RE: GNOME Chat and the future of instant messaging in gnome

[Charles Johnson <charlesjohnsont outlook com>]

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> Subject: Re: GNOME Chat and the future of instant messaging in gnome
> From: awilliam whitemice org
> To: gnome-list gnome org
> Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2015 13:27:35 -0400
>
> Well, I very happily use Empathy for XMPP & IRC.
>
> But 'the cloud' continues to strangle free-standing software, such as
> Open Source, and dissuade innovation.  Yay.  Looks like I will
> eventually be back to using xchat.

I agree in part.

Popular protocols go out of style and become so losing backward compatibility. On the contrary, with the 
OpenSource protocols does not happen. I use XMPP almost from its inception, and still valid for my contacts 
find me from my business card.

On the other hand, MTProto (Telegram) is a new protocol, open source, designed for security and cloud-based 
technology. Is that innovation?

> > So I think 3 protocols must be strengthened and supported in gnome-
> > chat:
> > XMPP/Jingle: Free messaging by definition. It includes Gabble and
> > Salut.
>
> I am not sure what needs to be strengthened.  XMPP works really well.

If you use Empathy client is not a offering all the options from XMPP protocol.
-OTR encryption
-Advanced gateway settings
-Advanced vCard editing
-change Password
-Other advanced options related autio/video (etc)

Finally, there's no denying that an improvement in the design of the application would help a lot.
Consider Polari, which also uses telepathy as backend and is one of the best app to IRC chat.

CJT