Re: ICQ for Gnome

[famrom ran es (Guillermo S. Romero / unnamed / Familia Romero)]

>It all may be moot anyway.  If Mirabilis drops the current protocol in 
>favor of their newer one, which isn't understood, no one will get 
>anywhere with any project.

They will, cos they want a propietary system. It free (money) now, but do no
expect freeness in the future. Thats the "because" I do not use or like ICQ.

IMHO we should implement a new one, based for example in IRC.
It will be rather easier to create a bot that connects to a given IRC
network (or scans all) joining a special group of channels where bots
negotiate connections. Channel names should be of the kind "#free_comms_xxx"
where xxx is the first three letters of your bot nick (so waiting bot are
connected there, and searching bots know where to go to find someone).
You can use PGP or any other crypto system for negotiation or for all comms.

Instead of giving a ICQ number, give network-nick-pass. Network to speed up
searchs, nick to find you (a big one, a rare one, not typical), code to
avoid confusion with normal users and handle authentification. When a bot
meets another bot, it gives the pass, if they match, they talk and the users
are informed.

Maybe a server to register bot nicks will be needed, so no confusion is
made. Also nick can be based in crypted mail dirs, so you get a mad string
that rarely other person will use. Or the PGP finger prints (so PGP server
are used).

Of course the system should be a free standard (thats the way Internet
works), and the basic implementations should be under GPL (thats the way you
make sure everybody can use the system). Also commercial apps can be coded,
but from scratch and following the standard.

I can not code anything, but I can discuss the protocol ideas. Contact me
those who find interesting this ICQ alternative (should a group write a RFC?).

GSR