Introducing our first elected Governing Board

03.06.2024 19:00 — Foundation, Elections, Governing BoardJosh Simmons

It is an honor and a pleasure to unveil the election results and introduce the first elected Governing Board for the Matrix.org Foundation!

Congratulations to the winning candidates, we thank you for your willingness to serve the community. We’re also grateful to everyone who threw their hat in the ring, and hope that the candidates who did not get elected consider running again in the future – noting that we have an election of Gold, Silver, Individual, and Associate Members scheduled for next year.

Thanks also to all of the people who cast ballots in the election, and to everyone who asked questions along the way! We learned a lot in this first election process that we look forward to incorporating into the next one.

The level of engagement with the process was a very encouraging sign for the health of the Matrix ecosystem, and we’re proud to have had 100% voter turnout in all but one constituency.

Read on to see who is on the Governing Board, a brief discussion of next steps, and reflections on some of the work that remains to improve representation.

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This Week in Matrix 2024-05-31

31.05.2024 19:00 — This Week in MatrixThib

🔗Matrix Live

🔗Dept of Spec 📜

Andrew Morgan (anoa) {he/him} reports

Here's your weekly spec update! The heart of Matrix is the specification - and this is modified by Matrix Spec Change (MSC) proposals. Learn more about how the process works at https://spec.matrix.org/proposals.

🔗MSC Status

New MSCs:

MSCs in Final Comment Period:

Accepted MSCs:

  • No MSCs were accepted this week.

Closed MSCs:

  • No MSCs were closed/rejected this week.

🔗Spec Updates

This last week's focus was primarily spent on ensuring MSCs are moving towards Final Comment Period (FCP; the step before an MSC is accepted) at a healthy pace. Below are the MSCs which were on Tuesday's pings, and their current status:

  • MSC3916: Authenticated media
    • Needs just 2 more checkmarks SCT members to enter FCP (started the week needing 6).
  • MSC4138: More methods in CORS
    • Needs 1 more checkmark from the SCT to enter FCP (started the week needing 1).
    • Currently blocked on clarified text regarding its scope.
  • MSC2781: Removing reply/edit fallbacks
    • Needs just 2 more checkmark from the SCT to enter FCP (started the week needing 2).
    • Currently blocked on some clarified behaviour and process ordering.
  • MSC2867: Marking rooms as unread
    • Needs checkmarks from 3 more SCT members to enter FCP (started the week needing 3).
    • Currently blocked on ensuring that this addition to spec doesn't make notifications more complicated.

Client and server developers are encouraged to review these MSCs in particular because they're on a path to being included in the next spec version. This doesn't have to mean implementing them, but if there's something which doesn't sound quite right in the proposal text then leave a comment on the diff to raise a concern. The SCT will take these comments into consideration as the MSC enters FCP - the 5 day countdown to ensure any last comments are considered before the proposal is accepted into the spec as stable.

Next week's focus will largely be the same as usual: we'll focus on unblocking Matrix 2.0 MSCs/features as a priority, and MSCs which require more checkboxes to enter FCP will be raised for prompt review. We're always on the lookout for MSCs ready for FCP, but can sometimes miss something - let us know in #sct-office:matrix.org if it looks like something is ready to go but hasn't caught our eye yet.

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This Week in Matrix 2024-05-24

25.05.2024 00:00 — This Week in MatrixThib

🔗Matrix Live

🔗Dept of elections 🗳️

Josh Simmons (away, back May 9th) says

Voting continues in the Governing Board elections, and we're close to having 100% turnout in every constituency except Individual Members! Check your email inbox for an email from noreply@opavote.com and please cast matrix-orgyour ballot today.

Separately, we're very pleased to welcome NeoChat and Cinny as our latest Ecosystem Members!

Do you have a community that's centered around Matrix? Or an organization that is aligned with our mission? Perhaps you're part of a company that profits from the use of Matrix. Whichever describes you, become a member today. Your involvement helps us ensure we get representative feedback and the financial support we need to continue stewarding the specification.

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This Week in Matrix 2024-05-17

17.05.2024 19:00 — This Week in MatrixMTRNord

🔗Matrix Live

🔗Dept of elections 🗳️

Josh Simmons (away, back May 9th) announces

Voting has started for the Governing Board elections and runs till May 31 – but don't delay, vote today! 🗳 Huge thanks to all of the nominees who have thrown their hat in the ring.

All eligible voters should have received an email from the election system. All of the results will be published on the blog on June 3. Read our announcement post or visit our election center for more info.

🔗Dept of Spec 📜

Andrew Morgan (anoa) says

Here's your weekly spec update! The heart of Matrix is the specification - and this is modified by Matrix Spec Change (MSC) proposals. Learn more about how the process works at https://spec.matrix.org/proposals.

🔗MSC Status

New MSCs:

MSCs in Final Comment Period:

Accepted MSCs:

Closed MSCs:

🔗Spec Updates

As an early heads up, Trust & Safety at the Foundation is working on an important update to Matrix, MSC3916 - Authenticated Media. This change will mean that all clients (and servers) will need to present a valid access token in their Authentication header to access media - which is critical to ensure that URLs are only visible to the correct users, and prevents abuse of Matrix for hosting binaries. More details will be published as we work to get everything released - we wanted to get the information out there as early as possible in the meantime. Let us know if you have any questions.

Matrix.org plans to freeze unauthenticated media endpoints within a couple of months after the spec release, which is expected in the next few weeks. "Freezing" means that media uploaded or cached before the freeze will remain accessible via unauthenticated endpoints indefinitely, but any media cached or uploaded after the freeze will require authentication. The unauthenticated endpoints will be deprecated but will still serve old media on matrix.org.

To ensure a smooth transition, we encourage you to start testing against the unstable endpoints and unreleased server builds. The changes for Synapse are being developed here, and for MMR here. Both are expected to release their changes soon. Once MSC3916 passes FCP, stable endpoints will become available. While releasing unstable support to users isn't required, having patches ready will help speed up the rollout.

We know this is a quicker rollout than usual, but with your help, we can improve user safety and security across the ecosystem. Most clients should find this update straightforward, but if issues are encountered, please reach out in #matrix-client-developers:matrix.org or on the MSC discussion. The team is monitoring the room to help clients adopt the change.

Web browser clients might face the most challenges, given the need to specify an Authentication HTTP header on media requests, so reviewing this pull request and its dependencies could provide useful implementation insights.

Thank you for your support. If you have any questions, let us know. We look forward to a smooth transition with minimal user-visible impact 🙂

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Voting has begun in the Governing Board elections

17.05.2024 00:00 — Foundation, Elections, Governing BoardJosh Simmons

Voting has started for the Governing Board elections and runs till May 31! This is our first election and we are very excited. All of the results will be published here on the blog on June 3.

You can learn about all of the candidates on our 2024 election page. All eligible voters should have received an email from OpaVote, the election system we have chosen for this year’s elections.

If you believe you are eligible to participate but have not heard from us, first check the inbox and spam folders of the email address you have on file with us (such as through Donorbox or Patreon). Please email us if you have any questions.

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This Week in Matrix 2024-05-10

10.05.2024 00:00 — This Week in MatrixThib

🔗Matrix Live

🔗Dept of elections 🗳️

Neil announces

Hi all, I am also standing for the Matrix Governing Board as the Element representative in the Platinum Member constituency. I wrote a short blog post explaining who I am and what I hope to achieve. Others have pointed at it already, but please do check out the Governing Board nominees campaigning bonfire

Gwmngilfen announces

I'm standing for the Matrix Foundation Governing Board elections in the Individual Members category! You can find my platform statement in the list of nominees but I've also written some more words on my thoughts & priorities. I'm always happy to debate further - please join us in #governing-board-nominee-campaigning-bonfire:matrix.org where some excellent discussion has already happened, but more is very welcome 🙂

Salt says

I'm standing for the Matrix Foundation Governing Board elections in the Individual Members category. I think my campaign statement in the list of nominees covers things pretty well but happy to answer any additional questions in #gbnc-individual:matrix.org . tl;dr: I have a ton of community board experience and want to bring the human-communication-facilitation skills I've developed to set this new governing board on an effective path.

Sumner Evans says

I am running as an Individual Member for the Matrix Governing Board and I do not feel like my positions were fully expressed in the soundbite-length platform statement allowed in the form submission. I've expanded on my position in a blog post: My Matrix Governing Board Platform. It includes details of my community involvement including many footones, a better-formatted platform, and a set of specific policies which I hope to advocate for.

In addition, I would like to endorse two Ecosystem Member candidates (see my endorsements blog post).

andybalaam announces

I'm standing for the Matrix Governing Board as an Individual Member. If you'd like to hear about my priorities, check out my blog post! Thank you to all the nominees for their great platform statements and discussion in the campaigning room, which you are welcome to join.

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This Week in Matrix 2024-05-03

03.05.2024 00:00 — This Week in MatrixMTRNord

🔗Matrix Live

🔗Dept of Status of Matrix 🌡️

🔗Governing Board Elections 2024 - Voting Starts on May 18, 2024

Thomas B says

Only two weeks remain until the first Governing Board Elections.

🔗Who are the nominees?

You can find the names of the nominees on the election page, but who are they, and what are their visions for the future? The nominees' campaigning has been underway since April 27. Members of the ecosystem are already quite active at #ecosystem.forum:matrix.org. Feel free to join and meet the nominees for the ecosystem members group.

Please, other constituencies, also find a place to meet, greet, and chat with members where people can get to know you better.

With Josh Simmons (away, back May 9th)'s permission, I opened the space #governing-board-nominee-campaigning-bonfire:matrix.org with several rooms for the different constituency groups.

Members: Come and join to meet the nominees! Nominees: Come and join to share your ideas with members!

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This Week in Matrix 2024-04-26

26.04.2024 00:00 — This Week in MatrixThib

🔗Matrix Live

🔗Dept of Status of Matrix 🌡️

Josh Simmons says

We’re positively glowing as we see all the people who are being nominated for our first ever Governing Board elections! The nomination period closes April 26 end of day (AOE time) and we’ll be posting all the nominees on our new election information center within 24 hours after the period closes.

Further, we’re pleased to welcome our 12th Ecosystem Member this week: Fractal 🎉

Does your project or community use Matrix? Does your business benefit from Matrix? Join the Matrix.org Foundation as a member to make your voice heard and secure the future of Matrix.

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Post-mortem of the Matrix.org Outage

25.04.2024 16:20 — FoundationSRE Team, Thib

The Matrix.org homeserver suffered from an outage on Monday 22 April, between 08:00 UTC and 10:00 UTC, followed by slowness for the next 2 hours.

The outage occurred during scheduled maintenance with no expected downtime. It included upgrading the base OS of the machines running Matrix.org’s deployment.

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This Week in Matrix 2024-04-19

19.04.2024 19:30 — This Week in MatrixThib

🔗Matrix Live

🔗Dept of Status of Matrix 🌡️

Josh Simmons announces

WOW! What a week. Today I am thrilled to introduce not one or two, but eight new organisational members. We are extremely grateful to Futurewei Technologies for joining as our newest Gold Member – more on that soon – and to Verji Tech AS for joining as our newest Silver Member. Their support represents a big step toward financial sustainability for the Matrix.org Foundation.

Further, today we welcome Community Moderation Effort, Matrix Elm SDK, FluffyChat, Matrix Community Events, Polychat, and Rory&::LibMatrix as Ecosystem Members! If you couldn’t tell, there’s a lot going on in the Matrix ecosystem!

Does your community use Matrix? Does your project speak Matrix? Or does your business incorporate Matrix into your work? Show your support and become a member today.

Topping off this week’s excitement, our Governing Board nomination period is just about to start! Learn more about the elections, as well as who can nominate and how in our recent blog post.

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