Thib (m.org) says
In an effort to focus its resources where it can best serve the ecosystem, The Matrix.org Foundation is retiring its public Slack Bridge.
Find all the details on the dedicated blog post.
Bridges are one of the reasons Matrix is called Matrix: let’s matrix all the networks together! They are key to onboard new users into the network. However, maintaining and operating bridges, in particular to closed, proprietary platforms, is expensive: they need to be kept up to date with any change made by the platform on a regular basis and they’re fiddly to keep up and running.
You can find the same video mirrored on media.ccc.de at https://media.ccc.de/v/matrix-conf-2025-75078-governing-board-transparency-update. All Conference content is available via the Conference website.
Amandine reports
We're happy to announce that LU-CIX is joining the Foundation as a Silver Member! LU-CIX is the organisation delivering the Matrix-based Luxchat in collaboration with the Ministry of Digitalisation of Luxembourg and the Chamber of Commerce. Luxchat comes in three (interoperable) flavours:
- Luxchat4Gov for the public sector
- Luxchat4Pro for companies and organisations
- Luxchat, as a free messaging system for the general public and businesses, without advertising and without use of personal data, and respects the privacy of its users.
Earlier this week the three organisations also hosted a successful Matrix meets Luxchat Hackathon in presence of Madame Obertin, Minister of Digitalisation for Luxembourg!
Hello lovely Matrix people,
Another 6 months have passed, and November is once again here - and that means another Governing Board meeting, and another report. What's been happening in the Governing Board?
Since the last report in May, we've had elections! This was important, since it's the first time we've added new folk to the existing Governing Board - last year we were all new. So, it took a little time to figure out how we do onboarding (and offboarding!) and getting the new folk up to speed.
In the meantime, the processes we've put in place around Committees and Working Groups appear to be functioning. Remember, if you have an idea for something to get done, you can propose a WG yourself! There are reports from these in the minutes below. On a side note, Nico and Kim from the Governing Board also shared an overview of these structures and processes surrounding the Governing Board and Working Groups at The Matrix Conference, which can be viewed on YouTube and media.ccc.de.
The work those groups do can range from the very-visible (Events, I'm looking at you 😛) to invisible work going on behind the scenes - but it's all needed. Since the last report, we've onboarded 2 more WGs, and have discussions in play about several more. This is exciting to me, because this is what we're for - giving the passion in our community a way to gain momentum.
As usual, I'm posting a lightly-edited version of the minutes from the meeting below for your reading pleasure... or you can skip to my conclusions at the end.
The Spec Core Team would like to remind everyone that, now that MSC4153 has been accepted, the Matrix spec recommends that “Encrypted to-device messages SHOULD NOT be sent to non-cross-signed devices”.
In short: if, as a user, you have client devices which haven’t been correctly cross-signed with your identity key, then you’re going to start finding yourself unable to read encrypted messages from other users on those devices.
If you missed Andy’s talk on this at the Matrix Conference, we strongly recommend watching it as he explains the hows and whys of this change, but to summarise: this is an important improvement to the security of end-to-end encryption in Matrix.
As Andy also mentions in his talk, Element is planning to change the defaults in its clients to follow MSC4153’s recommendations to exclude non-cross-signed devices in April 2026. In preparation, the Element clients will very soon start to force users to verify their own devices so that those users are not shut out come April.
If you are a client developer, we encourage you to take a similar approach of encouraging users to verify their devices, so that they are not excluded from the conversation as the ecosystem moves towards MSC4153 compliance. And if you are a user, make sure your devices are verified!
You can find the same video mirrored on media.ccc.de at https://media.ccc.de/v/matrix-conf-2025-81434-the-matrix-org-foundation-updates. All Conference content is available via the Conference website.
Sky reports
Cutting the ribbon on the reopened matrix.org room directory!
Back in early September, the room directory working group started an initial beta test run. For the first time in months, it was possible again to get new rooms into the directory.
Since then, we’ve reworked the multiple forms into one universal one to make things easier for users. We also identified several pain points in the process and validated that our imagined workflow actually works in practice. There are still improvements we’re actively working on, but we’re already happy with the current stage.
There is now a dedicated subpage for the room directory on the matrix.org homepage —you can find it here— where users can easily access all relevant info. Please share it around!
If you’d like to give feedback or get involved, feel free to walk by in our #room-dir-wg-office:neko.dev.
The Governing Board is an advisory board to the Matrix.org Foundation and with elected representatives from all across the Matrix ecosystem.
Gwmngilfen announces
Howdy folks, your friendly GB here - I've been a bit quiet recently, but we wanted to let you all know that the latest 6-monthly Board meeting happened this week! Lots to cover, Working Group updates, challenges, plans for upcoming work, and so on - so you can expect a report out in the near future on that! Stay tuned 🙂
The Matrix.org Foundation will coordinate the FOSDEM 2026 Decentralised Communication Devroom, and is requesting submissions for talks!
One of the most important roles for Free & Open Source Software right now is liberating users from being trapped and exploited by Big Tech. This is especially true of the fundamental need for humanity to communicate safely and securely, without being dependent on gatekeepers who pose a single point of control and failure.
Amandine reports
Robin is sadly moving on at the end of November, see A fond farewell from Managing Director Robin Riley. I will be covering as acting MD while we recruit someone else. A job description is incoming, but please get in touch at [email protected] if you're interested.
Amandine announces
This week we're welcoming Liberbyte as a Silver member of the Foundation! Liberbyte uses Matrix as data exchange layer between organisations to provide transparent and controlled access to global data exchanges and markets. Welcome and thank you for your support! 👏
Does your community or organisation use Matrix? Do you maintain an open source project that builds on Matrix? Join these organisations in demonstrating their support and apply to become a member today.
The Matrix Conference 2025 is over, and it was a significant success for Matrix, its Foundation, and its ecosystem! If you couldn't make it to the Conference, here is what you missed and how you can catch up.
The first success was of course in attendance. With more than 250 attendees on-site and hundreds of attendees online, the Conference was attractive to many. This is particularly remarkable because the majority of our audience is in Germany, and this year's Conference was held in France. We want to thank our community for being so dedicated to Matrix and for following us here!
