Yes, it is not popular, for the reasons I already mentioned.
What puzzles me is why so many HN comments, including yours, frame this purely in consumer terms: "If this open source tool doesn't meet my needs, I'll switch to a proprietary one."
And that is perfectly fine. Use whatever works for you. No issue there.
What seems misplaced is the expectation that Matrix must be popular. Why should it be? It is not your project, and you are not contributing to it. Where does this expectation of its popularity come from?
Matrix already serves its developers and contributors. If it does not serve you, you can either help improve it or choose a proprietary alternative. Both are reasonable paths.
What feels off is the dismissive tone suggesting that if Matrix is not widely adopted, something must be wrong and proprietary options are therefore superior. In reality, this is just how open source works: projects exist to serve those who build and support them, not necessarily the mass market.
There is nothing wrong with an open source project not meeting everyone's needs, leading some people to choose proprietary alternatives. Remarks like "This is the fastest way to get people to say: I hate proprietary solutions but at least they work" or "OK great. I guess you answered why Matrix is not more popular" are not really the decisive critique you think they are.
Open source and proprietary software each have legitimate roles. For some use cases and users, open source tools are a better fit. For others, proprietary solutions make more sense. Popularity alone is not a meaningful measure of value and choosing what works best for you is entirely reasonable either way.
> What seems misplaced is the expectation that Matrix must be popular. Why should it be? It is not your project, and you are not contributing to it. Where does this expectation of its popularity come from?
Partly it's the wish and need for particular project to succeed. They use/like it and want their friends to do so, but then getting brought down by the reality. And communication software is all about critical mass..
Also the promises given and then seeing them not delivered. Everyone can't be builders..
Just to be clear, have been using Matrix from around 2015 with friends and family. Keeper of souls..
> What seems misplaced is the expectation that Matrix must be popular. Why should it be? It is not your project, and you are not contributing to it. Where does this expectation of its popularity come from?
Brother, what even are you talking about? Have you read their missiom statement? They specifically say they want to maximize the number of users and maximize the number of self hosted networks.
You saying they don't want to be popular is, with all due respect, completely from your ass. Matrix and Elements mission statement has them declaring they want to be as popular as possible.
Yes, I read that and directly addressed that in my reply to @jodrellblank above. Repeating it here:
"However noble the foundation's mission sounds, the reality is that Matrix is a complex protocol sustained by people investing their time and energy because they care about it. It will not magically solve every user problem."
> You saying they don't want to be popular is, with all due respect, completely from your ass.
Perhaps you should read my messages more carefully. Try to read to understand instead of reading to respond. Not even once I mentioned anywhere that they don't want to be popular. I said that they aren't popular coz of $REASONS. I said they cannot be popular without help. Are you helping them? I help them by sending small fixes to issues that annoy me. I am trying in my own way to make it a little better. How about you? Are you here only to complain or are you doing anything to help them become a little more popular?
This is not a commercial product, you know. It is an open source project developed and improved by volunteers like you and me. Yes, there is a foundation and there is a mission but that mission will not become magically true without help from people like you and me.
If you don't want to help that's alright. You can use proprietary software where the devs will give you the software you want in exchange for money. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you want Matrix to be more popular, people like us have to make it popular by contributing to it.
What puzzles me is why so many HN comments, including yours, frame this purely in consumer terms: "If this open source tool doesn't meet my needs, I'll switch to a proprietary one."
And that is perfectly fine. Use whatever works for you. No issue there.
What seems misplaced is the expectation that Matrix must be popular. Why should it be? It is not your project, and you are not contributing to it. Where does this expectation of its popularity come from?
Matrix already serves its developers and contributors. If it does not serve you, you can either help improve it or choose a proprietary alternative. Both are reasonable paths.
What feels off is the dismissive tone suggesting that if Matrix is not widely adopted, something must be wrong and proprietary options are therefore superior. In reality, this is just how open source works: projects exist to serve those who build and support them, not necessarily the mass market.
There is nothing wrong with an open source project not meeting everyone's needs, leading some people to choose proprietary alternatives. Remarks like "This is the fastest way to get people to say: I hate proprietary solutions but at least they work" or "OK great. I guess you answered why Matrix is not more popular" are not really the decisive critique you think they are.
Open source and proprietary software each have legitimate roles. For some use cases and users, open source tools are a better fit. For others, proprietary solutions make more sense. Popularity alone is not a meaningful measure of value and choosing what works best for you is entirely reasonable either way.