Xfce is moving from IRC to Matrix

Apr 23,2024

Xfce is moving from IRC to Matrix

After a 6-month trial period, as of April 1, 2024, Xfce moved its official communication channels from IRC to Matrix.

The old IRC channels will remain open, so you can still hang out there. However, the ‘official’ channels linked in the Xfce Wiki now will be the Matrix channels.

This change affects the following channels:

• #xfce on libera.chat –> #xfce:matrix.org — general user support and discussion
• #xfce-dev on libera.chat –> #xfce-dev:matrix.org — development discussion
• #xfce-commits on libera.chat –> #xfce-commits:matrix.org — notable GitLab activity

Reasoning

In the past, it was possible to connect and idle on libera IRC channels via Matrix.org bridge.
Using Matrix to connect is very convenient for several reasons:

• When accessing IRC channels via Matrix bridge, it’s not necessary to manage an IRC bouncer.
  Bridged Matrix channels retain messages that arrive while you are offline.
• Chat history is synchronised across multiple devices by default. No special BNC setup is required.
• Based on personal experience, the entry barrier for Matrix seems to be lower than for IRC.
• On IRC, after answering a support question, you might realize that the person asking it went offline hours ago (no BNC used) and as such you wasted your time. Won’t happen if the question was raised by a Matrix user.

As such, several people started connecting to the Xfce IRC channels via Matrix (including myself). However, on July 2023, the party was over.
Libera.Chat decided to disable Matrix bridging and suggested to use so-called “channel plumbing” until further notice.
I’m not sure about the technical details here, but in the end, “plumbing” did not work out for some reason.
By November 2023 it became clear that bridging would not come back either.

Meanwhile, Xfce communication became fragmented. Some people dusted off their IRC bouncers and used them again, some used a private Matrix server setup (Heisenbridge was still functional) and some just stayed on the Matrix channels, which were no longer interconnected to the IRC channels.

In order to end that fragmentation and because of the above mentioned Matrix advantages, after 6 months of testing and adding some Matrix bots (real nice job Brian!), the Xfce team decided to prefer Matrix over IRC in the future and settle down there.

So, even if you are a hardcore Xfce IRC user, please install the Matrix client of your choice and give the shiny new (cough) possibilities offered by Matrix a try. Looking forward to see you in the Xfce Matrix channels!