Matrix is a free standard and protocol for secure decentralised (real-time) communication. Think of it as the chat equivalent to email. As with email, decentralisation here means that there is no single provider/server who provides/owns the network (like with Slack for instance), but that there are multiple providers/servers on an open and interconnected network who can all talk to each other (just like you can send an email from your university email account to, for instance, a Google Gmail address). For more information have a look at the Matrix website.
The people who created Matrix also run the flagship implementationd of software to connect to the Matrix network, named Element (but there are many alternative implementations). Note that the Element website also provides professional/commercial hosting for Matrix servers (the equivalent to running your own email server), but this is not interesting for us, as there are many servers that offer free accounts (just like in the email world).
Due to its open design and security focus, Matrix/Element is used by multiple governments as well as in defence, healthcare and education.
To start using Matrix, you need two things: (1) an account at some Matrix provider/server (i.e. a Matrix "username"), and (2) a Matrix client (i.e. the software to connect to the server). For both of these there is plenty of choice available, but if you don't want to think about this, then just start with (1) a free account on the "matrix.org" server (a server run by the people who made Matrix themselves) 1, and (2) use the Element clients (available for web, desktop and mobile)2:
- Go to element.io/download and choose your platform
- Install/run Element
- You can choose to create an account; pick your preferred username here and leave the server setting at the default (matrix.org) 3
Chat rooms in Matrix can be organized into "spaces". These are basically just meta-rooms that can hold other rooms and hence bind them together into a community. The BNCNijmegen Space is a private space, meaning it is not listed in the Matrix room directory, and only visible and joinable when explicitely invited. It holds (for now) the following rooms:
- General is a private and end-to-end encrypted room for pretty much any conversation that doesn't belong into any other room.
- Meeting Room is a private and end-to-end encrypted always-on video conference with embedded chat (very similar to what you know from Zoom and Teams).
- BNCNijmegen is a public unencrypted room that anyone can join in oder to get in touch with us.
You can join the public BNCNijmegen room yourself at #bncnijmegen:matrix.org. Once in there, send a message asking to get invited to the private BNCNijmegen Space.
It is perfectly possible to access Matrix from multiple devices (e.g. destop and phone). There are clients for everything. Element is again the easiest option here, since it is available for most operating systems (Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, iOS). In order for the end-to-end encryption to work properly, whenever you log in with a new device, you are asked to "verify" this device, using another known one. Usually it just means that you have to have Element open on both devices, and are asked to either scan a QR code or to compare a set of Emojis across both devices. Once your devices are verified, Element will stop bugging you about it. Choosing to not verify a device has implication for security (i.e. the device is not "trusted") and that is signalled to other people you communicate with.
Footnotes
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Note that surf.nl might soon offer academics in NL to use their own server at matrix.surf.nl. I am in contact with surf.nl about this. ↩
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I strongly advice is to set this up on Desktop first, and only afterwards add your mobile phone! This is because the new ElementX phone app does not support spaces yet (but you can still see all rooms you are in of course). ↩
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Note that you can also create an account here via OpenID (that is, by simply loging in with your Google, Facebook, GitHub, etc. credentials). ↩