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!

[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]

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

[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 .

[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?

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 :).

[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.

[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

[scellanis.livejournal.com]

*throws pink glitter at you*

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

*grins*

You cannot escape.

*evil giggles*