[Announce] Linux Australia and related communication channels

[President, Linux Australia - Sae Ra Germaine]

*Apologies for cross posting*

Dear Everyone,
After some lengthy yet snappy deliberations, I think Linux Australia has 
come up with a workable real-time chat solution that keeps everyone 
connected in some sort of way. Interestingly, our IRC/Matrix channels of 
communication are one of our more popular ways of engaging with our 
community and it is essential that we do the right thing and make sure 
we don’t segregate the community [0] by implementing yet another chat 
platform. I will talk about 2 specific modes of communication. These 
will/have been bridged so that they talk to each other.

#Matrix
TL;DR: we are staying, with more bridges!

Matrix[1] will become our primary channel space. We have had a presence 
here for a while now, and are taking the opportunity to make this our 
official communication channel. For those new to Matrix, Element is a 
great multi-platform client to get started with.  Note that Matrix does 
not require you run your own home-server: just choose matrix.org as your 
home-server when setting up your account.

We have registered a Linux Australia “Public Space” as an experiment (as 
Spaces are still in Beta) but we think that this is a great way to 
centralise everything and make our Linux Australia community groups more 
discoverable. You can join the space via 
https://matrix.to/#/#linux-australia:matrix.org 
<https://matrix.to/#/#linux-australia:matrix.org>, from which you can 
see all our rooms (aka channels).

All of our channels are also available in the directory, so you can join 
without using the space:

  * #linuxaus (https://matrix.to/#/#linuxaus:matrix.org
    <https://matrix.to/#/#linuxaus:matrix.org>)
  * #linuxaus-lugs (https://matrix.to/#/#linuxaus-lugs:matrix.org
    <https://matrix.to/#/#linuxaus-lugs:matrix.org>)
  * #linux.conf.au (https://matrix.to/#/#linux.conf.au:matrix.org
    <https://matrix.to/#/#linux.conf.au:matrix.org>)


#IRC
TL;DR: we have moved to libera.chat and any channels there will be 
bridged to Matrix.

Although Matrix will be our primary platform, we will be backwards 
compatible with IRC by bridging key Matrix rooms into their IRC equivalent.

We have put in an application to the libera.chat team to create what’s 
called project and community groups (https://libera.chat/chanreg 
<https://libera.chat/chanreg>) based around our major chat channels. 
Once this has been completed we will let everyone know where to point to 
(or not). Hopefully this shouldn’t take too long and we will be in touch 
as soon as we know more.

#For those who aren’t in either
Join us! We will be creating some documentation on our website about 
joining these specific channels shortly.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via 
these methods:

Email: council at linux.org.au <mailto:council at linux.org.au>
IRC/Matrix:
Myself - MsMaryMac
Joel - jea/Joela
Russell - rstuart
Steve - evil_steve

Thanks,

Sae Ra

[0] https://xkcd.com/1810/ <https://xkcd.com/1810/>

[1] https://matrix.org/faq/ <https://matrix.org/faq/>


-- 
Sae Ra Germaine
President
Linux Australia

president at linux.org.au
http://linux.org.au

Linux Australia Inc
GPO Box 4788
Sydney NSW 2001
Australia

ABN 56 987 117 479

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