I think the problem is that the Matrix Foundation (non-profit org) is being slowly cannibalized by Element (for-profit, VC-funded) which ends up making their costs and profit expectations a lot higher.
Right now this is only impacting the matrix.org homeserver. However, this could eventually end up impacting protocol-level design choices that harm other instances as well. Sure, you could fork the protocol and clients, but now we’re talking about taking up the work that an entire organization had previously been doing. Not impossible if and existing organization like the FSF or Linux Foundation started backing something, but not a great place to be in either.
nialv7@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Yeah they have the rights to do it, doesn’t mean it’s a good thing to do, doesn’t mean it won’t negatively impact the future of the project.
Redis had the rights to change the license of redis, look at where that led them.
leraje@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 months ago
Hard to see how them choosing to charge money to access their server will affect the future of the project, even them choosing to not run a free for anyone server any more wouldn’t necessarily affect the future of the project because the project is not to provide a free for all server but to develop software. Either way, them trying to find a way to keep the server operating certainly doesn’t mean ‘Matrix is cooked’.
As far as Redis goes, as I understand it, they moved their software away from an open source license. There’s zero indication Matrix are going to do the same thing.