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If there was a fully-functional cross-platform secure IM, would you use it? What would it be?

K

KevinMU1

Senior member
OK, so looking at my sig gives away my motives here. But several people have told me that if a 'nix port existed for my BitWise client, that they would use it in a heartbeat. Does anyone have any thoughts on cross-platform IM? What would you want from cross-platform IM?

Or does it already exist? If so, what is it? The closest thing I can think of is Jabber, but I know that not everyone likes it either.

Note: if you don't use linux, I'm not really interested in what you think of BitWise, in fact, I don't really care what anyone thinks about BitWise. But for those of you who a) want a cross-platform client and b) have some thoughts as to what you would want it to be, let's hear it.
 
Edit: Useful comments only, please. 😉

Oh wait, look where I am... ATOT. What am I thinking. *smacks forehead*
 
I wouldn't use it. lol...you post more about that client than I used to post about my girl troubles!
 
I'd use it if it was useful to me - if people I knew used it. But the people I know won't use it because they love their MSN smileys and crap too much. Cross-platform sounds awesome though, you should definitely go for it.
 
MSN isn't cross-platform...

Deeko--does that I mean I obsess more ofter my software... eh, that's ok, I'll get over it. 😉

zCypher, thanks for the input. Thanks for letting me know your interest.

Is anyone else clamoring for a good cross-platform IM solution?
 
Yes, but there is no consistent AIM client across multiple platforms. Clients exist that connect to AIM, but they all look & feel different. Think unified.
 
I would like to see it become open source, or at least open protocol. I want a chat application that I know won't be absorbed into some giant corporation and filled with ads and bloat. If there was a good open chat protocol, then clients could be written by anyone, regardless of who ran the servers, and ads and bloat could be ignored. I haven't tried jabber yet, but it's closest to what I'd want from a philosophical viewpoint.
 
Originally posted by: Deeko
I wouldn't use it. lol...you post more about that client than I used to post about my girl troubles!
Click to expand...
Actually that is a close race. Perhaps a poll is in order.

 
Originally posted by: notfred
I would like to see it become open source, or at least open protocol. I want a chat application that I know won't be absorbed into some giant corporation and filled with ads and bloat. If there was a good open chat protocol, then clients could be written by anyone, regardless of who ran the servers, and ads and bloat could be ignored. I haven't tried jabber yet, but it's closest to what I'd want from a philosophical viewpoint.
Click to expand...

jabber is what you want. Ive used it (a previous company had an internal jabber server setup).

What I would want:
Atleast Open Source, preferably Free software (GPL and BSD-like licenses respectively)
*NOT* a linux program (dont code for one OS even if you only release clients for one (linux emulation rocks)
Good encryption (which means US developers cannot distribute it)
Strong authentication (kerberos? key exchange ala OpenSSH?)
Command line client available

Things I dont care about (not that these are bad things):
Smily pics (they are cute, but unnecessary)
File transfer (I dont like "direct connect" features)
 
Not a linux program? Emulation rocks? I have to say that confuses me a bit. If you can code cross-platform in Python or something else, why not?

US developers can distribute higher encryption if they control who they give it to. And how hard is it to find an offshore server, anyway?

Command line is a neat idea.

Lack of file transfers would absolutely kill a client's chance at real-world success I think.

 
Originally posted by: KevinMU1
Not a linux program? Emulation rocks? I have to say that confuses me a bit. If you can code cross-platform in Python or something else, why not?
Click to expand...

Python is a scripting language isnt it? That would be fine I guess, if you happen to avoidd the linuxisms. There are a few (closed source) applications out there that will not run on BSDs. But, using Linux emulation (which rocks 😉), I can run them. Thats how I get my DC clients to run generally.

US developers can distribute higher encryption if they control who they give it to. And how hard is it to find an offshore server, anyway?
Click to expand...

These are some of the most archaic and idiotic laws on the books in the US. One of the reasons Canada sounds like a neat place to go...

Command line is a neat idea.
Click to expand...

Its about all I use for AIM and IRC. I like being able to SSH into my system from work or a friend's or whatever and use AIM without the IDS systems or firewalls at work interfering 😉

If you want links to CL AIM clients, pm me and Ill give you one or two.

Lack of file transfers would absolutely kill a client's chance at real-world success I think.
Click to expand...

I did say those things are features I dont care about. Just an opinion, based on my usage. Nothing more, nothing less. And hell, if I could code, I wouldnt be telling you what I want, Id be writing it myself 😛
 
What program do you use for linux emulation?

This is why we started write this program... we didn't like the existing ones. 😛 It's a good reason to program--to make programs you really want to use.
 
Originally posted by: KevinMU1

US developers can distribute higher encryption if they control who they give it to. And how hard is it to find an offshore server, anyway?
Click to expand...
I don't think it's that simple. If you're uploading your crypto product to an offshore server, then that's export. Projects like GnuPG specifically exclude U.S. based developers (I believe), to stay clear of onerous U.S. crypto export regulations (which have been relaxed).

FWIW, Yahoo! Messenger, while far from cross platform to the extent of Mozilla, has a native client for all the major client operating systems out there. I haven't used them all, but the Linux client is substantially similar to the Windows client. It's a bit buggier and releases trail the Windows client. And they have a Java applet client that works on any platform with thin client Java applet support.
 
Originally posted by: KevinMU1
What program do you use for linux emulation?

This is why we started write this program... we didn't like the existing ones. 😛 It's a good reason to program--to make programs you really want to use.
Click to expand...

The BSDs (Free, Open, and Net) built Linux emulation into the kernel. I cant begin to explain it, but it basically installs Linux libraries and whatnot in a partition and chroots much of the process to that area, I believe, and emulates Linux system calls at the kernel level.

May not be emulation. Its called Linux compatibility mode or something.
 
Originally posted by: manly
Originally posted by: KevinMU1

US developers can distribute higher encryption if they control who they give it to. And how hard is it to find an offshore server, anyway?
Click to expand...
I don't think it's that simple. If you're uploading your crypto product to an offshore server, then that's export. Projects like GnuPG specifically exclude U.S. based developers (I believe), to stay clear of onerous U.S. crypto export regulations (which have been relaxed).
Click to expand...

This is one of the reasons the OpenBSD project is based on Canada. Because the US export laws suck, and because of privacy fearing freaks, this problem will not be solved.
 
Originally posted by: Deeko
I wouldn't use it. lol...you post more about that client than I used to post about my girl troubles!
Click to expand...

i dunno bout that

as for the client, i'd seriously give it a shot if you could do that.
 
Thanks for the note about the Yahoo client. I still know people who don't like Yahoo just because it's Yahoo, though. 😉

Give the US time, in 4 years or so it'll come around. 😛 No I don't know that, I'm just poking fun at my own government and thier lag behind the times.

dabuddha, thanks for the note... that is helpful feedback. We're seriously beginning to think about it.
 
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