PSA: Deleting my Matrix server in the coming weeks

Today, a short blog post to announce that I’m going to retire my matrix server in the coming weeks. It means that I will no longer be reachable via matrix at the @bacardi55:mtx.bacardi55.io. While I don’t have a specific date, it will be either around end of August or early September, depending on other things.

You may ask why, and the reason is simple. While Matrix (using synapse as the Matrix server) works great (as an end user), it is way too resource consuming for my small needs. I have other issues with Matrix complex ways of working and how decentralization works on this network, but the main reason is resource usage.

As I have decided to create host my Matrix server in “the cloud”, to unsure reliable good connection (for calls), the minimal requirements to make it run correctly are higher than what I wish to pay for it. And this is because my usage is very limited to a few very small private channels, a handful of more or less mid size public rooms and an IRC bridge. But even for such a small usage, it uses too much for my taste.

Instead, I’ve decided to try to xmpp like it’s 2005 again! Well, I’m joking here because xmpp community is still very much active in 2024 and still use widely. I’m not announcing my xmpp address yet (even though it could be easy to find) as I’m still testing it. Feel free to reach out if you want to have some exchange there though.

Technically, I decided to host a Snikket instance. Why Snikket? Because it is a fully functionnal chat service out of the box. It uses prosody but already comes configured for a basic usage like mine. It made the installation so easy that from the server creation to having a functional snikket instance, including some server and firewall configuration, took less than 30 minutes.

Due to Snikket running only via docker, it makes it more resource consuming than a manual installation of prosody and co. But even with docker being used, I’m still reducing RAM usage by ±50% and CPU by ±15%.

For the same reason as for my Matrix server, this xmpp server is in “the cloud”. But I also took the opportunity to change provider from DigitalOcean to Hetzner that provides better performance for less money. So a “win win” as would my american colleagues would say :). And it is an European company, so a win win win!

For more advance usage, I may need to switch to a more manual installation of prosody and other services, but so far it is enough. That’s also why I’m still testing to see if Snikket will be the final decision.

As for using it for IRC as well, for now I’m using public bridges (called transport or gateway in the xmpp world): irc.cheogram.com or irc.jabberfr.org. I’ll look into hosting my own bridge later but for now it is good enough.

That’s all for now, the TLDR; is: Stop using my Matrix contact in the coming days / weeks and either contact me by email (prefered) or via my xmpp account that will be displayed in the about page before my matrix server is deleted. For now, my matrix account has been removed from the contact page while publishing this post.