Jabber Journal #2 (2002-11-15)

Developers and system administrators using Jabber are familiar with books like DJ Adams' Programming Jabber. But now there's a new Jabber book on the scene. It focuses on streams (which are the foundation of Jabber) and it's written in an easy-to-understand style that is a welcome break from most technical books. Granted, the intended audience is a bit non-standard: ages 4 to 8. But hey, we've got to get the next generation started off right with open protocols and open-source technology! Yes, I'm speaking about none other than Dot & Jabber and the Mystery of the Missing Stream. :)

Hey, as mentioned in Jabber Journal #1, this is an informal survey of all things Jabber. We never promised to be serious all the time...

However, one thing that is serious is next week's meeting of the XMPP Working Group at the 55th IETF meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. This is the first meeting of the WG and everyone involved is excited about getting down to work. I'm sure I'll have plenty to report about next week related to IM initiatives within the IETF. Speaking of the IETF and related organizations, the Internet Society recently published a briefing about IM and presence, written by IETF Chair Harald Alvestrand. Unfortunately it's a bit out of date regarding Jabber's place in the IETF (it says that the XMPP WG has yet to be approved), but it's a good overview nonetheless.

Another interesting twist in the standards world is the recent publication of an Internet-Draft that proposes the use of SIP to start XMPP sessions for the purpose of instant messaging. The author, Robert Sparks (co-chair of the SIMPLE WG), was kind enough to introduce himself on the xmppwg mailing list, and we're definitely looking forward to chatting with him in Atlanta. His I-D is the last item on the agenda of the SIMPLE WG meeting -- perhaps they're saving the best for last! :)

In Jabber news closer to home, I noticed software releases this week for the JSO Java Library, a new message logging component (as announced on JDEV), a Jabber client for the Sharp Zaurus PDA, and updated versions of the JAJC client for Windows and the IMCom command-line client for Unix systems. This week I also discovered that there are Debian packages for both IMCom and the cross-platform Psi client. Nice!

On the MUC front, we converted conference.jabber.org over to David Sutton's mu-conference component, so now we can host advanced room types (moderated, password-protected, persistent, etc.) and perform handy administrative tasks like kicking and banning users if necessary. David says he'll be releasing mu-conference 0.4 soon, too, incorporating feedback from early adopters. Finally, the Jabber Council has been voting on JEP-0045, and if all goes well it will become a Draft standard as soon as DJ Adams gets a chance to vote.

Elsewhere in JEP-land, I added a little box to the sidebar on the homepage featuring the latest JEP activity. Let me know what you think. Also I issued Last Calls for three informational JEPs that document old protocols already in use: jabber:iq:private, vcard-temp, and jabber:iq:search. The Last Calls end November 25th, so send your comments to the Standards-JIG mailing list.

I'm sure there's more news to relay, but some of it relates to works in progress, so I'll report on that next time.

Jabber on!

--stpeter