Thank you for your in-depth initial write-up! A decision like this isn’t taken lightly, your arguments for and against matrix are sound, and even so for IRC.
I’d like to mention weechat-matrix and matrix-ircd for this conversation, though I see the latter one is already mentioned.
Strong statement, but unfortunately true, I don’t see many people learning the courtesies and intricacies of IRC today, and I must admit that I only do it personally out of nostalgic interest.
As a member of the matrix community, though unaffiliated with GNOME, i want to congratulate on the steps taken to matrix, while obviously this means (not) much to the GNOME community to arrive here, it means a lot more to the matrix community, as this becomes part of the statement that, yes, matrix is a viable communication tool for this little corner of the internet.
Sorry for the all the formality, this is just very exciting, and seeing the reasons for it made me appreciate the move even more.