOME. ...
[Steam] Magellania ( store.steampowered.com )
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GNU/Linux or Just Linux? Between Purism and Everyday Usage ( linuxiac.com )
“Hey, man, is that GNU/Linux on your computer?”, “Yes.”, “Great, but I use Microsoft Windows.” You get the idea. A “heavy” academic exchange like that would sound comical, to say the least. And that’s exactly the point of this article. One of the long-running debates in the Linux ecosystem: whether the system ...
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Mozilla announces switch to disable all Firefox AI features ( www.bleepingcomputer.com )
In response to user feedback on AI integration, Mozilla announced today that the next Firefox release will let users disable AI features entirely or manage them individually.
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Notepad++ Hijacked by State-Sponsored Hackers ( notepad-plus-plus.org )
Please consider skipping the Anubis check when a user is already logged in
Dear admins, ...
Minor WTF: `librust-winapi-dev` wins the prize for the length of its "Provides" line under Debian's `apt`
Borderline sh-tpost here. ...
Washington Post Raid Is a Frightening Reminder: Turn Off Your Phone’s Biometrics Now ( theintercept.com )
The recent federal raid on the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson isn’t merely an attack by the Trump administration on the free press. It’s also a warning to anyone with a smartphone. ...
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