Richard Stallman had a dream where you control your computing. And XMPP is the closest social network in line with Richard Stallman’s vision of the internet. This instant message protocol, allows for you to easily host your own server, it’s fast and efficient, and has lots of different open source clients to choose from. Additionally, by making it extensible, it allows for anyone to build upon it to get their own desired features. This article goes over some of the basics of XMPP: https://simplifiedprivacy.com/xmpp-decentralized-signal-get-your-own-social-network/
Note: There are no affiliate links or sales text in this educational article discussing open source. Let’s discuss the technology and not attack the author.
I’m not going to argue that xmpp shouldn’t be the defacto Foss social/chat network based on merit, it definitely has merit. But in reality, it had its shot and it did not take off. Now, in 2023, Matrix is our best shot at an open, Foss, decentralized chat protocol taking off.
Any arguments that xmpp evangelists will try to come back at this statement with do not matter. I’m sorry, it is just a fact, the clock isn’t turning back. Matrix may not be perfect for everybody, but it’s pretty damn great, and it has the momentum right now. Let’s please not screw this up with the typical fragmentation the open source community regularly has.