Ubuntu’s key developers have agreed to switch to Matrix as the primary platform for real-time development communications involving the distro.
From March, Matrix will replace IRC as the place where critical Ubuntu development conversations, requests, meetings, and other vital chatter must take place. Developers asked to ensure they have a presence on the platform so they are reachable.
Only the current #ubuntu-devel and #ubuntu-release Libera IRC channels are moving to Matrix, but other Ubuntu development-related channels can choose to move –officially, given some projects were using Matrix over IRC already.
As a result, any major requests to/of the key Ubuntu development teams with privileged access can only be actioned if requests are made on Matrix. Canonical-employed Ubuntu developers will be expected to be present on Matrix during working hours.
The switch follows a period of consultation on moving to Matrix held on the Ubuntu mailing lists just over a week ago, spurred by an internal poll within Canonical that showed broad support for moving.
Why move at all? The aim is to streamline organisation, speed up decision making, ensure key developers are reliably reachable, and avoid discussions and conversations from fragmenting across multiple platforms.
From 1 March 2025, the primary official realtime communications channels for Ubuntu developers will be on Matrix. To avoid fragmentation of conversation, Ubuntu developers should please make sure that they are appropriately present on Matrix, and conduct conversation there instead of the now deprecated IRC channels
Canonical’s Robie Basak
End-users aren’t directly affected, of course.
It’s hoped that in picking one platform as the ‘chosen one’ the split in where the distro’s development discourse takes place can be reduced and greater transparency in how and when decisions are made restored.
IRC remains popular with many Ubuntu developers but its old-school, lo-fi nature is said to be off-putting to newer contributors. They’re used to richer real-time chat platforms with more features (like discussion history, search, offline messaging, etc).
It’s felt this is why many newer developers employed by Canonical prefer to discuss and message through the company’s internal Mattermost instance – which isn’t publicly accessible.
Many Ubuntu teams, flavours, and community chats already take place on Matrix, and with other distros, projects, and open-source developers present on the platform it makes sense to move where the pulse is.
Read the the mailing list announcement for more details on the change.