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Wire messenger server code open-sourced

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Re: Wire messenger server code open-sourced

#11

Post by 0x6c6f6c »

y0ghur7_xxx wrote: post #5

there is something i never understood, maybe someone can help me: what makes wire better than xmpp? why do we need yet another protocol for chat?

As a service, what it's provided is consistency for the group of friends I use it with. We've tried XMPP and Matrix on multiple accounts and had trouble on the server and client side. Wire is out of the box a great option with open source ideologies and some feature we liked that weren't available with XMPP or Riot.

They could have done the same thing with existing protocols, but I do like the way it was done and how well it works for us, and as a consumer of the service it's satisfied areas where XMPP/Matrix felt.. fragile.

Not that XMPP or Matrix are vastly inferior, there's certainly an issue or two we've had with Wire, but just how well it worked for us immediately was largely why we've stuck to it.

Re: Wire messenger server code open-sourced

#15

Post by Arathorn »

0x6c6f6c wrote: post #11
y0ghur7_xxx wrote: post #5

there is something i never understood, maybe someone can help me: what makes wire better than xmpp? why do we need yet another protocol for chat?

As a service, what it's provided is consistency for the group of friends I use it with. We've tried XMPP and Matrix on multiple accounts and had trouble on the server and client side. Wire is out of the box a great option with open source ideologies and some feature we liked that weren't available with XMPP or Riot. They could have done the same thing with existing protocols, but I do like the way it was done and how…

It would be great if you could detail what issues you encountered with Matrix (and/or file some bugs to help things improve). Unlike XMPP, Matrix is still considered in beta which gives us a lot of flexibility in addressing shortcomings :)

Re: Wire messenger server code open-sourced

#17

Post by giancarlostoro »

otoburb wrote: post #3

How will Wire make money and stay viable while maintaining this level of service?

Also mind the license. It means anyone competing with Wire has to comply with the AGPL which is specific to servers. If you modify the code, you must publish it, whilst Wire can retain their own modifications to the server.

Re: Wire messenger server code open-sourced

#18

Post by seagreen »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #17
otoburb wrote: post #3

How will Wire make money and stay viable while maintaining this level of service?

Also mind the license. It means anyone competing with Wire has to comply with the AGPL which is specific to servers. If you modify the code, you must publish it, whilst Wire can retain their own modifications to the server.

Weirdly I think free licenses are great for businesses to use and open licenses are great for personal projects.

If I'm writing a hobby project, I want it to help the ecosystem as much as possible. If businesses want to use it then great! So MIT.

If I'm running a business my main goal is to survive. I want to help the community as well, but I obviously can't do that if I go broke. "Put on your own oxygen mask before helping others" and all that. So *GPL, because it lets me balance those goals.

Re: Wire messenger server code open-sourced

#19

Post by Arathorn »

y0ghur7_xxx wrote: post #5

there is something i never understood, maybe someone can help me: what makes wire better than xmpp? why do we need yet another protocol for chat?

I can't respond for XMPP, but the same question probably goes for Matrix (or any other open comms standard). Reasons you might use Wire over Matrix are probably if you prefer the app's UI/UX to any of the Matrix clients out there, or if you like some of Wire's more unusual features like sketch-sharing, or if you want compulsory E2E crypto, decent group VoIP calling, or a system which does not consider itself beta.

Conversely, the reasons you might use Matrix over Wire is if you want an open standard for the protocol (simple HTTP+JSON), or an ecosystem of different clients, servers, bots & bridges, or Apache licensed impls rather than AGPL, or implementations which were built from the outset as FOSS, or to decentralise history across an open federation of multiple servers rather than be forced to federate via a centralised service, and bridges through to things like IRC, Slack, Gitter etc.

Re: Wire messenger server code open-sourced

#20

Post by giancarlostoro »

seagreen wrote: post #18
giancarlostoro wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also mind the license. It means anyone competing with Wire has to comply with the AGPL which is specific to servers. If you modify the code, you must publish it, whilst Wire can retain their own modifications to the server.

Weirdly I think free licenses are great for businesses to use and open licenses are great for personal projects. If I'm writing a hobby project, I want it to help the ecosystem as much as possible. If businesses want to use it then great! So MIT. If I'm running a business my main goal is to survive. I want to help the community as well, but I obviously can't do that if I go broke. "Put on your own oxygen mask before…

I'm not arguing against it or anything just pointing it out. AGPL keeps the lights on whilst still letting others play with it and contribute.
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