Welcome again to everybody! Make yourhome at self. In the time-honoured tradition of our group, here is our weekly discussion thread! Matrix homeserver at [genzedong.xyz](https://genzedong.xyz). See [this thread](https://lemmygrad.ml/post/484053) for information about our Matrix space. Short reading list for new MLs [here](https://teddit.net/r/communism/comments/wisiw). To find theory, try [z-lib](https://z-lib.is), [libgen](https://libgen.is), or [Sci-Hub](https://sci-hub.ru/about) (for scientific articles). If an article is unavailable, try [the Wayback Machine](https://archive.org).

*thanks to our wholesome new mod /u/Elara, we have a Matrix server again!* ## What is Matrix? Preemptive TL;DR: `Matrix ≈ Discord - tracking + end-to-end encryption (by default)` Matrix is a protocol for real-time communication (text, audio, and video) followed by various applications ("clients") -- the official one is [Element](https://element.io/download) for Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and iOS), but there are many others (e.g. those listed [here](https://matrix.org/clients)). It's also federated, like Lemmy. To use a Matrix client, you need to make a Matrix account at one of the Matrix *homeservers* (similar to how you can make an account on lemmygrad.ml or lemmy.ml but still access both of them). We have our own Matrix homeserver at https://genzedong.xyz, and you don't need an email address to register an account there. ## How do I use it? 1. Download a Matrix client (e.g. [Element](https://element.io/download)) on whatever device you prefer. 2. Create an account in the client. You can select `genzedong.xyz` as your homeserver here; if you choose the default `matrix.org`, you'll need to enter an email address. 3. Log in. Search for the room `#welcome:genzedong.xyz` and follow the instructions there. ## How active is it? Not very active at the moment, but you -- yes, *you* (!!!) -- can help change this! Wow!