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Commit | Line | Data |
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1 | --- | |
2 | author: jess | |
3 | date: 2021-01-21T20:00:00 | |
4 | slug: matrix-bridge-realname | |
5 | title: Changes to realnames of matrix.org bridged users | |
6 | category: announcements | |
7 | category: technical | |
8 | --- | |
9 | ||
10 | [matrix.org](https://matrix.org/) runs a bridge (matrix-appservice-irc) from | |
11 | their Matrix homeserver to freenode that allow Matrix users from any | |
12 | homeserver that federates with matrix.org to join channels on freenode and | |
13 | intermingle with the normal IRC userbase. These users have their Matrix User | |
14 | Id (username and homeserver, e.g. `@jess:freenode.net`) put in the realname | |
15 | field of their IRC connection. | |
16 | ||
17 | Over time, the need to differentiate users by which homeserver they are using | |
18 | has arisen for multiple reasons, and we've worked with the matrix.org bridge | |
19 | operators to better format Matrix User Ids to suit the limited space provided | |
20 | by IRC realnames. | |
21 | ||
22 | Realnames pose a slight problem for this usage; the maximum length for a | |
23 | Matrix User Id is 255 characters, whereas the maximum length for an IRC | |
24 | realname is 50 characters and things longer than that get truncated, which | |
25 | means if people have a Matrix username of 50 characters, it will truncate off | |
26 | the entirety of their homeserver. | |
27 | ||
28 | The solution we came up with for this has been to reverse the order of | |
29 | username and homeserver, and then reverse the order of domain name parts and | |
30 | truncate that at 30 characters, which means the most significant parts of a | |
31 | homeserver's domain name comes at the start of a realname. For example, | |
32 | `@jess:freenode.net` becomes `net.freenode:jess`. If a homeserver is truncated | |
33 | to 30 characters, a `>` is appended prior to the `:` - | |
34 | `@jess:subdomaaaaaaaaaain.freenode.net` would become | |
35 | `net.freenode.subdomaaaaaaaaaai>:jess`. | |
36 | ||
37 | We'd like to extend deep gratitude to the operators of the matrix.org bridge | |
38 | for handling and implementing our change request quickly to suit a | |
39 | contemporary need, and we'd like to remind users that they can message staff | |
40 | at any time if they have any questions about the above changes. |