[JDEV] Proposals (file transfers and info/query)

[Jeremie]

> Are you impling that instead of encoding our messages in MIME, that we
> encode them with some HTTP headers on the top? I'm going to assume not.

No no, not at all... I think we are talking about two different issues :)

I'm speaking strictly of file transfers ala the file transfer proposal and
HTTP, and I think you are talking about the <message></message> packet
within the Jabber protocol.

Honestly, I'm quite against adding any sort of MIME layer onto the Jabber
protocol or <message/> packet itself for lots of reasons.  First, instant
messaging is all about simple instant text messages, not a one-to-one web
page delivery service.  Second, Jabber is all about talking transparently
to other IM systems, many/most of which do not and could not support MIME
messages.  Third, everything that a client needs to do with MIME can be
done via file transfers, and in this way be more widely supported even
across other IM systems.  Finally, it would increase the complexity
significantly of the Jabber protocol.

IMHO, messages should be just simple text messages.  Jabber is an
expression of the base and common elements of ALL instant messaging
systems, not a radically advanced new next generation IM system.

I *DO* think I see what you are getting at (finally) and where you are
coming from, that you want to create that "radically advanced new next
generation IM system", and you're in luck, so do I, but it's not
what Jabber has been about :)  With further discussion on this topic
though, Jabber might be able to fit the bill... if not, I don't have a
problem creating another team to explore creating a new IM system with
it's own server and clients, and a Jabber transport to that system.

> I don't see how LDAP mapped to our XML system would in anyway limit the
> usefulness of the info/query protocol. The examples you have given are
> wrapped into the LDAP idea almost the same way they're wrapped into the
> current Info/Query protocol.
> 
> I'm not suggesting USING LDAP, but instead wrapping its spec into our XML
> stream ala MIME in Jabber.

Ok, just using the textual LDAP query structure but passing it via XML,
right?  Not sure what you would gain from that since all of the tools and
libraries in the sources are geared towards handling XML and the rest of
the functionality in the protocol is normal XML...  then again, I don't
have experience with LDAP at that level yet.

Jer