would you recommend Snikket server (or Prosody) for 1:1, group calls and screen sharing?

Answering this first so it doesn’t get buried down. Screen sharing wouldn’t be supported by xmpp since its just messaging, but I believe Jitsi has that feature. But for the rest, snikket and conversations (for android) I would recommend, yes.

When I decided to try XMPP, I had to do a lot of research to decide which applications I should use for the server and client.

Whatever is the first answer you get from a web search should be fine. Most sources recommend conversations for client, but all the other recommendations you’ll see are good too. For server, the easiest to setup is snikket, but all the other and up to date implementations should work okay, although they might need some configuration if you want all the modern messaging features.

If we told two people to use these two software independently, they would start using Matrix much more faster than XMPP.

Why do you think so? Let’s assume a user who doesn’t self host. XMPP clients are far more stable and error free, whereas matrix has random issues every now and then, especially with encryption and public groups.

XMPP clients are a lot more customizable and come in different models. Matrix has only one client that works well (and some forks of it that look roughly the same). I’d say that’s a win for XMPP for new users.

Now let’s say it’s a self hosting user. I don’t need to say much here, matrix is notorious for self hosting issues, and being a massive resource hog. XMPP, you have snikket, which works out of the box without issues and can be hosted on a raspberry pi even.

I may be biased here, so I urge you to tell me, in what way would a new user adopt matrix faster? I can tell you one. Matrix has corporate funding and has managed to advertise better. That’s their only win.

With all due respect, this is a very biased view

Wanna set up a server? Prosody (which has a hassle free out of the box experience through snikket)

Need a client? Conversations

The default softwares are easy to use for new users.

For matrix, however, you are forced to use synapse. You complain that xmpp is not a single protocol, but in reality, all the major implementations are compatible. Can you say the same about matrix? The other implementations aren’t even close to achieving this.

Xmpp’s extensions are a powerful feature, and the issues you think it presents do not exist with xmpp anymore, but is actually the status quo for Matrix.

XMPP Works fine when it’s setup or when you don’t manage the hosting, but God is it painful to self host an xmpp server.

I recommend you use snikket if you’re having trouble selecting plugins, because it has everything you need out of the box and its super easy to setup.

It even needs a special setup to work on restricted networks via port 80/443 because it wants port 5222 and 5223,

Isn’t that just a configuration in prosody / snikket? What implementation did you use that didn’t let you configure this? Or are you expecting major implementations to default to port 80/443? Because that would be quite problematic.

Most basic communication features in 2024 such as replies reactions quoting threads etc.etc. are unsupported ootb, and you need both a client that supports the extensions (often very slow to adapt “new” standards AND a server that has enabled the plugin for that feature.

This is already supported by the major clients. I know for sure that conversations on android (and I suppose the many clients based on it) supports it. For server implementations, it is available out of the box on snikket, and it is a plugin you have to enable on prosody.

It’s the issues with XMPP’s spec: you don’t just use XMPP, you use XMPP + your favorite optional spec implementations.

Sorry, what’s the issue exactly? You called it an issue and I fail to see the problem. The X in XMPP stands for “extensible”, so it is being used precisely as intended, so that is still XMPP.

You could use your favorite extensions if you want, but all up-to-date implementations follow the standard defined by XMPP, and it includes all features of a modern messaging experience

If your friends aren’t on the same server/client combo then you won’t be able to communicate with them (effectively).

You have to be going out of your way to have a non-compliant server or client. This isn’t really an issue that happens.

If it were to get a single, matrix-style “spec release” (think an aggregation of existing features into one collection) that contains/requires a bunch of modern chat features I’ve come to expect from programs

That’s how it is today though! I see the issue, you said you haven’t tried it in years. Admittedly, I only started with XMPP 2 years ago but haven’t had any of the issues you mentioned. Not sure when this became the status quo, but it is pretty awesome. Maybe it is worth trying again :)

Have you used XMPP recently and ran into the issue of non-obscure servers, clients, or self-hostable implementations using different extensions or not supporting them? (I actually haven’t experienced this even on the obscure ones, but can’t confirm for all of them). Please do not make that accusation, because that I’d really not what happens in reality.

it’s hardly the standard

Why not when… It literally is? And all major implementations follow it? That is by definition a standard.

and we’re not really talking about plain XMPP then anymore.

Why not? “extensible” is in the name. It is meant to be extended. The protocol is being used exactly as planned and intended.

Can you please explain why? A quick look at the spec for both protocols shows you that matrix is literally a hundred times more complex, so I don’t understand the basis of the contrary. The matrix creators have shown they are okay with increased complexity under the pretext of a more complete experience, but in reality, XMPP has achieved the same features with far less complexity.

If you’re speaking about self hosting, again, I don’t see how, as matrix is notorious for self hosting issues. XMPP’s snikket works out of the box and has all the commonly used features and plugins pre-baked. The underlying prosody implementation is a step down, but is also quite easy as long as you know what plugins and options to activate (and if you don’t, then use snikket).

Deciding Linux isn’t for you is one thing. Even deciding that you hate Linux is… Digestible. But what kind of internal self esteem and validation issues do you need to unironically participate in a community called “Linux sucks”?

Hating Linux is one thing. Putting in extra effort to justify to everyone that Linux is hate-able is a different kind of crazy.

Still don’t understand the need for matrix when xmpp is a much more battle tested standard, far more lightweight, way less complex, and easier to make clients for.

Is explicit sync for nvidia in yet?

Which is great that we’re not talking about groups of people, but national lines on a map

We are actually talking about a group of people - banned from contributing to open source for being Russian. Read the post again before embarrassingly framing your sentences like a smartass.

Can you use your own words to demonstrate why my argument isn’t convincing? What’s not convincing is throwing around the word “whataboutism” and thinking that’s an argument.

No it isn’t. Read the comment I replied to.

What definition of race are you going by?

Oxford dictionary: “a group of people who share the same language, history, culture, etc.”

Merrian Webster dictionary: "any one of the groups that humans are often divided into based on physical traits regarded as common among people of shared ancestry

Also: a group of people sharing a common cultural, geographical, linguistic, or religious origin or background"

Are you really still using debunked race science concepts in 2024?

Just because you group people based on a different construct does not mean you aren’t racist. What’s next, islamophobia is okay too?

So shouldn’t this also include the US and the many countries (most of Western Europe, plus others) involved in coalitions bombing the middle east and elsewhere?

What does a programmer need?

• a text editor or IDE
• language specific tool chains for building, running and testing your code

This doesn’t seem to be something a distro can solve beyond making it possible to install this stuff.

Maybe the closest is nixos, because it allows a lot of flexibility in setting up different development environments that are fully reproducible. Gentoo is also close, as it allows the same but in a different way (without the extent of reproducible guarantees).

What can systemd do that cannot be done with OpenRC?

Two questions:

• do you admit that, comparing only its functionalities as an init system, systemd provides no benefits over alternatives?
• what non-init functionalities does systemd provide, which are necessary and beats competition from other software that provides those features?

Sure, the alternative init systems don’t provide non init functionalities, but other software probably does.

Not how I understood it. Rather, there are alternatives that have potential to be better than systemd, but systemd has the unfair advantage of receiving the funding and manpower.

If alternatives had equal manpower, they may have had better success than systemd.

Don’t entirely discount a project only because it is funded by the US government. Do take that as a big yellow flag, but not auto reject. Better to just asses the project for what it is with caution.

I find it much more likely that the US government has a huge interest in giving the public access to secure communication software that would be unbreakable by surveillance from a typical government. Why? Because those are the governments that are enemies of the US, and where the US is interested in regime change. And the existence of this software is much more influential towards regime change in those countries, rather than being threat to the US.

In fact, these softwares are barely a threat to the US. The US has no issue with them existing because they have such a powerful hold on their state.

But they literally did. What Israel is doing is not new. The only thing new is media coverage.