Re: [Tools-discuss] Trial chat service: xmpp

[Spencer Dawkins at IETF <[e-mail]>]

Hi, Robert,

On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 12:47 PM Robert Sparks <[e-mail]> wrote:

> In addition to the trial instances of the matrix and zulip chat services,
> we have deployed a trial instance of an xmpp service that allows local
> accounts
> to be registered, allows guest account access, and provides a web client.
>
> These services are available at xmpp-trial1.ietf.org.
>
> As noted earlier, we are deploying these services to gain operational
> experience and get community feedback about how well they meet the need for
> IETF-related chat.
>
> We have clear evidence from the IETF 107 post-meeting survey
> (https://www.ietf.org/media/documents/ietf-107-survey-results.pdf) that
> many
> IETF participants find jabber a significant problem.  This is partly due to
> difficulties in finding a free jabber service and partly due to client
> issues.
> There are two paths to try to resolve these problems, one is to improve the
> IETF jabber service and the other is to switch to an alternative groupchat
> solution. This addition explores the the first path.
>
> This install has very little local configuration or customization.  As
> with the
> other trials, over the next few weeks, we will be exploring
> reconfiguring the
> service to use datatracker credentials for sign-in.  Bridging between the
> systems is already being explored. Please remember that one consequence of
> these explorations is that there will likely be times, outside of meetings,
> when accounts will be disrupted or even removed and will have to be
> recreated.
>
> We would like feedback on how well any of these services meet chat needs
> during
> meetings, both the full online IETF 109 meeting, interims, adhocs, and
> hallway
> conversations.
>
> Around December, we will assess our experiences and the feedback received
> to
> inform which chat services we provide in the future and how we will operate
> them. In January, these trial instances will be taken down. We do not
> intend to
> preserve or migrate any account configuration or chat history from the
> trial
> instances as we move forward.
>
> The chat services are intended to be explorational and informal. However,
> please treat them as contexts where contribution rules apply (See
> https://www.ietf.org/about/note-well/).
>
> Please send feedback on the services to [e-mail]
>
> There are several community members who have put in significant effort
> helping us to set up these trial instances. Please join me in thanking
> Tim April, Matthew Hodgson, and Matthew Wild for their assistance.
>
> Robert Sparks - Tools team project manager
>

Thanks to all of you for your work, but especially on the XMPP instance.

I think I'm good for now, but there have been times, and I've had
computers, where XMPP/jabber was problematic. I hope this makes XMPP more
attractive to the community, so we can really see what its strengths and
deficiencies might be.

Best,

Spencer