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Next iChat version to include Jabber support
SeaFox writes "A couple of stories about new features in the next version of Mac OS X have revealed that the new iChat 3.0 will include support for Jabber. With businesses able to host their own messaging servers behind the firewall and use it with Apple's included IM client, will this effect Jabber's overall share of the IM market?"
Seeing has how the next version of Server is going to have a built-in Jabber/iChat/XMPP server (scroll down to the "Your Very Own iChat and Blog Servers" section).
http://gaim.sourceforge.net/
- Leon Mergen
http://www.solatis.com
For those unaware, iChat has always used the Jabber protocols for its local (Rendezvous-initiated) messaging. This just dusts off and reveals full-fledged support for Jabber.
Why Jabber? Because Jabber is a completely open IM standard. The IETF has accepted the core Jabber protocols and has standardized them as XMPP, an open IM protocol.
gaim does what you want:
- it's cross-plattform (Windows, OSX, Linux)
- it supports server hosted friends list
- it starts up quickly
- it supports a lot of different protocols
- it's free as in speech
I, for one, run ICQ, Jabber and MSN with gaim, and had no problems with it so far.
A monkey is doing the real work for me.
i chat already uses jabber in the local im feature using rendezevous (sp?). that also removes the need for a central server since it uses rendezevous for discovery of other hosts.
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
Additionally:
So, yes, we've known since WWDC that iChat will be able to speak to standard Jabber servers, mostly because Apple will be shipping a Jabber server with Tiger Server.
There's a lot of cool stuff in Tiger Server, and that page is with checking out.
While an open IM application can be useful in a defined group or organization for messaging, obviously, a standalone IM application is of limited utility on its own if you're already communicating with people on other IM networks.
This is why Jabber supports "transports", server components that allow seamless connectivity with AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, MSN, SMS services, and even IRC..
iChat AV 2.1 can videoconference with AOL Instant Messenger 5.5.
Apple continues to incorporate open software and strike that fine balance between the usefully proprietary (hardware, GUI) and interoperable standards. The MS dweebs that run the IT where I work keep frowning and scratching their heads when I explain that this or that new Apple implementations of free (beer/speech) software (zeroconf, LDAP, Apache, SSH, etc.) makes their lives easier and more secure. This just helps my arguments.
Nice thing about Jabber is that it's decentralized and has so much room to be elaborated into some nifty applications that go way beyond text messaging. I was annoyed at Apple for nailing iChat so firmly to AIM, and now it looks like they're fulfilling some of the promise behind having a default chat client that isn't tied to an Apple network.
Damn those pesky terrorists
USB? IEEE 1394? 802.11? Touchpads on laptops? Quiet computing?
It's been on Apple's website since WWDC 2004.
Since Jabber already has market share, this move by Apple will not Effect (verb: to create) a share for Jabber. However, including Jabber in iChat may Affect (verb: to influence) the market that already exists.
OTOH - The Effect (noun: influence) of the ignorant substitution of inappropriate words Affects (verb: to influence) your ability to write clearly. Learn to the difference between english vowels, or you'll be condemned to confuse a cat with a cot (or Al with an eel)
-- "At Microsoft, quality is job 1.1" -- PC Magazine, Nov. 1994
Have you tried http://www.jabberdoc.org/?
While GAIM might have a very good coverage, as far as IM networks are concerned, I can't say that I enjoy running it in the situations when I have to -- e.g. when I am on my BSD box.
When it comes to MacOS X, there are several worthy contenders: Fire, Adium to name a few. All of them are Cocoa apps and you do not need to run X11 to use them.
--AP
Actually they did. Apple, howerver, choose to be subtle about it. Here. And I quote:
iChat Server. Host your own private and secure inside-the-firewall iChat server that uses your own namespace and works with both Tiger's iChat AV and popular Jabber clients available on Windows, Linux and PDAs.
and:
Your Very Own iChat and Blog Servers
You can now host your own iChat server. Instant Messaging serves as a vital means of communication for organizations of all sizes, so it's useful to deploy and run your own private and secure IM server. Based on the open source Jabber project, the new iChat server in Tiger Server lets your company protect its internal communications by defining its own namespace, and use SSL/TLS encryption to ensure privacy. The iChat server works with both the iChat client in Mac OS X Tiger and popular open source clients available for Windows, Linux and even PDAs.
This isn't a secret, and you don't have to be an "Apple Insider" to know about it, you just have to (carefully) read the language on their own website.
CenterICQ
;) I have connections to all the major services, a slashdot RSS, and any other RSS feeds I find interesting on our shell server at our data center, and it never skips a beat.
;)
- Cross Platform
- It supports server hosted friends list
- Starts up quickly
- Supports AIM, MSN, ICQ, YIM, Jabber, RSS, Gadu-Gadu, IRC, and LiveJournal
- It's free as in speech (GNU)
AND
It can be put into a screen on a server, you can detach, then simply ssh into the server from a different location and reconnect to your screen as though you never left. I do this all the time.
FYI, if this interests you, contact me for a shell account.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).