The big news in this issue of the Jabber Journal is the Working Group Last Call that has been issued on the XMPP Internet-Drafts. Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the last year, you know that the Jabber community has been working with the IETF on adapting the Jabber protocol as an IETF-approved instant messaging and presence technology. The first step was a BOF at IETF 54 in Yokohama last July, followed by formation of the XMPP Working Group on Halloween of 2002 and seven months of intensive discussion and revision of the XMPP Internet-Drafts. The four main documents are now in last call, which means that the members of the Working Group are providing final comments before the documents are send to the Area Director for review. In fact, I just submitted updated versions of all four documents, and I have a good feeling that these are very close to final. But as the great American philosopher Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over till it's over." So while the progress made by the XMPP WG has been swift by IETF standards, I'd still advise you not to hold your breath.
Far from what often seems like the alternate universe of IETF protocol discussions, Jabber software developers have been busy doing their thing. Jonathan Pobst released version 0.2.3 of the Joey server for Windows (love that website!), and our friends in Poland have been working on good things like the Jabber ICQ Transport and WPJabber server. I've also noticed new releases of client software such as Rhymbox, JabberPalm, and a Miranda plugin (and some others that I've been too busy to announce on jabber.org). Plus there are some intriguing new projects of late, such as JPhpUtils (web integration!), ijchain (an IRC connector), and Sluice (a workflow engine). You can't keep those Jabber developers down. :-)
But the Jabber community is not just about code: there are plenty of other ways to get involved and spread the word. For example, Exodus developer Peter Millard just announced a call for translators to help make Exodus a truly international client. Volunteers have already stepped forward for Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Polish, French, Japanese, etc. (probably all the folks who volunteered to help me translate the JabberManual before I got so busy with IETF stuff -- yes, I will return to the manual, I promise!). Those who like making websites can find inspiration in sites like JabberPL and the new JabberFR, plus community sites like JabberCollab (brought to you by Harold Gottschalk and the good folks at IMissary). And there are always many opportunities to give talks about Jabber, from your local Linux User Group to more formal venues -- a great example is the upcoming talk by Ashvil D'Costa at the SDForum next Tuesday in Palo Alto, California. So you don't have to be a code god to contribute to Jabber (we all know I'm not!).
I suppose the other interesting development recently has been the increasing coverage of the "IM standards race" between Jabber/XMPP and SIP/SIMPLE. While I'm not fully convinced that there really is a race (in part I think that simply provides a convenient story-line for journalists), there has been quite a bit of discussion lately regarding the pros and cons of these two protocols. To learn more, check out the whitepaper from Jabber, Inc., the recent InfoWorld article, and the subsequent online debate held by InfoWorld. It makes for entertaining reading. ;-)
Jabber on!
--stpeter