Matrix | OUR York
Discord has some great features, Signal is better for privacy and even WhatsApp works (I guess). The one thing they all have in common is they're not ours. Matrix is hosted by us, for the entire UoY community - no ulterior motives, no adverts, just real human beings.
What?
The york.pub Matrix is the new home for society chats and community discussions at York! Matrix operates much like other familiar platforms, commonly compared to Discord. It's got multiple channels (rooms), encrypted messaging, reactions, custom emojis and plenty of the fun stuff you're used to. 🌟
Currently you'll find exclusive discussion and spaces for the york.pub societies like YFOSS and HackSoc as well as your fellow York students and staff - especially centring around the Computer Science department. Thanks to federation, we're connected to the rest of the Matrix universe including other UK and European Universities that host Matrix servers!
How?
Getting started with the york.pub Matrix is easy: simply login with your University of York account and get started. Matrix is an open source chat protocol (not platform). This means that there is not a single 'Matrix app' but rather a suite of different clients you can choose from - just like how you can send email from any number of clients: GMail, Thunderbird, Outlook - it doesn't matter.
We recommend using either FluffyChat or Element Classic on mobile and Element/Element Web (browser-based) or Cinny on desktop. There are literally loads of clients you can test out - be aware that they must support 'Legacy SSO' in order to work with the york.pub servers.
Who?
The york.pub matrix is a space for everyone in our UoY community to collaborate, communicate and congregate - students and staff alike.
Matrix is federated which means just by having an account on a single server (e.g. york.pub) you can talk to anyone across the matrix universe!
Why?
The york.pub matrix is something everyone at York should be able to get behind and use without fear or guilt - it's about providing a space for York's online community. The platform is completely open source, encrypted, free from big tech free and managed entirely on campus by us. 🔐
FAQs
- What if I'm not at York?
Unfortunately you can only login to the york.pub server if you've got a UoY account. Don't worry though, many of the york.pub chats are federated so you can always create an account on a different server such as matrix.org or private.coffee and still join in the conversation. Some of the chats are reserved exclusively for UoY members and others may require you to be invited by an existing member of the chat. - Is there any other option?
Yes! Some [society] chats are also bridged to discord so you can join in the conversation from Discord. Some chats might not be bridged to Discord though. - Who runs this?
You do! The york.pub matrix is managed by fellow students as part of the york.pub servers project. If you're interested in systems admin or learning more about self-hosting then find out more at https://york.pub/servers. - What if I'm having problems?
Don't give up! Matrix is not a perfect system but that's okay - it's a volunteer project and not multi-billion pound data-harvesting honey pot. Drop an email to foss@yorksu.org or if you're a computer science student then feel free to ask anyone at any in-person events run by the york.pub societies.