tl;dr :
- Hexchat IRC client app development stopped
- Linux Mint team was building IRC client to replace Hexchat
- The team tried Matrix and liked it
- Linux Mint’s communication channels are moving from IRC to Matrix
- The desktop app will be named Matrix to avoid confusion
You’re not the only user. Other people may benefit even if you personally don’t. Getting software you don’t want is a compromise for getting an easy out the box installation that comes with what you want already pre-installed.
If you want a more personalized approach there’s always forking a distro and customizing it so that it suits your needs (which is how Nobara came into being).
If that was the case they would add a step in the installation giving you the option to have no preinstalled apps and choose between currated apps based on your expected use for this pc.
I dont argue that its a great service. I am slightly opposed on it being a forced option
Mint is aimed at normies. The fewer barriers to entry, the better. If you give users the option for a “clean” install there will be people who select it, not knowing what they’re doing, and then end up with a borderline non-functional computer as far as they’re concerned. To put it another way, they expect it to have stuff pre-installed. Finally, what counts as essentials and what counts as bloat? Text editor? Media player? Photo viewer? Internet browser?
That being said, I understand why you might not like getting extra programs you didn’t ask for. Luckily, they’re very easy to uninstall and forget about.