Conda Community Chat is now on Element/Matrix

We are pleased to announce that the conda community has migrated our chat rooms to the Matrix/Element platform. For the first time since the conda ecosystem was young, every conda-related chat room is now easily accessible on one platform.

Matrix and Element have been around for a couple of years, and are used widely by communities like ours. Let's dive in:

• If you are not already using Matrix/Element, then see the One-page guide: Conda Community Chat using Element for more about Matrix/Element, how to get started, and how to join the conda community.
• If you are already using Matrix/Element, then please join the conversation in the conda community space.

In the conda community space you'll find rooms you already know from Gitter (conda, conda-forge, bioconda, mamba-org, ...) and Slack (Conda Incubator, Conda Lock, Random, Governance, ...). There are some brand new rooms too.

To learn more about the new platform, see the one-page guide, and then the FAQ below if you have questions.

We hope to see you Matrix/Element!

Dave Clements on behalf of the Conda Communications Team

Frequently Asked Questions

What if I am happy with Gitter?

Then you can stay on Gitter. 🙂

Everything you access in Gitter today, you will be able to access going forward. But, it is actually better than that: Gitter is owned by the same people who help run Matrix and who own Element.

As of February 6, 2023 Gitter will be fully compatible with Matrix. This means that you will be able to see everything in the conda Matrix space. You just have wait, less than a week.

What if I was happy with Slack?

Well, um, err, no. 🙁

Conda had a not very well advertised Slack workspace that had been around for a couple of years. We have closed that Slack space as part of the migration to Matrix/Element.

Why?

1. One of our goals is to provide a unified place for conda ecosystem related chat. Gitter will be tightly integrated into the Matrix ecosystem on February 6. Slack will never be. There are bridges you can use between Matrix and Slack, but they break around the edges and lead to a diminished experience in Matrix/Element.
2. Slack recently changed their policies for free workspaces. We went from being able to see the 10,000 most recent messages, to only seeing messages from the last 90 days. This policy change actually accelerated the move to Matrix

Can I create a new conda-related room in Matrix?

Anyone can create a new room in Matrix. It's easy, and anyone with an account can do it.

But, maybe the real question here is

• How do I create a new room in Matrix, and then get it linked to from the conda community space in Matrix?

You will need to convince the Conda Communications team that the room would provide benefit to the community.

Now, we are a friendly and welcoming group and we want to approve adding your room! But, we need to consider conflicting goals:

• On the one hand, the whole point here is to provide people with a common interest a visible place to gather and discuss. The new room would do that.
• On the other hand, we would prefer to have fewer rooms instead of too many.

If you want a room, propose it in the Conda Communications room.

Can I create a new conda-related space in Matrix?

The conda Matrix space includes a link to the conda-forge Matrix space. In Matrix, you can arbitrarily nest spaces within each other. Here, conda-forge has it's space because there are several conda-forge specific rooms, and because conda-forge, while a part of the conda community, is an independent organization with it's own governance and policies. conda-forge is included here because they are related to conda, and because they are willing to let us link to their space.

Spaces, like rooms, can be created by anyone with a Matrix account. The question here is actually:

• How do I create a conda-related new space in Matrix, and then get it linked to from the conda community space in Matrix?

The process for adding spaces is similar to rooms, and the Conda Communications team considers requests using basically the same criteria as for rooms.

Are rooms and spaces governed by a Code of Conduct?

Yes.

The conda space is governed by the conda organization Code of Conduct. By default, rooms in the space are too. However, if a room or space is part of a separate organization, then it is governed by that organization's Code of Conduct. The conda-forge space, for example, is governed by the conda-forge Code of Conduct.

We will only link to rooms and spaces that either have a clearly stated code of conduct, or are willing to be governed by conda's Code of Conduct.