title: Remote Working with Matrix in covid-19 times
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pub_date: 2020-03-15
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author: Nico Schottelius
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twitter_handle: NicoSchottelius
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_hidden: no
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_discoverable: yes
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abstract:
Workin from home or remote and using the Internet to stay in touch
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body:

## TL;DR

Stay isolated in real life, stay connected digitally.

* Go to https://account.ungleich.ch, create an account, it's free
* Verify your account by email
* Go to https://matrix.ungleich.ch, login with your new account
* Type **/join #covid-19:ungleich.ch** if you want to talk about
  topics related to the virus.
* Talk to people. You are not alone.
* Create your own rooms as needed (as in above channel if you need help)
* Stay home

## Coronavirus, remote working and how to not go crazy

The covid-19 virus forces a lot of us to think differently, behave
differently and work differently. Whether you have to work from home
or whether you do it voluntarily, you might want to stay in touch with
other people. With your teammates, colleagues or other people.

## Isolate in real life, stay connected digitally

One of the most important things to do at the moment is to not further
spread the virus. Here in Switzerland, we try to reduce the risk by
social distancing. No shaking hands, coughing and sneezing into your
elbow and in general to stay away from other people.

If you are not used to staying alone or being isolated, this can be a
tricky
thing to do. Luckily, we do have the Internet that allows us to talk
with each other, without causing a danger to each other.

While there are a variety of tools out there to stay in touch with
each other, we propose to use the **Matrix** chat for a variety of
reasons:

## Matrix is federated. Federated = open to talk to others

Matrix is federated. As opposed to Whatsapp, Telegram, Hangouts,
Skype or Slack, Matrix is open to connect to others. Let me guide you through
how it differs to other systems:

If you create an account on https://account.ungleich.ch and then go to
https://matrix.ungleich.ch afterwards, you can talk to anyone in the
world, who is also using Matrix. Not the one from ungleich, but maybe
the one from https://matrix.org. Or from somebody completely
different.

Matrix is not a closed system. If you decide that you want to write to
somebody on a different server, you can do so.

Matrix also allows you to **call** other people or have **video
conferences**.

## A Matrix channel dedicated to COVID-19

So coronavirus. Social distancing. We created a channel dedicated to
the coronavirus to discuss the topic. If you created an account above
and joined https://matrix.ungleich.ch, you can join the channel by
typing **/join #covid-19:ungleich.ch** or use the
[matrix.to](https://matrix.to/#/#covid-19:ungleich.ch) service.

The covid-19 channel is open for everyone. You can discuss how you
feel, whether you are affected, infected, bored or ask questions about
how to behave. Beware though, we are **not** a medical team. This is
more the type of alcoholics anonymous style, not a digital hospital.

There is now also a [German speaking
channel](/u/blog/deutschsprachiger-coronavirus-chat/) available.

## Your own Matrix server

If you are newly into remote work and you want or need your
own Matrix server,
this is something that we provide. You can checkout the
[Hosted Matrix Chat](/u/products/hosted-matrix-chat/) for details. It
allows you to manage your own chat rooms and to control whom to invite
to what.

If you just need a place to talk with your friends, you can
do so freely on https://matrix.ungleich.ch.

## Future of the coronavirus

No one of us knows at the moment how things will continue with the
covid-19 virus, but we wish everyone to stay safe. And hopefully above
chat helps some of us to not stay too alone, even if we are alone at
home.

Stay safe!
