Company , created by the key developers of the Matrix project, about the purchase of the chat and instant messaging service Gitter, which was previously owned by GitLab. Gitter will be integrated into the Matrix ecosystem and transformed into a chat platform using Matrix decentralized communication technologies. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. In May, the company Element $4.6 million investment from the creators of WordPress.
The transition of Gitter to Matrix technologies is planned to take place in several stages. The first step involves providing a quality gateway for Gitter to operate through the Matrix network, allowing Gitter users to communicate directly with Matrix network users, while Matrix network participants can connect to Gitter chat rooms. Gitter will be usable as a full-fledged client for the Matrix network. Instead of the outdated Gitter mobile app, the Element mobile app (formerly Riot) will be offered, refined to support Gitter-specific functionality.
In the long term, to avoid spreading efforts across two fronts, it has been decided to develop a unified application that combines Matrix and Gitter capabilities. All enhanced Gitter features are planned to be transferred to the Element program, such as instant room previews, a hierarchical room directory, integration with GitLab and GitHub (including creating chat rooms for projects on GitLab and GitHub), KaTeX support, threaded discussions, and archiving accessible to search engines.
The specified features will gradually be transferred to the Element app and combined with capabilities of the Matrix platform, such as end-to-end encryption, decentralized communications, VoIP, conferencing, bots, widgets, and an open API. Once the unified version is ready, the old Gitter app will be replaced by the new Element app, incorporating Gitter-specific functionality.
It is worth noting that Gitter is written in JavaScript using the Node.js platform and is licensed under MIT. Gitter allows developers to communicate in relation to GitHub and GitLab repositories, as well as some other services, such as Jenkins, Travis, and Bitbucket. The features of Gitter include:
- Maintaining a history of communication with the ability to search archives and navigate by months;
- Availability of versions for Web, Android, and iOS;
- The ability to connect to the chat using an IRC client;
- A convenient linking system for objects in Git repositories;
- Support for using Markdown formatting in message text;
- The ability to subscribe to chat channels;
- Display of user status and information about the user from GitHub;
- Support for linking to issue messages (#number for issue reference);
- Tools for batch sending notifications with a summary of new messages to mobile devices;
- Support for attaching files to messages.
The Matrix platform for organizing decentralized communications uses HTTPS+JSON as transport with the option of using WebSockets or a protocol based on +The system is formed as a consortium of servers that can interact with each other and are united into a single decentralized network. Messages are replicated across all servers to which messaging participants are connected. Messages spread across servers similarly to how commits are distributed between Git repositories. In the case of a temporary server outage, messages are not lost, but instead are delivered to users after the server resumes operation. Various user ID options are supported, including email, phone number, Facebook account, etc.
The network does not have a single point of failure or control over messages. All servers involved in the discussion are equal to each other.
Any user can launch their own server and connect it to the overall network. It is possible to create for integrating Matrix with systems based on other protocols, such as services for two-way messaging in IRC, Facebook, Telegram, Skype, Hangouts, Email, WhatsApp, and Slack. In addition to instant text messaging and chat organization, the system can be used for file transfer, notification sending,
organizing teleconferences, making voice and video calls. Advanced features such as typing notifications, user presence assessment online, read confirmations, push notifications, server-side search, history synchronization, and client state management are also supported.
Source: opennet.ru
