4 ms·

Google reinstates federated Jabber/XMPP instant messaging

127 points by Tsiolkovsky 14y ago

kalleboo 14y ago
I have to admit, I didn't expect them to fix this.
- mh- 14y ago
  not that they have any obligation to do so, but: in the absence of some commitment to this remaining available, I'd be hesitant to build reliance on it.
  - NegativeK 14y ago
    This is how you should treat most things on the internet.
    - Evbn 14y ago
      Or in meatspace.
jakerocheleau 14y ago
I remember when Google used to have an in-browser GChat app connected directly to XMPP through JavaScript or another frontend language. I still have my hopes that they will release an open source framework to embed a similar IM chat into a website layout. For reference here's a screenshot I found in Google Images: http://developers.sugarcrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/google-talk.png http://developers.sugarcrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/...
- ok_craig 14y ago
  Earlier this week it only took me less than a business day to add a custom chat window to my site using Firebase. You might consider checking that out. It was a global chat, not one with friend lists and private messaging, but the API is pretty easy so I'm sure you could do what you want with a little work.
  - jakerocheleau 14y ago
    wow cool! I haven't used Firebase in a project yet but I have looked over the docs. I may try it out, thanks for the recommendation.
- ad93611 14y ago
  There is a JQuery plugin to build your own using pusher, http://html5-ninja.com/item/Pusher-Chat-jQuery-plugin/7 http://html5-ninja.com/item/Pusher-Chat-jQuery-plugin/7 Most live chat products also allow you to integrate with your GMail account easily and give you a small js to add to your website. We do at http://gaglers.com http://gaglers.com
- jcbrand 14y ago
  I'm working on a Javascript XMPP webchat client built with Strophe.js and backbone.js Please check it out http://conversejs.org http://conversejs.org You can connect directly to any public XMPP server and you can of course set up one yourself if you want to maintain ownership of the data. It's still early days but it's already quite useful and used in production (integrated into an add-on for the Plone CMS).
  - jakerocheleau 14y ago
    That does look awesome. I like how it can also work on a custom XMPP server, so that you could have a type of internal buddy list or chat system. Great link! I will keep myself updated on your client and maybe I can use it on an upcoming project.
  - Arelius 14y ago
    You should setup a test XMPP server, so we can try the client without having to actually sign-up for an account.
    - jcbrand 14y ago
      Yeah, I'll definitely do that sometime! Currently I just want to get the client as polished as possible. Once that's done and the XMPP server is up, I'll make a post to ShowHN.
- sciurus 14y ago
  You can use Phono as an XMPP client. https://phono.com/ https://phono.com/ https://github.com/phono/PhonoSDK https://github.com/phono/PhonoSDK
imaginator 14y ago
This incident discredits the FSF's legitimate and usually very good flagging of internet misdeeds. The FSF started out by saying Google was blocking some federation between domains [and the sky is falling down]. The implication being that because they are big there must be some malicious intent. Google had mentioned the problem on the XMPP operators lists and, their messaging team are a pleasure to work with (we send a lot of buddycloud messages to Gtalk users over their XMPP network). This FSF post created a shitstorm for no reason. Of course we should aim for full federation. But let's look at Google's position: When (I'm guessing here) 1% of your XMPP traffic is federated, it's in Google's interest to look after their existing users and protect them from a bunch of spam than to federate with smaller domains. It's a no brainier - not an evil plan. PS: It's called XMPP. Jabber is a trademark owned by Cisco.
- yarrel 14y ago
  From the original article that you mischaracterise: "According to a public mailing list thread, Google is doing this on purpose, to handle a spam problem. We sympathize; we spend a disappointing amount of energy combating similar problems on the services we provide for the free software community. But the solution can't be something that breaks legitimate communication channels, and especially not in a way that enhances Google's disproportionate control of the network."
DannyBee 14y ago
This is a really bad title, since they were only ever blocking invites, not messages.

127 points by Tsiolkovsky 14y ago

kalleboo 14y ago

I have to admit, I didn't expect them to fix this.

mh- 14y ago
not that they have any obligation to do so, but: in the absence of some commitment to this remaining available, I'd be hesitant to build reliance on it.
- NegativeK 14y ago
  This is how you should treat most things on the internet.
  - Evbn 14y ago
    Or in meatspace.

jakerocheleau 14y ago

I remember when Google used to have an in-browser GChat app connected directly to XMPP through JavaScript or another frontend language. I still have my hopes that they will release an open source framework to embed a similar IM chat into a website layout. For reference here's a screenshot I found in Google Images: http://developers.sugarcrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/google-talk.png http://developers.sugarcrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/...

ok_craig 14y ago
Earlier this week it only took me less than a business day to add a custom chat window to my site using Firebase. You might consider checking that out. It was a global chat, not one with friend lists and private messaging, but the API is pretty easy so I'm sure you could do what you want with a little work.
- jakerocheleau 14y ago
  wow cool! I haven't used Firebase in a project yet but I have looked over the docs. I may try it out, thanks for the recommendation.
ad93611 14y ago
There is a JQuery plugin to build your own using pusher, http://html5-ninja.com/item/Pusher-Chat-jQuery-plugin/7 http://html5-ninja.com/item/Pusher-Chat-jQuery-plugin/7 Most live chat products also allow you to integrate with your GMail account easily and give you a small js to add to your website. We do at http://gaglers.com http://gaglers.com
jcbrand 14y ago
I'm working on a Javascript XMPP webchat client built with Strophe.js and backbone.js Please check it out http://conversejs.org http://conversejs.org You can connect directly to any public XMPP server and you can of course set up one yourself if you want to maintain ownership of the data. It's still early days but it's already quite useful and used in production (integrated into an add-on for the Plone CMS).
- jakerocheleau 14y ago
  That does look awesome. I like how it can also work on a custom XMPP server, so that you could have a type of internal buddy list or chat system. Great link! I will keep myself updated on your client and maybe I can use it on an upcoming project.
- Arelius 14y ago
  You should setup a test XMPP server, so we can try the client without having to actually sign-up for an account.
  - jcbrand 14y ago
    Yeah, I'll definitely do that sometime! Currently I just want to get the client as polished as possible. Once that's done and the XMPP server is up, I'll make a post to ShowHN.
sciurus 14y ago
You can use Phono as an XMPP client. https://phono.com/ https://phono.com/ https://github.com/phono/PhonoSDK https://github.com/phono/PhonoSDK

imaginator 14y ago

This incident discredits the FSF's legitimate and usually very good flagging of internet misdeeds. The FSF started out by saying Google was blocking some federation between domains [and the sky is falling down]. The implication being that because they are big there must be some malicious intent. Google had mentioned the problem on the XMPP operators lists and, their messaging team are a pleasure to work with (we send a lot of buddycloud messages to Gtalk users over their XMPP network). This FSF post created a shitstorm for no reason. Of course we should aim for full federation. But let's look at Google's position: When (I'm guessing here) 1% of your XMPP traffic is federated, it's in Google's interest to look after their existing users and protect them from a bunch of spam than to federate with smaller domains. It's a no brainier - not an evil plan. PS: It's called XMPP. Jabber is a trademark owned by Cisco.

yarrel 14y ago
From the original article that you mischaracterise: "According to a public mailing list thread, Google is doing this on purpose, to handle a spam problem. We sympathize; we spend a disappointing amount of energy combating similar problems on the services we provide for the free software community. But the solution can't be something that breaks legitimate communication channels, and especially not in a way that enhances Google's disproportionate control of the network."

DannyBee 14y ago

This is a really bad title, since they were only ever blocking invites, not messages.