Thoughts on Matrix for kids (lemmy.perthchat.org)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by palitu@lemmy.perthchat.org to c/matrix@lemmy.ml

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I have been trying to figure out a way that my son can have a messaging account, that doesn't track him and that we can limit who he has access to and who has access to him.

What are you thoughts on matrix for kids?

Are there any features available for that sort of control? I really only want him to be able to contact his family (and also indoctrinate him into matrix and open source young 😉)

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[-] vintprox@geddit.social 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Sure, just find a way to self-host Conduit or Construct for Matrix and don't federate with outliers - it would work like a charm for internal communication (disclaimer: these light-weight servers are in beta stage, unlike the resource-hungry Synapse). Wait, NextCloud and Revolt have implemented chats, which are encrypted and open source already? As such, I don't observe any special benefits of Matrix for your use case (unless you're gonna do bots and stuff). 🤔 You have a lot of choices! 😉

[-] palitu@lemmy.perthchat.org 3 points 1 year ago

(Choices) not the least of which is just buy a cheap phone, or VoIP phone.

[-] vintprox@geddit.social 3 points 1 year ago

I don't use neither of them. What I liked specifically about Matrix is the detailed events system: I'm just not sure that kids might find it useful. 🤭

[-] palitu@lemmy.perthchat.org 2 points 1 year ago

Yeah, I was hoping that I could white list specific accounts (family). I can use my existing account, and it keeps it simple. The others end up walled gardens.

[-] carlyman@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I'm on the same path trying to find a solution. Is it possible to just whitelist certain accounts without all the public rooms. E.g., I have my own instance, but want to allow a DM from friend@matrix.org without allowing public rooms or other random DMs?

As far as I can tell...you can't. Debating just using XMPP instead.

[-] peturdainn@mastodon.social 0 points 1 year ago

@carlyman @palitu on your own instance you only have the accounts and rooms you want. I have zero public rooms on mine. Only if you join a public room elsewhere does it get synced to your instance.
Blocking DM is a client thing I guess? I have had zero unwanted DM so far though...

[-] palitu@lemmy.perthchat.org 1 points 1 year ago

so, I could make a room called mum and dad, have it "private" and only invite the three accounts.

it could work.

[-] peturdainn@mastodon.social 1 points 1 year ago

@palitu exactly

[-] carlyman@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

What my perfect use-case would be:

Private instance (@mydomain.org)
Allow other instance USERS to be able to DM me (user@matrix.org --> me@mydomain.org and vice versa)
NOT allow my instance users to join rooms on other instances (child@mydomain cannot join room@matrix.org)

But given how DMs are essentially rooms...I'm not sure that level of fidelity is possible

[-] peturdainn@mastodon.social 1 points 1 year ago

@carlyman not sure how/if you can prevent a user on your instance to join another instance room, my kids never tried this anyway... They want snapchat and not that weird thing their dad set up 🙃

[-] palitu@lemmy.perthchat.org 1 points 1 year ago

I get that... but from my wife

[-] thepaperpilot@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think having matrix is useful for eventually letting them federate without needing a new account - just enable it on the server. Nextcloud chat won't have that advantage

[-] vintprox@geddit.social 2 points 1 year ago

Sure. Federate with another trusted server, but probably not the general one - you might want to avoid that.

[-] pkulak@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

I run a Synapse server for just my family. It's great.

[-] palitu@lemmy.perthchat.org 1 points 1 year ago

How was the setup? I fairly advanced, but love it when it just works.

[-] pkulak@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

Kindof a pain. I use the Docker container, but then run another Postgres server that it connects to. You also need a TURN server, but I use a hosted version, since it's something that my family actually uses like twice a month. Oh, then you need a domain setup, I use Cloudflare to punch the whole into my home network...

Just thinking about it makes me tired. haha. But I did it all once, and now I just upgrade the Docker container every couple months. Been running smoothly for a few years now.

If you wanna chat about it, I'm on Matrix! lol. @phil [colon] kulak.us

[-] palitu@lemmy.perthchat.org 2 points 1 year ago

thanks for the offer - i will keep working down the conduit race and see where i end up. if i end up on synapse, and need some help, i will definitely hit you up!

[-] olivier@lemmy.fait.ch 3 points 1 year ago

For what it's worth, I had a few great chats - while remoting - with my oldest kid upstairs. I've given him an old Eeepc 701, with just an ssh connection to a cli-only matrix client ; worked well, but I'll easily admit it was a bit limited (which, in my very specific use-case, was actually a feature)

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this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2023

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