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XMPP things.

Thu Oct 7 09:49:34 PST 2021

A few days ago I've installed an XMPP server on a measly virtual private server (VPS). I have done it mostly because I think it is wasteful of me to just let an idle VPS just eat $5 every month while doing nothing but consuming electricity somewhere in the world. I have also done it because my girlfriend and I have been having connection troubles when we were using Signal.

While Signal used to be really great as an alternative to proprietary instant messengers (IMs) such as Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger it really is just one step above them and is not really wholly ``secure''. For starters, while the client is open source, the server software isn't. This is akin to telling someone how to make your personal burger recipe but omitting that they would need to use this super secret spice that you're not willing to tell to accurately replicate it. Not only is that pointless as any attempt at recreating the recipe would just be a woefully somber piece of meat but also some might think that to be disingenuous.

Either way, I was not aware of all of those things when I started using Signal and ever since then I was looking for an excuse to pull my girlfriend and friends away from it.

XMPP is not new technology. It's been around for a while and, honestly, if you're reading this on a gemini client I would probably assume that you are familiar with it. But nonetheless, the gist that I would like to get at is that it is a protocol that is: (1) lightweight and (2) can be self-hosted. These two qualities make it really easy for someone computer illiterate like me to install, configure and deploy to my friends and family in just a day.

Now, I've been having a blast configuring the server and chatting with people in my personal XMPP network and we have never experienced connection issues since.