IM Survey Results
The IM Survey results are in. Below is a table for comparison of features:
| Requirement | IRC | Matrix | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOSS server | Yes | ||||
| Can self-host | Yes | ||||
| FOSS Clients | Yes | ||||
| Open API | Yes | ||||
| Open Governance | #ircv3? | ||||
| No monetary cost | Yes | ||||
| Defined protocol | Yes | ||||
| Anonymity | feature loss[1] | ||||
| Low bandwidth | Yes | ||||
| Widely legal | heard anything? | ||||
| Away | Yes | ||||
| Mute | /ignore, Konversation | ||||
| Channel list with search | freenode /alis | ||||
| IRC Bridge | n/a | ||||
| File Sharing | DCC or external | ||||
| Private channels | Yes | ||||
| Access control | freenode | ||||
| Channel topics | Yes | ||||
| Permanent channels | freenode_GC | ||||
| Encrypted communication | HTTPS / IRC with TLS / Tor / encrypted messages [2] | ||||
| Plasma Integration | Konversation | ||||
| Client accessibility | Konversation | ||||
| High volume performance | Yes | ||||
| High channel count performance | Yes | ||||
| Low client overhead | Yes | ||||
| Federation | freenode network | ||||
| Persistant public logging | possible[3] | ||||
| Firewall friendly | tunnels available | ||||
| IRC-like GUI | Yes | ||||
| Multiple accounts per app instance | Yes | ||||
| No sign-up | possible with caveats [4] | ||||
| Migration Path | n/a | ||||
| Tor support | freenode [5] | ||||
| Dev system messages | provided by a bot | ||||
| Web client | Various available, qwebirc, irccloud, kiwiirc, ... | ||||
| Message quoting | editable text | ||||
| Text mode client | 3rd party (irssi, weechat, ...) | ||||
| Low sysadmin requirements | freenode | ||||
| Remembers last-read position | needs 3pty support, Konversation does it | ||||
| Popular bridges | n/a | ||||
| User search | primitive[6] | ||||
| File share search | No | ||||
| Avatars | client feature | ||||
| Mass messaging | considered impolite | ||||
| Dev service bots | Yes | ||||
| Spacious, low contrast flat ui | see wip/qtquick | ||||
| Unicode character picker | Konversation | ||||
| Broadcast messages | Can be done via bots and /amessage | ||||
| Sharable content markup | Client feature |
- ↑ if you don't have an account, you can't join some channels (opt-in) and use memoserv. You can use Tor though, which comes with no feature loss but requires registration (with a random e-mail address, no personal details)
- ↑ encryption with OTR etc. doesn't work well in groups
- ↑ via bots, other channels do this, has to be communicated, opt-in
- ↑ some channels (opt-in), some features like sending memos and Tor require it
- ↑ requires a registration, SASL external and using an .onion service
- ↑ could be improved client-side