[announcement] Telegram bridging to be retired Wed. 20 Sept. | 5 to-dos

[Joseph P. De Veaugh-Geiss]

Perhaps it is helpful to provide a summary of the responses so far so we 
can figure out the best way forward.

Sometimes hard decisions need to be made, and all of your opinions are 
important. I hope everyone's views are represented below. If not, please 
let me know, it was not intentional.

Note: some comments come from the "Telegram shutdown co-ordination" room 
(https://go.kde.org/matrix/#/#telegram-shutdown:kde.org), where many of 
you may not have seen it.

Please remember: we are all on the same team, even if we may have 
different opinions about the best course of action. We are a great group 
of people, we can figure this out!

Cheers,
Joseph

_Summary of what started the discussion_

  * When Matrix became the official communication channel at KDE, 
Telegram bridging was intended as a temporary solution, but it never got 
shut down
  * The Telegram bridge is causing ongoing technical issues for KDE, 
e.g., loading resources & user duplication, spam, admins being locked 
out, etc.
  * Work being done now given the shutdown of public Libera.Chat bridge 
overlaps with the shutdown of the Telegram bridges
  * Some exceptions to the bridge shutdown may be made, but primarily 
for externally-oriented teams

_Some proposed solutions (see for/against below for more context)_

  * Extend the timeframe for the Telegram bridge shutdown and migration
  * Keep bridges open for teams that need it (e.g., VDG)
  * Code a more reliable Telegram bridge
  * Shut down Telegram bridges, but do not shut down the Telegram 
channels, inform users that the official channel is on Matrix (pinned 
message linking to IRC-matrix, e.g., like with Reddit)

_Summary of positions against retiring the bridges (as proposed)_

  * Timeframe is too short / unrealistic for the migration needed 
(removing links to Telegram, point to Matrix; rewriting custom software)
  * Should have been discussed publicly (see also below) / should have 
been discussed with end users on Telegram / communication should have 
been better
  * We will lose contributors / onboarding will be harder / we will lose 
relevancy with end users
* Some teams primarily on Telegram (e.g., KDE Connect, Kdenlive in 
Spanish and English, #kde_ru:kde.org)
  * Matrix clients are buggy or have a worse user experience / Matrix is 
too complicated / it alienates potential devs or increases obstacles for 
non-technical communities (e.g., VDG team with graphic designers, 
artists) / end users generally do not use Matrix / one moderator prefers 
tools available on Telegram
  * Technological reasons given for this choice are lacking (UserBots 
instead of normal bots, need for admin privileges not explained, spam 
solved with captchas for other channels)
  * We use other proprietary platforms (e.g., Reddit, Facebook) and 
develop software for proprietary systems (macOS, Windows), why not Telegram
  * Such limitations take time away from actual coding / there were more 
contributors and ad-hoc contributions when using Telegram (KMyMoney) / 
cutting off end users on Telegram is not coherent with KDE's vision, 
mission, manifesto
* Migrating to Matrix is not high in the hierarchy of needs, more 
important is not being blocked by an authoritarian regime / other 
migrations are currently taking place, no time right now

_Summary of positions for retiring the bridges_

  * Above issues already discussed publicly in previous mailing list 
threads (see [1] and [2])
  * Issues were also discussed at an Matrix/IRC/Telegram BoF at Akademy 
[3], no one showed up to argue in favor of Telegram
  * Technical problems are unmanageable / bridging artifacts annoying 
for end users (users duplication, quoting "ircsomebot", truncating 
messages, message delays)
  * Telegram is proprietary software, using it is not coherent for a 
FOSS community
  * Many KDE teams are not on Telegram or not bridged at all (Plasma, 
KDE-Development, "New Contributors", new goals, most new apps, Akademy 
organization) / Telegram is not generally needed
  * Onboarding typically involves opening various accounts (e.g., 
identity account, a bugzilla account), why not a Matrix one
  * Telegram links at Wiki are largely broken, some groups are inactive, 
and some are not bridged in the first place
  * Retiring the bridge is problematic for a relatively small number of 
teams, exceptions are possible, let's decide which ones are needed
  * We can improve the situation with Matrix (fix Neochat bugs, write 
better wiki documentation)

[1] https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/kde-community/2023q2/007607.html
[2] https://mail.kde.org/pipermail/kde-community/2023q2/007656.html
[3] https://community.kde.org/Akademy/2023/IM_Infrastructure_BoF

-- 
Joseph P. De Veaugh-Geiss
KDE Internal Communications & KDE Eco Community Manager
OpenPGP: 8FC5 4178 DC44 AD55 08E7 DF57 453E 5746 59A6 C06F
Matrix: @joseph:kde.org

Generally available Monday-Thursday from 10-16h CET/CEST. Outside of 
these times it may take a little longer for me to respond.

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