Canonical shuttering some of its legacy chat channels
- ID
- 21544
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 04 Sep 2026, 10:56 PM
- Fetched
- 04 Sep 2026, 11:51 PM
- Provider
- The Register
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://www.theregister.com/os-platforms/2026/09/04/canonical-shuttering-some-of-its-legacy-chat-channels/5294524
- Source URL
- https://www.theregister.com/headlines.atom
Summary
- Score
- 4.5
- Created
- 04 Sep 2026, 11:52 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersvibe_coders
What happened
Canonical has closed the Ubuntu Pastebin (as of end of June) and is demoting its official IRC channels on Libera Chat to unofficial status, with no staff presence expected for help or moderation. The official Ubuntu chat channels are now on Matrix, accessible via #community:ubuntu.com, mirroring a move Linux Mint made a couple of years ago.
Why it matters
If you rely on Ubuntu IRC channels for support or community engagement, Canonical staff will no longer be there — you need to migrate to Matrix (#community:ubuntu.com) to reach official channels. If you used Ubuntu Pastebin for sharing logs or troubleshooting output, it's gone as of June and you need an alternative; be aware pasted text often contains sensitive info, so choose a replacement carefully.
Discussion angle
The migration from IRC to Matrix reflects a broader shift in open-source community infrastructure — is Matrix actually a better experience for newcomers, or is it just trading one niche protocol for another, and what does it mean for projects still clinging to IRC?