Magic will be gone when there is no mass adoption due to bad UX. And UX is not that good right now.

Oh, but Matrix is much more than an instant messenger. It's a replicated database with ACLs.

It could theoretically fail in the IM space and still succeed in the data sharing space. For instance, you could build an Activitypub-like ecosystem on top of it.

> ...Matrix is much more than an instant messenger. It's a replicated database with ACLs...

THIS is one of the main reasons that I'm such a fan of the matrix protocol. Yes, the chat use case is by far - for now - the most popular direction...but i can envision many other use cases (not just, say, for IoT devices)!

This. They really need to invest in a better UX above anything else right now, imo.

Really? I've been extremely happy with Element.

It’s not clear to me what extent IPFS is already in use in matrix applications. If I want to use web torrents or beaker/hyperdrive instead that should be possible, no? What assumptions does the matrix protocol make about attachments / media uploads?

Haven’t tried developing for matrix yet but I’m intrigued by its inertia right now.

It looks like some of the Matrix devs were thinking about using IPFS for the Matrix "media" repository. It's basically an object store where the Matrix server keeps images and videos and files.

Coincidentally, that spec change proposal looks to have been posted exactly one year ago today. Doesn't look like there's anything concrete yet, but still there's obvious opportunities for combining a content-addressable object store API with a distributed content-addressable file system back end.

https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-doc/blob/travis/msc/ipf...

This is a very bold claim. There are a lot of projects and protocols to do so.

Matrix was not designed with that goal in mind.

Matrix was designed to be extensible and with extreme ability to customize and interact with outside tools. A solid interface on top of Matrix could allow for everything from messaging to transactions to project management - and even massive timeline interfaces. Matrix is an interface for federation at scale - for any type of communication.

Here's a sneak peek at some of our interfaces:

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B165qXGF1GxreFs

The very same can be said of XMPP, ActivityPub and even XHTML. It's far from enough.

Even email can carry arbitrary payloads, federates natively and scales extremely well.

I imagine that these eventually become an “OS” that ties and links together peoples interactions through time. And the federation allows people to share timelines / information in a way that allows for new forms of collaboration- ones where it’s less focused on owner - employee relations and more P2P. Email me if you’re interested. I need some final designs made and am looking for developer partners - I have business cases and clients set up.

Matrix isn't P2P. You didn't even provide an email. No one is going to reach out unless you can create something to document at a high level what you think is so special about your ideas.

> Matrix isn't P2P

Incorrect.

https://github.com/matrix-org/pinecone

It's nowhere near mature/stable, but they are definitely working on it.

First, just because they are working on something doesn't make it something. That is like saying... hey I'm working on adding encryption. It isn't there yet, but I can still claim my app is encrypted.

Also, P2P overlays already exist in multiple forms.. Yggdrasil, Nebula, Tor, etc. Yet another example of them trying to re-invent the wheel when it isn't even necessary. Tox already does this.

Sneak peek of the interface we're building on top of matrix - a timeline focused universal interface for projects