Update on Native Matrix Interoperability with WhatsApp | Hacker News Reader

Update on Native Matrix Interoperability with WhatsApp

matrix.org

65 pointsArathorn9 comments

> In terms of not allowing open federation: this looks unlikely to change, given Meta needs to know who is responsible for the servers who connect to them, and ensure they agree to the terms of use as required by DMA.

Does this mean that only matrix.org and (maybe?) other select servers will be allowed to interop?

Will a user from another matrix instance be able to use the matrix.org WhatsApp bridge or would that not be possible due to an inability to share the user's IP with WhatsApp?

I think it means only "select" servers in the sense of "those who explicitly contacted META and agreed to the terms".

It means disparate servers which explicitly signed the interoperability agreement with Meta - however, they could well then connect using the same bridge instance via Matrix for expedience. And yes, those servers would need to provide enough anti-abuse data to allow Meta to accept their traffic.

Your eloquent responses always make me very happy. Thanks for being consistently awesome and generous with your time, Matthew. Really appreciative of it.

<3 :)

> Alternatively, if the geographic constraints are a showstopper for you, please let us know.

It's not even that they are a showstopper (even though they are obviously against the interests of anyone who likes the very idea of Matrix), they just seem to be completely pointless, which even a malevolent party (Meta) must admit. I mean, I am no expert in how to deal with passive-agressive bureaucrats, but you must admit they are extremely easy to bypass. Just enable a VPN and poof, you are in Europe, as far as Matrix server is concerned. So why force users to jump over these hoops, if you know they won't really stop anybody? I do get they don't want it to be convenient, but they can't deny it's pointless.

Could this perhaps be leveraged to make Matrix groups accessible in Whatsapp? I don't really care about 1:1 chats, SMS is usually good enough for them.

I'm not sure I like the idea. I was thinking more about how great it would be to joint Whatsapp groups without having that spyware installed. But allowing Whatsapp users into Matrix chats would let Meta into these chats as well, which kind of (almost) defeats the purpose of not having Whatsapp installed in the first place.

The problem is that Whatsapp does not yet need to expose group chats to other platforms. IIRC, it will change in next year, though.

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