Why is an open standard messaging protocol like Jabber/XMPP not used across all instant messaging platforms?
When Jeremie Miller invented Jabber/XMPP technologies in 1998, he did so in large measure to provide a free and open alternative to the proprietary instant messaging services of the day, such as AOL Instant Messenger and ICQ. Although the names of such services have changed, today XMPP still represents a free and open standard for building and deploying instant messaging systems and related applications.
All of the existing XMPP servers, clients, and programming libraries support the key features of an IM system, such as one-to-one and multi-party messaging, presence subscriptions and notifications, and contact lists. This wealth of code enables developers to easily build new applications in a secure and scalable way.
Because user expectations for messaging apps continue to change over time, the XMPP community always works to define and implement XMPP extensions for new features. Whereas five or ten years ago such features included chat state notifications and HTML messages, now they include things like push notifications, message archives, and improved multi-device support.
Whatsapp uses a variation of it whilst Nimbuzz, Chatme, Pidgin, and Kontalk all also use it. Google Talk used to use it (remember being able to then connect to other messaging services).
Is it the fault of walled garden service providers or us as consumers who just willingly entered those walled gardens never to see out again?
#xmpp #openmessaging #instantmessaging
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