this post was submitted on 22 May 2025
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Luxchat, a messaging app developed in Luxembourg, based on Matrix (www.luxchat.lu)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by Blaze to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk
7 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Luxchat4Gov and Luxchat for the general public and businesses are interoperable national instant messaging services, based on the Matrix technology.

Matrix is an open standardized protocol for instant communication, developed by a large, mainly European community, and supported by a foundation, The matrix.org Foundation, guaranteeing the sustainability of the key principles and foundations of the Matrix technology.

https://www.luxchat.lu/en/technical-details/

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[โ€“] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 15 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

I know what community this is, Blaze, but it baffles me to recommend this over Element.

  • The Matrix Foundation is a UK-based CIC.
  • IIRC the for-profit company which develops the Element app which is commercial FOSS is UK-based โ€“ therefore it's European.
  • Luxchat, however, lacks support for Linux, the obvious choice for removing oneself from US-based software.
  • Luxchat, however, isn't made by the people behind the protocol like Element.
  • ~~Unlike Element's company, which exists to make money to fund Matrix's development, Luxchat is full-stop a for-profit company ostensibly supporting nothing.~~ Edit: I was mistaken; a GIE is a company (they're registered C8 with the Commercial and Companies Register in Luxembourg), but the type of company's: "aim is not to make a profit, but it can do so simply as an accessory, as the profit resulting from the joint action must also go directly to its members." That said, I can't see anything about any money going back to the development of Matrix, which is still a major red flag to me compared to Element.
  • The tiny-ass website doesn't do a thing to estsblish what license Luxchat is under. Element, by contrast, is squarely FOSS.
  • ~~While desperately, fruitlessly searching for any sort of license, one of the few pages that turned up from their website just read "Create stunning AI chatbots with our 21st.dev-inspired Glassmorphic UI." as one of their premium services. ๐Ÿคฎ~~ This may(?) be something different. See below.
  • I can find effectively fuck-all about this company that I'm supposed to be trusting with my privacy.

Edit: So to be clear, they say it's a fork of Element, but that doesn't tell me the license or give me the source code. Trying to find the source code for the messaging app just returns this crap about ~~their~~ an AI service which is just ChatGPT wrapper number 486 billion.

Edit 2: Okay, I think the confusion over this AI BS is that there's lux.chat โ€“ ChatGPT wrapper garbage โ€“ and luxchat โ€“ an Element fork. I have no idea if these are related. If they are, this information is too hard to find. If they aren't... I mean maybe if you had more information on your website, luxchat, I wouldn't have to scour the Internet to find that information and run into lux.chat.

Edit 3: The FAQ clears literally none of my questions up. Cool.

[โ€“] Blaze 5 points 3 weeks ago

How ready is Element for the general audience?

I use Element daily, and it can be confusing enough that average users would probably stop using it when they have to choose a server, or when that server have issues with images, or when they can't read a message because the room is end-to-end encrypted but they need to reverify another person's key.

For the context, LuxChat is the general audience version of LuxChat4Gov, a fork of Element created by the Luxembourgish government for the public servants: https://mindigital.gouvernement.lu/fr/luxchat4gov.html (France has a similar app with https://www.tchap.gouv.fr/ ). The objective was to provide public servant a messaging app that would not rely on Google, Apple, Meta or Microsoft.

LuxChat and LuxChat4Gov are managed by LU-CIX Management G.I.E. G.I.E stands for Groupe d'Intรฉrรชt Economique, which is not a company

The EIG is not a company: a company is a group which also has a legal purpose, that of โ€œpooling something with a view to sharing the profit which may or may not result from itโ€ (article 1832 of the Civil Code).

https://www.fiduciaire-lpg.lu/fr/publications/droit-des-societes/le-gie-groupement-dinteret-economique

If you look at the composition of LU-CIX, you can see different types of entities, including the CTIE (Centre de Technologie de l'information de l'Etat), which is the IT Service of the Luxembourgish government.

https://www.lu-cix.lu/about-us/lu-cix-management-gie/

On a public perception level, LuxChat is targeted towards companies and individuals, and is backed by the government. If you are a Luxembourgish company and are looking for an alternative to Whatsapp, are you going to trust more an app backed by the Lux governement, and that has been reworked to make it easier to use, or Element, for which you have to trust a server anyway, and figure out how it works.

All your concerns remain valid from a technical perspective. The people behind info-luxchat[at]lu-cix[dot]lu may have some answers.

[โ€“] alucard@feddit.org 2 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Very valid points.

Can you please provide the passage you are referring to from the link? I can't find it, even with the use of deepl. Thanks.

[โ€“] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 0 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

The quote only came from searching for luxchat on DDG, and even then it led to a login-only page of lux.chat. So unfortunately, I can't. And even then, I'm doubting luxchat and lux.chat are by the same people.

[โ€“] alucard@feddit.org 1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

So how do you know that luxchat is a full stop for-profit company? That's the part I meant, I just saw that my comment appeared after you edited your comment.

[โ€“] Blaze 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

They are not, see this comment : https://feddit.org/post/12874767/6782226

[โ€“] alucard@feddit.org 2 points 3 weeks ago

Thank you for your elaborate reply!