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US Senators implore Department of Defense to expand the use of Matrix

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Re: US Senators implore Department of Defense to expand the use of Matrix

#2

Post by Underpass9041 »

I’m not entirely sure why it matters that silos of messaging data exist, if it’s encrypted like Signal and WhatsApp the centralized model is far superior to an arbitrary and unknown number of parties receiving metadata about messaging. It might have been an easier case to make if Matrix wasn’t an uphill battle in terms of usability and performance.

Re: US Senators implore Department of Defense to expand the use of Matrix

#3

Post by cies »

Underpass9041 wrote: post #2

I’m not entirely sure why it matters that silos of messaging data exist, if it’s encrypted like Signal and WhatsApp the centralized model is far superior to an arbitrary and unknown number of parties receiving metadata about messaging. It might have been an easier case to make if Matrix wasn’t an uphill battle in terms of usability and performance.

The reason for the initial development of "the internet" as we know it, basically TCP/IP, was know as the Department of Defense (DoD) model because the research and development were funded by the United States Department of Defense through DARPA.

The idea was to build a network that --unlike pre-existing networks-- did not need centralization. The goal was to make the network resilient to parts not working, with obvious military benefits.

The same can be said for messaging systems. Centralization makes it easy to take the whole service out.

> It might have been an easier case to make if Matrix wasn’t an uphill battle in terms of usability and performance.

I expect TCP/IP to have been an uphill battle as well. But now we take it for granted. This likely will also happen to Matrix if it is used everywhere.

Now I hope the DoD makes some massive donations to Matrix. Money makes uphill battles more likely to have a good ending.

Re: US Senators implore Department of Defense to expand the use of Matrix

#4

Post by robertlagrant »

cies wrote: post #3
Underpass9041 wrote: post #2

I’m not entirely sure why it matters that silos of messaging data exist, if it’s encrypted like Signal and WhatsApp the centralized model is far superior to an arbitrary and unknown number of parties receiving metadata about messaging. It might have been an easier case to make if Matrix wasn’t an uphill battle in terms of usability and performance.

The reason for the initial development of "the internet" as we know it, basically TCP/IP, was know as the Department of Defense (DoD) model because the research and development were funded by the United States Department of Defense through DARPA. The idea was to build a network that --unlike pre-existing networks-- did not need centralization. The goal was to make the network resilient to parts not working, with obvi…

This is a different type of centralisation, though. WhatsApp isn't running out of a single data centre (I hope).

Re: US Senators implore Department of Defense to expand the use of Matrix

#5

Post by dartos »

Underpass9041 wrote: post #2

I’m not entirely sure why it matters that silos of messaging data exist, if it’s encrypted like Signal and WhatsApp the centralized model is far superior to an arbitrary and unknown number of parties receiving metadata about messaging. It might have been an easier case to make if Matrix wasn’t an uphill battle in terms of usability and performance.

> centralized model is far superior to an arbitrary and unknown number of parties receiving metadata about messaging.

One opaque MITM is worse than 1000 MITM whose inner workings are bound by a secure protocol.

That’s how the internet works. Your connection doesn’t always go directly to the server you want.

Either way, you can run your own network of matrix nodes which are isolated from the rest of the open matrix network.

Re: US Senators implore Department of Defense to expand the use of Matrix

#7

Post by neiljohnson »

Underpass9041 wrote: post #2

I’m not entirely sure why it matters that silos of messaging data exist, if it’s encrypted like Signal and WhatsApp the centralized model is far superior to an arbitrary and unknown number of parties receiving metadata about messaging. It might have been an easier case to make if Matrix wasn’t an uphill battle in terms of usability and performance.

Signal and WhatsApp only address the personal messaging usecase, whereas the letter is also talking about wider chat services like Teams.

More to the point, even with e2ee, there is still communication metadata that is leaving your network for a third-party service. In a defense context, you would almost certainly prefer that the data does not leave your network unnecessarily.

In terms of Matrix usability and performance, Matrix 2.0 (https://matrix.org/blog/2024/10/29/matrix-2.0-is-here/) represents a huge step forward and can be used today with compatible clients such as Element X (https://element.io/blog/deep-dive-into-element-x/)

Re: US Senators implore Department of Defense to expand the use of Matrix

#9

Post by 0_____0 »

evilDagmar wrote: post #6

Are they seriously talking about /this/ Matrix? https://www.operation-passionflower.com/

I hate the HN "No." But.... no. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_(protocol) is what this is talking about, note the disambiguation header in the wiki article.
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