Matrix

Client choice

 Matrix is a decentralized communication protocol (a generic publish-subscribe HTTPS REST API, whose message format is JSON), which also serves as the common language of the largest federation of chat servers in the world. A bridge bot is still required for a small number of large,  vendor lock-in-suffering chat networks, until Europe's Digital Markets Act forces them to expose interoperable APIs, following the principle that technological diversity fosters a healthy ecosystem, but lack of interoperability fragments the community and hampers market competition and end product quality.

You can live without installation, just follow the room links in your web browser. For maximum comfort, you can optionally install any client from the list.

• Like OSM editors, there are a few very famous clients and a lot of minor clients, but there is no "best client" and it's common in the Matrix world to log into 3+ clients for the fun of trying.
• Like OSM editors, what's difficult, bugged, or missing in a client may be the strong point of another client. Clients are interoperable: they use different techniques under the hood to perform the exact same user-visible tasks.
• Features of common usage that are not yet perfect on all the mainstream clients:
  • Spaces have a good UI in Element Web and Element Android (i.e. the reference implementations by the people who make Matrix) and in SchildiChat. FluffyChat has little and ugly support for spaces.
  • Selecting more than one message at the same time, to copy-paste into your personal notes: currently supported by Element Web and FluffyChat.
  • Searching past messages: currently requires to be online in Element Android, Element Web, SchildiChat.
  • Threads: currently requires to be online in Element Android, Element Web, SchildiChat; FluffyChat shows them also when offline, but as normal replies.

Bots

• To subscribe the QA RSS feeds, use Element's Integration manager's RSS bot (instructions here). Group chats are supported. For QA feeds of personal/limited use (for example, the recent edits in your neighbourhood) you can make a private chat with yourself and add the integration bot to this chat. Another example is following
• You can follow topics and replies from a category in the Discourse forum community.openstreetmap.org with the same technique as for any RSS feed, or with a custom bot (like OSM FR).

Making a bridge

Slack, Telegram and other semi-closed networks need explicit action by an admin of the Matrix chatroom and an admin of the non-Matrix chatroom. A bot joins both rooms and copy-pastes the messages. For instructions, contact valor naram.

General chats

Chats possibly focusing on some topics of global (non-regional) interest.

Chats for certain applications or services

Such as web applications, certain mapping providers etc.

Local community chats by continent / country

This is a partial list - please add channels as you find them.

You can also find these channels using the Belgian rendering of the OSM Community Index.

Bridges to other networks

This is a partial list - please add channels as you find them.