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Fractal
Fractal is a Matrix messaging app for GNOME written in Rust. Its interface is optimized for collaboration in large groups, such as free software projects.
- Come to talk to us on Matrix: https://matrix.to/#/#fractal-gtk:matrix.org
- Main repository: https://gitlab.gnome.org/World/fractal/
Installation instructions
You can find Fractal installation instructions through packages on the GNOME wiki.
Build Instructions
You need Meson and Ninja (as well as Rust and Cargo) to build Fractal.
GNU/Linux
meson . _build --prefix=/usr/local
ninja -C _build
sudo ninja -C _build install
macOS
brew install gtk+3 dbus bash adwaita-icon-theme
# empirically needs 3.22.19 or later of gtk3+
# ...and run configure as:
/usr/local/bin/bash -c "meson . _build --prefix=/usr/local"
ninja -C _build
sudo ninja -C _build install
Translations
If you want to add a new language you should update the file
fractal-gtk/po/LINUGAS and add the new lang to the list.
To generate .pot files you should run:
ninja -C _build fractal-pot
To generate .po files you should run:
ninja -C _build fractal-update-po
Password Storage
Fractal uses Secret Service to store the password so you should have running some daemon that give that service. If you're using GNOME or KDE this should work for you out of the box with gnome-keyring or ksecretservice.
There's a way to avoid the need of secret service and store the password in a unsecure way, in a plain json file. We don't recommend to use this form, but if you want, it's possible to configure using gsettings:
$ gsettings set org.gnome.Fractal password-storage 'Plain text'
Or if you're using flatpak
$ flatpak run --command="bash" org.gnome.Fractal
$ gsettings set org.gnome.Fractal password-storage 'Plain text'
$ exit
To go back to use Secret service:
$ gsettings set org.gnome.Fractal password-storage 'Secret Service'
Supported m.room.message (msgtypes)
| msgtypes | Recv | Send |
|---|---|---|
| m.text | Done | Done |
| m.emote | Done | Done |
| m.notice | ||
| m.image | Done | Done |
| m.file | Done | Done |
| m.location | ||
| m.video | Done | Done |
| m.audio | Done | Done |
Full reference in: https://matrix.org/docs/spec/client\_server/r0.2.0.html#m-room-message-msgtypes
Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Fractal have encryption support? Will it ever?
Fractal does not currently have encryption support, but does plan to implement it some day. There are details about the encryption flow for the Matrix team to work out, and bindings for the encryption library, olm, need to be created.
- Can I run Fractal with the window closed?
Currently Fractal does not support this. Fractal is a GNOME application, and accordingly adheres GNOME guidlines and paradigms. This will be revisited if or when GNOME gets a "Do Not Disturb" feature.
The origin of Fractal
This project is based on Fest https://github.com/fest-im/fest, formerly called ruma-gtk.
Instead of using RUMA Client, Fractal calls directly to the matrix.org REST API.
The first version of this project was called guillotine, based on French revolution, in relation with the Riot client name, but it's a negative name so we decide to change for a math one.
The name Fractal was proposed by Regina Bíró.