[JDEV] Slashdot Article

[Julian Missig]

Julian Fitzell wrote:
> Michael Brown wrote:
> 
>>> "Standard stuff" being "when are you going to have stable and reliable
>>> gateways to the other IM systems?"
>>>
>>> *sigh*
>>
>>
>>
>> Yet when /. has an article about Linux, you don't see a whole host of 
>> people
>> complaining that it isn't stable and reliable running Windows
>> software...weird.  Many of the Open Source/Standards advocates seem to 
>> miss
>> the point when talking about Jabber.
>>
>> Michael.
> 
> 
> Well, I see their point to some degree.  If you switch to linux from 
> windows, you can't run all the same programs as you could before but you 
> can find alternatives and conversion programs, etc.  The point of 
> instant messaging is to be able to communicate in real-time with your 
> friends.  From people who see Jabber as simply an instant messenger (or 
> even those who see it first and foremost as an instant messenger), you 
> can't justify switching to Jabber without still being able to talk to 
> your friends - Jabber would be fundamentally failing at the task of 
> instant messaging since you would no longer be able to talk to any of 
> your friends.
> 
> Add to that the fact that Jabber provides transports for the other 
> systems and you can understand why people see it as a sometimes-flaky 
> attempt to unite all the IM platforms.
> 
> That said, obviously those of us who have switched to Jabber (and have 
> evntually switched as many of our friends as possible) see that there 
> are other advantages.  But that is lost on someone who just needs to be 
> able to talk to the 100 people they have on their Yahoo roster, or 
> whatever.

Except that I could find you quite a few people who refuse to use Word 
.doc files and all sorts of other proprietary formats, even when it 
hinders the ability "to communicate . . . with your friends." -- They 
find least common denominators or get their friends to use AbiWord for 
Windows or something like that. Jabber does have least common 
denominators -- you can use email or you can use the transports... there 
  *are* servers out there which run half-decent transports -- just try 
to find one run by your circle of friends or something like that.

I think you're right when you say that Open Source advocates often see 
Jabber as just an attempt to unify, not an attempt to replace. We need 
to change that viewpoint.

Julian (the real one)