The developers of the XFCE announced the completion of the translation of official communication channels from IRC to Matrix. While the old IRC channels are still available, the documentation and website now mention channels based on the Matrix platform as the official method of interactive communication. Users are recommended to use the #xfce: Matrix.org channel for technical support and discussions instead of the #XFCE IRC channel on the Libera.chat network. They should also use #xfce-dev: Matrix.org for related discussions instead of #xfce-Dev, and #xfce-commits: matrix.org to track activity in Gitlab instead of #XFCE-COMMMIMITS.
The migration was primarily due to the termination of support for transmission of IRC channels to Matrix on the Libera.chat network. Many developers had used Matrix to access IRC channels through translators, and the lack of support led to fragmentation in communication. To unify the platform, the decision was made to designate Matrix channels as the official channels.
Moreover, the decline in popularity among beginners and the obsolescence of the IRC protocol were also reasons for the transition. Matrix, being an open platform not tied to centralized servers, offers features such as end-to-end encryption, search capabilities, unlimited history viewing, cross-device history access, offline message retrieval, file transfers, notifications, online presence assessment, video conferencing, voice, and video calls. These features make Matrix a more versatile communication platform.
Additionally, discussions have surfaced regarding the transition of basic XFCE components to Meson tools from Autotools, possibly to be implemented in the XFCE 4.20 release.