I get what you're saying. However, I think this is nice a compromise. The closed-source client is pushes out continued development of the bridges for a little longer than it otherwise would. The client only matters insomuch as it has good bridges, so the bridges must naturally come first.
In the longer term, if a project like this succeeds, then all messaging clients become defined by their feature set rather than their vendor lock-in. If Facebook Messenger wants to compete with Beeper, then it better be able to connect to Hangouts, etc.
I welcome a player that pushes chat clients as a whole towards interoperability and commoditization, and am happy to (as a side effect) support a proprietary client that helps drive additional platform support over time (eg, I don't see Airbnb on the list of Beeper messaging bridges yet, etc).
I'm also skeptical about the proprietary client, I would have kind of thought that having a good Matrix client was more important than the bridges; I almost would have preferred to see the client Open and the bridges properietary.
But that is a very convincing comment that kind of sells me on the idea, and it matches what I've seen in other places. Cross platform play on consoles, region locking, etc... once you get enough momentum that something becomes a selling point, it becomes a lot harder for the overall ecosystem to ignore it.
So yeah, the argument you raise makes me feel a lot more positive about the service.
I agree, I think it is a "good enough" compromise that I would pay for it. However I think that clients are more important than bridges right now, I would love to get people natively on Matrix. I want both but it is a shame not to be funding an open client. I think I would just continue using Element as a client if they let me in to show what I prioritize.
In the longer term, if a project like this succeeds, then all messaging clients become defined by their feature set rather than their vendor lock-in. If Facebook Messenger wants to compete with Beeper, then it better be able to connect to Hangouts, etc.
I welcome a player that pushes chat clients as a whole towards interoperability and commoditization, and am happy to (as a side effect) support a proprietary client that helps drive additional platform support over time (eg, I don't see Airbnb on the list of Beeper messaging bridges yet, etc).