Hi Greg, hi Alois,
Thank you for sharing your feedback and concerns regarding the choice of Slack. I completely understand and respect your perspective, especially regarding the importance of open source protocols like Matrix and the privacy considerations you highlighted.
To provide some context, the Eclipse IoT Matrix space was set up on March 31, 2025, moving away from our former Slack channel. While specific rooms like Eclipse Mosquitto saw some activity, the Eclipse IoT general channel remained dormant, and we missed the level of active participation the community previously experienced on Slack.
Over the past few months, the Steering Committee has been discussing how to increase member engagement and support the growth of Eclipse IoT. After multiple discussions, the SC reached a consensus during the April 27 meeting to reactivate our Slack channels to meet participants where they are most active.
While we at the Eclipse Foundation consistently advocate for open source alternatives like Matrix, the 18-month transition did not yield the engagement the group expected. Our current priority is to revitalise the community by bringing together individuals from our former Virtual IoT Meetup group (consisting of nearly 2,200 members, but dormant since mid 2022), all Eclipse IoT mailing lists, current Matrix channels, and external campaigns in LinkedIn.
The sole intention behind this decision is to foster an active, collaborative space that suits the majority of our community. I sincerely hope this explains the rationale behind that decision and helps foster a solid, growing community across our Eclipse IoT projects.
Best regards,
