The true awakening of XMPP

2016 is definitely the year of the awakening of XMPP. It is already mid-year, but here is what happened already, and what we can do next.

Matthew Wild: non-tech requirements

At the FOSDEM 2016 and XMPP Summit 19, Matthew Wild, lead developer of Prosody, pushed the XMPP community into « Exploring the non-technical requirements of open communication« , which lead to the creation of a very small website (although unmaintained), but still a very strong initiative: modernxmpp.org. As an XSF Council member, Matthew opened up minds with this thinking out of the box.

Nicolas Vérité: 3 generations of IM

I did my part, by contributing to the wake up call, with « The state of XMPP and instant messaging, The awakening« , followed by « Welcome to the third generation of Instant Messaging! » part 1 (1st and 2nd gen of IM) and part 2 (3rd gen of IM, synthesis matrix), and « 3 gens of IM, next steps for XMPP« . I believe this had its positive effects as well, as some items were actively discussed forward at the XMPP Summit 20 (hosted by Atlassian, makers of the 3rd gen IM HipChat, based on XMPP), and the feedback from the nice guys of Tigase said: « The most prevalent topic at the summit was the future of XMPP communication, and how it can fit into the third generation of instant messaging. ».

Daniel Gultsch: mobile XMPP

Daniel Gultsch, lead developer of Conversations.im Android client, has written a thought-provoking piece on « The State of Mobile XMPP in 2016« , pointing at strengths and weaknesses, and debunking some misunderstanding.

Georg Lukas: easy XMPP

Today, it is Georg Lukas, pointing out « Easy XMPP« , with « Easy Onboarding » and « Easy Roster Invitations« . To quote Georg, « After reflecting upon all these things though I must say that I am surprised how much low-hanging fruit we’ve ignored over the last decade or so ».

Outcome?

It is clear that these many wake up calls have echoed with each other. We have quite a clear path, that may need a little refinement. Now it is a matter of priorities and formalisation, given the limited resources we have…

Is it time we start to write a vision statement and a roadmap for the next 6 to 12 months?