Jabber

[ciphergoth]

I had a lovely weekend - this being a public entry I shall say no more than that :-)

Ladies and gentlemen, I have an announcement: the IM war is over, and Jabber has won, and it's all thanks to Google. If you are on MSN, AIM, ICQ, YIM, or GaduGadu, the time has come to migrate to Jabber.

This is good, because Jabber is superior to all the others in a very deep and important way: all of the others are controlled by a single corporation, but Jabber is a real Internet protocol which works for the reasons the Internet works. And all those IM systems can't talk to each other, but Jabber can talk to them all.

Google have won it first by signing up to Jabber and making it part of their Gmail service, but more importantly by adding a Web-based client. Finally, you don't have to install any special software to use IM - just log in to your Gmail account with any modern browser, and you can start Jabber conversations. And not only with other Gmail users, but with anyone who's signed up with any of the many Jabber providers, or who is running their own Jabber servier if they prefer. Jabber is the basis of the Google Talk voice chat service, which will be available to all Jabber users before long. If that wasn't enough, there seem to be some interesting Jabber rumblings coming from LiveJournal too.

If you want to get on board, the easiest way is to get a Gmail account; that way you don't have to install any software to use it. Ask me if you need an invite code.

If you prefer to use a dedicated IM client, that means that in addition to Gmail you can use any number of other free Jabber providers

• Jabber clients (I recommend Psi)
• Jabber servers (I recommend jabber.org - no link because you register through the client)

My Jabber account is ciphergoth@jabber.org.uk - see you there!

Comments

[sparklegoth.livejournal.com]

I tried to download it but I got confused! What mirror should I chose? What is a mirror? Think I'll just stick to ICQ and Yahoo!

[wechsler.livejournal.com]

What is a mirror?

Never thought I'd hear a goth ask that...

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Downloading software from somewhere close by is quicker than downloading it from far away, so people often make it available in lots of places; there's one "main" server, and all the others "mirror" what it contains so you have a choice.

You're in the UK, so you want to select "Kent, UK".

(I deleted my earlier comment where I ballsed it up - sorry!)

[sparklegoth.livejournal.com]

I think I've downloaded it but I have no idea what to do with now and I'm very confused.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

If you're not used to installing software, the easiest way on board is to get a Gmail account. I've sent you an invite...

[oilrig.livejournal.com]

I was just (reluctantly) trying to setup an msn account. This sounds better. WHat do I need to do? (already have a gmail account ot two....)

[adjectivegail]

If you have a gmail accout, make sure it's set to US settings, in the General Settings bit. Doesn't seem to have it for UK ones yet. Then you should have a 'quick contacts' list on the left side, along with the links to things like your draft email and sent email and so forth. If any of those people have IM you can contact them with, it'll show up when they're online and all you have to do is click on their name to open a chat window.

It's like magic :)

[barakta]

Thanks!

That's how to get it to display properly. I made the mistake of telling it to go away when it annoyed me one time. Then I couldn't get it back despite reading help and activating the account via the downloadable client. I had my setting to UK English, which I always do given the chance.

/me goes to play with it between two gmail accounts (I didn't tell the backup gmail account talk window to go away)..

[adjectivegail]

Google have won it first by signing up to Google
...erm. Sorry, could you explain that, please?

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

whoops - fixed!

[emarkienna.livejournal.com]

Ah great - my understanding is that originally, Google Talk couldn't be used to talk to people on other Jabber servers, making it yet another separate network, but they appear to have changed that now. Yay!

I'm emarkienna@jabber.org .

[nikolasco.livejournal.com]

Announced (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/01/open-federation-for-google-talk.html) on 1/17/2006

[zotz]

In theory I have this (zotzilaha, at gmail, with an at character in the usual way) but I haven't been able to get it to work.

Somewhat worrying if Google can resolve an issue like that just by their choice of what to implement.

[stgpcm.livejournal.com]

on a complete tangent, what do you think of SILC?

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Just re-glanced at their updated white paper. I last looked a long time ago, but I got the same impression then as now; they've made a terrible error in the identification stage, because they're not swallowing the Granovetter/SPKI/SDSI kool-aid. (viz this particular religion of mine: http://ciphergoth.livejournal.com/110893.html )

Sign not up

[ablueskyboy.livejournal.com]

FAQ (not number 1) for gmail:

2. How do I sign up? You can get a Gmail account if you're invited by someone who already has one. Or, you can sign up for an account using your mobile phone.

And, of course for those of us who are poor and/or have more to do in life than spend it carrying a stupid cell phone all over the world (I desturb my fellow passengers with a walkman instead), I have no way of signing up for gmail just to try-out their service. So, please be kind and invite me :).

Re: Sign not up

[grumpy-sysadmin.livejournal.com]

This limitation is theoretical spam prevention on Google's part. In the early days, accounts could invite up to 5 people, then they started replenishing those 5 regularly (monthly?), then the started bumping up the upper threshold... it's at 100 now.

If no one else already has email (@livejournal.com forwards properly) and I will.

Re: Sign not up

[ablueskyboy.livejournal.com]

Hey, thanks! Somebody just sent me an invite this morning :).

[grumpy-sysadmin.livejournal.com]

Rubbish, Jabber hasn't won anything until my Jabber ID is visible to my many less-technically-clued friends who've been using the same AIM account since their family was foolish enough to subscribe to AOL in the early '90s. Till then, I still have to do something to live in their world. That's not winning, that's going the extra mile.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

ooh,coolness.
I've tried googletalk, but it's entirely too subtle about new messages...

[nikolasco.livejournal.com]

Meebo (http://meebo.com/) has offered a web frontend for Jabber, among others, since September 2005.

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

Wow, coolness!

Myself and a colleague have been meaning to write an AJAX jabber client for a while, but it's never got beyond the talking stage.

[judiff]

i don't think IM-ing is allowed in the library but i'm going to check for loopholes

What do i do?

[kinkykarleen.livejournal.com]

Hi there

Im on MSN - can i keep my name and is it worth changing over?

What do i need to do- as i have soooo many on msn- do i have to reload them on this jabber if i change and get a gmail address?

Let me know how to 'oh master of IT' hehe cos im crap at pcs and u know it!

KK

Re: What do i do?

[nikolasco.livejournal.com]

Jabber supports transports (gateways) to other IM networks. Using an MSN transport, you would be able to chat with your MSN friends using your old screename; it would be (almost) impossible for them to tell that you're using a Jabber client. At least that's how things are supposed to work.

In reality, some features don't work with certain transports (e.g. webcams). Worse, some IM clients that support Jabber don't support transports (e.g. Gaim and Adium) and you have to register with the transport using a diffent client (e.g. Psi) and then you can go back to them if you like.

Re: What do i do?

[ciphergoth.livejournal.com]

You can tell Jabber to use your MSN account (if you download a client and use jabber.org at any rate) but I think you have to re-add everyone you already added, which is a pain. But the upside is that it means that rather than being spread out on little disconnected islands, we're all on one big network.

[scellanis.livejournal.com]

*throws pink glitter at you*

I recognised your username on Laura's msn...

*grins*

You cannot escape.

*evil giggles*