Matrix seems to be the future now.
The present is, however, Slack.
The present is, however, Slack.
XSF contributed the XMPP spec to the IETF after ~10 years, Matrix is a younger protocol (2014) and perhaps it will do something similar in the future.
Given the adoption rates of Matrix, I think it is fair to conclude it is a good fit for chat. Though it is fair to call out that it works quite differently under the hood from many other chat protocols. The decentralised architecture adds a resilience not possible in a purely federated system.
The Jabber project started in 1999 and https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3921 was published in 2004.
https://mail.jabber.org/pipermail/xmppwg/2002-May/000000.htm... suggests that the IETF process was already started in 2002.
In any case Matrix would not rule out working with the IETF in the future, but for now the Matrix.org Foundation manages the governance of the protocol.
Actually, in terms of number of users, the present is MS Teams. Both companies release their numbers and it's not even close.
What's important is that when you log into your email account, you're logging into Teams, Planner, etc. I recently started using Planner, as awful as it is (seriously, you can't even drag cards!) because I can't expect others to adopt a new tool.