TL;DR: We are moving our Telegram group to the new Mozilla Matrix [https://chat.mozilla.org/#/room/#SUMO:mozilla.org]. Both systems are currently bridged but the Telegram group will be decommissioned on 30 May 2020. Please check the instructions on how to join the new system.
Dear SUMO Community,
As some of you already know, Mozilla has been working for some time to replace its official synchronous communication tool, and earlier this year we decided to launch our own Matrix instance to host our public conversations.
In SUMO, we historically maintained a Telegram group to enable synchronous communications, and now we want to transition it to the new Mozilla Matrix.
Which problems are we trying to solve?
- You need to create an independent account to use Telegram, you can’t reuse your existing Mozilla account or use Firefox Accounts to authenticate or integrate it with Mozilla’s systems.
- Telegram moderation tools do not allow a centralized Mozilla team to enforce our guidelines on groups or users across all channels.
- Data is stored in a third party organization.
- Private groups/conversations are not end-to-end encrypted by default and can be accessed by the provider.
- The system is a silo that can’t be discovered/accessed from other Mozilla systems.
Why is Matrix a good solution?
- 🧐 Visibility: Mozilla owns the server and data, you can use your existing Mozilla account to log-in. Linked from various Mozilla systems.
- 🧭 Discoverability: Rooms can be easily discovered by other mozillians and people using the Matrix network.
- 🏠 Feel at home: A lot of other Mozilla projects, volunteers, and employees are already actively collaborating on the new system.
- 🔐 Safety: Community Participation Guidelines are enforceable through its moderation tooling, support for end-to-end encryption on private conversations.
- 📜 Mission aligned: Decentralized protocol, both server and client code is open source.
- 👨💻👩💻 Tech-friendly: Extensible & integrable via diverse clients, bridges, and bots.
Timeline
- 27 March 2020: Telegram group is bridged to the new room over Matrix. People can start reading messages from both sides.
- 15 May 2020: Community announcement about the full-transition
- 15-30 May 2020: Reminders and support for people to start using the new system
- 30 May 2020: Telegram group decommission.
How do I join?
Mozilla Wiki has a great page explaining how to join the new system, please check it out. You’ll find instructions on how to access from the web, desktop app or mobile.
Direct link to join our SUMO Matrix room
[https://chat.mozilla.org/#/room/#SUMO:mozilla.org]
On top of this room, we also have the following room for our sub-community:
Please, help us spread the announcement to all community members and support them during this transition. Feel free to add any questions on this topic.
Thanks, everyone!