On August 31st I'll be deleting my Matrix accounts. The reasons are pretty simple: I don't find any joy in using this service anymore. I don't find the experience of using Matrix pleasant and maintaining the various rooms that I'm in is more of a chore than a joy. So, in the interest of bringing myself more things that bring me joy and removing the things that aren't fit-for-purpose I'm removing these accounts and focusing on services that continue to serve my desires and needs.

Inevitably posts like this bring out folks that believe that just because someone doesn't want to use their pet service that it is their job as part of the thingie evangelism strike force to try to triage how things could have been different. Let me save you the trouble. IRC exists. It continues to exist. I have seen more services come and go over the years and yet IRC persists unabated and unwavering. It is the metal music of protocols; when a protocol believes it has killed IRC for good IRC sticks its gnarled fist through the dirt and throws the metal horns high in the sky. It cannot be killed and will endure. It always has and it always will. Period.

Matrix is yet-another in the long line of protocols that purports to do IRC but one better. It too shall find its comfortable place among the bodies of the also-rans, the up-and-comings, and the not-quite-good-enough Much like XMPP IRC will always be with us in one form or another.

I wish the Matrix project well on their futile quest to remove IRC from the hearts and minds of the true believers. Enjoy your time in the spotlight. For me, I'll continue using the "moribund" protocol that brings me joy.