As the Seoul Rust meetup, we try to provide an inclusive space for Rustaceans to gather. Our regular meetups are one part of that mission, but we also provide an online chat space to discuss Rust, among other things.

Over the last few months, we received several reports of new members being unable to join the conversation on Telegram. Telegram recently started requiring most new members in many countries, including South Korea, to pay for a Telegram Premium subscription in order to activate an account. Since Telegram is not widely used in South Korea, this has been a huge barrier to building a welcoming community.

With this in mind, we have decided to create a room on Matrix, a decentralized chat system. It is federated, much like Mastodon, giving users the ability to choose whichever server they like. Though we recommend most new users simply try out the public matrix.org server, which is run by the Matrix Foundation.

How to get started

1. Get a Matrix client

There are dozens of apps which let you chat on Matrix. It’s a bit overwhelming, so here are the ones we recommend to get started. (You can always try another app later.)

Element X (iOS and Android)

Element X provides a well-polished user experience and is our first recommendation for mobile users. If you look around at client comparisons, you’ll often see claims that Element X does not support some features. The most commonly referenced one is “spaces” (a way of grouping “rooms”, much like a Discord server). This is no longer correct, so don’t hesitate to try Element X.

Element Desktop (Linux, macOS, Windows, and Web)

Also from Element, Element Desktop has a similar UX to Element X and other chat apps. This also works on the web, so you can try it out without installing anything.

2. Create an account

During the app setup, you will be prompted to set up an account. Choose the matrix.org homeserver and follow the steps.

3. Join the room

You should be able to join the room by clicking this link. You can also manually join #rust-seoul:matrix.org.

What’s happening to the Telegram channel?

We consider Matrix to be our primary live chat platform going forward. However, we’ll keep our Telegram channel active indefinitely.

We have set up a bridge, which ensures that messages are synced between both platforms. Note that some features do not work across the bridge. For example, at the time of this writing, reactions to don carry over. But basic messaging, replies, and images are all synced.