Daniel Gultsch

Project lead on https://Conversations.im & https://Ltt.rs · Council Chair & Editor, #XMPP Standards Foundation · 2.9W/kg · Flat white socialist · Defying Gravity · European Republic

Website: https://gultsch.de
Source Code: https://codeberg.org/iNPUTmice/
Liberapay: https://liberapay.com/iNPUTmice

Public Key

npub18ds9zvuywuaq4fshzvng4xdl5mpn2m4prf9lkngaw5l6mke4z8csca6490

NIP-05 Address

daniel_at_gultsch.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsrkcz3xwz8wws25ct3xf52nxl6dse4d6s35jlmf5wh20admv63rugpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsg93vja

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub18ds9zvuywuaq4fshzvng4xdl5mpn2m4prf9lkngaw5l6mke4z8csca6490

Show more details

Last Notes

2026-04-09 09:52:37 UTC

I’m delighted to announce that the OpenPGP implementation in #Conversations_im will see some love over the next ~6 months. Simultaneously, we will be laying the groundwork for OMEMO2 by implementing Stanza Content Encryption.
Thanks to funding from @npub1n8y…l96n and the European Commission.
https://nlnet.nl/project/Conversations-OpenPGP-refresh/
#XMPP #Jabber #OMEMO #OpenPGP

2026-03-23 04:19:09 UTC

A good litmus test for the morality of software is asking the developers if they would let their kids use it.
Meta execs: Fuck no!
XMPP devs: Yes, that's why I started this project.

2026-03-01 09:18:42 UTC

Historically, events like Meta announcing ads in WhatsApp haven’t significantly impacted #Conversations_im download numbers. This time feels different. February saw double the installs of a typical month. It seems the sentiment against Big Tech is finally translating into action.
#DiDay #XMPP

2026-02-18 14:21:49 UTC

RE: https://furry.engineer/@soatok/116088639302283341
I’m not qualified to comment on the alleged security vulnerability in #Matrix, but 'the entire Matrix community sucks because one user once disagreed with me on the Internet' is such a wild take.
#note1jfn…khfj

2026-02-10 20:30:39 UTC

Nice! The #XMPP logo is now officially part of Font-Awesome. 🎉
https://fontawesome.com/icons/xmpp?f=brands&s=solid

2026-02-07 10:24:58 UTC

RE: https://social.coop/@django/116019244368171843
Dear #Fediverse developers, please do more cool things with #ActivityPub C2S.
Just note that "Direct Messaging apps" are way more complex than you might realize and that #XMPP has solved most of the problems you might encounter.
#note1amx…dq68

2026-02-06 10:53:43 UTC

There are IM apps mostly pushed by a few loud enthusiasts on Mastodon, and then there is #XMPP, which is used in the real world.
For example:
• Evacuating people from battlefields in Afghanistan: That’s XMPP.
• Shipping metric fuck tons of cocaine across the globe: That’s XMPP.
#ThatsXMPP #Jabber

2026-02-01 12:34:18 UTC

I'm in Belgium for #FOSDEM and the #XMPP Summit, and ever since I crossed the border on Wednesday, my roaming has been extremely spotty or non-existent. It's amazing how much XMPP instant messaging traffic I can still get through a very slow EDGE connection, whereas the Mastodon API with Tusky doesn't work at all.

2026-02-01 08:46:40 UTC

Heute ist #DiDay
Der Digital Independence Day ist eine tolle Initiative, deren Werte wir zu 100% teilen. Die Empfehlung für Signal ist allerdings ein Schritt in die falsche Richtung und treibt Nutzer von einem geschlossenen System in ein anderes.
Zum Glück gibt es auch Wechselrezepte für die Independent Messaging Apps #Quicksy, #Monal und #Conversations_im, die wirkliche Souveränität bieten.
Ein Wechsel zu Quicksy ist genauso einfach wie ein Wechsel zu Signal.
https://imday.de/de/
#DIDIt

2026-01-25 10:57:06 UTC

The only relevant feature for any instant messaging app (or social app, for that matter) is: Are my friends using it? People will gladly overlook minor inconsistencies or missing features as long as they can communicate with their friends. We shouldn’t recommend #Signal as a stepping stone before Jabber/XMPP becomes "good enough," if goodness is defined by the number of people using it.
#Jabber #XMPP #Conversations_im

2026-01-18 10:21:53 UTC

Recommending #Signal is like giving a man a slightly less poisonous fish. Introducing them to federated, provider independent instant messaging with #XMPP is teaching them how to fish.

2026-01-04 08:14:46 UTC

Happy Jabber Day 🎂 🥳
On January 4, 1999, Jabber was first announced to the public¹.
Twenty-seven years later, Jabber—or XMPP, as it became known after standardization through the #IETF—remains the only truly vendor-independent, federated instant messaging platform.
In almost three decades, XMPP has never stopped evolving and remains our best tool for digital independence.
¹: http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/01/04/1621211
#DigitalIndependenceDay #Jabber #XMPP #DiDit #DigitalSovereignty #DiDay #JabberDay

2026-01-03 12:34:20 UTC

I think #XMPP has a relatively clear and achievable path to drastically reduce the amount of metadata, but I’m increasingly worried that it is not going to move the needle in terms of adoption.
For 99.99% of people, the only relevant feature for an instant messenger is simply 'Are my friends using it?' The other 0.01% are equally divided between people who already use XMPP and don’t mind the metadata, and people who won’t use it anyway.
#Jabber #Conversations_im

2025-12-31 11:49:17 UTC

I still find it a bit odd that Udbhav Tiwari and Meredith Whittaker ([@Mer__edith](https://mastodon.world/@Mer__edith )) stormed off the stage at #39C3 with ~20 minutes left in their slot without answering any questions. I always think of Chaos events as being among equals, and a Q&A after your presentation is just part of that. But I guess if you are earning close to $1 million a year, you are a bit more equal than others.
I’m wondering if this was prearranged with the organizers and/or the Herold in that session.

2025-12-29 18:57:56 UTC

RE: https://gultsch.social/@daniel/115802352665594606
I guess they are not answering any questions? 🤷‍♂️
#39C3 #Signal
#note1q4m…7a23

2025-12-29 10:21:12 UTC

Meredith Whittaker ([@Mer__edith](https://mastodon.world/@Mer__edith )) has been invited to speak at #39C3 later today. If you make it to the mic in time, here is an interesting question for her: "If I’m put on a boycott list by the Trump regime because I’m openly anti-fascist or oppose war crimes, will you adhere to US laws and block my access to #Signal?"
#DigitalSovereignty #DIDit

2025-12-23 11:07:46 UTC

- reply

Yes, agreed. Tremendous value in reusing identities and login credentials. Big skepticism with regards to using AP as a protocol. One can probably kinda make it work… But why? What’s the benefit?

2025-12-23 10:54:59 UTC

- reply

Soatak is an expert in cryptography. I’m not. I’m more than happy to stand on the shoulder of giants when it comes to E2EE. That’s why we used the Signal Protocol 10+ years ago for #OMEMO and are now looking towards #MLS. However, good, interoperable protocol design is so much more than just E2EE. And maybe I've learned a thing or two about protocol design in my career that they don’t necessarily know.

2025-12-23 10:46:49 UTC

- reply

there are three actively developed protocols for federated instant messaging (XMPP, Matrix, Deltachat). At least one of them is very open to new developers and new ideas and has a structure in place to collaboratively work on those ideas and bring various stake holders together. With no disrespect to that individual I don't see why there needs to be a forth protocol loosely based on ActivityPub.

2025-12-23 10:14:35 UTC

- reply

two things: I already said in my follow up post that if someone wants to build their own clients on top of XMPP and prefers MLS over OMEMO, the XMPP community is very open to that. A protocol is much more than just the encryption. They would still benefit from all the other things XMPP has solved.
A lot of what's in that blog post is ill-informed and bordering on disinformation and fear mongering.

2025-12-20 09:15:03 UTC

- reply

I consider this a failure on our part but I don’t really know what to do about it. Most arguments against #XMPP don’t hold if you’re building from scratch anyway:
• #Conversations_im looks very outdated: OK, but you are developing your own clients anyway.
• XMPP doesn’t have an SDK: Neither does your #ActivityPub or email stack
• OMEMO is insecure and I would prefer #MLS: Yes, let’s work on that together and you’ll still benefit from XMPP’s 100+ solved IM problems.

2025-12-20 09:03:47 UTC

As a community, we often ask ourselves how to attract more users to #XMPP. Yet the real tragedy is that people would rather build something entirely new (loosely based on email or #ActivityPub) than consider XMPP. Need end-to-end encryption by default? If compatibility with existing XMPP clients is a secondary concern, you can implement it in your own solution while still benefiting from our two decades of experience in instant messaging.

2025-11-03 13:55:20 UTC

Day 2 of the Hackathon went great. Marvin (@npub1y8y…sana) helped me implement an opt-in feature in #Conversations_im which routes all P2P sessions (calls and files transfers) via the users home server (similar to the feature found in Signal).
I went on a nice walk to a viewpoint on Mount Royal afterwards.
Now looking forward to Day 1 of #IETF124.
#XMPP #IETF #Jabber
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/486/093/581/927/386/original/55ae6a03d1fe2a11.png
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/486/094/195/291/994/original/0ae88c92559eeb1d.jpg
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/486/094/749/650/285/original/fba837194f236e8b.jpg

2025-10-16 18:07:54 UTC

- reply

what do you mean by that? When you are locked into your PeerTube account from a client? Or what tooling do you use? And more importantly does the web interface then display the boosted video?

2025-10-16 15:28:40 UTC

Many exciting projects made it into the latest @npub1dk0…k0wd funding round.
My personal favorites are OMEMO v2 (#TWOMEMO 😜) for Converse.js (by @npub15p7…gawl) and GTK4 support for @npub122d…rrm4.
https://nlnet.nl/news/2025/20251016-selection-NGI0CommonsFund.html
#XMPP #Jabber #Converse #OMEMO

2025-10-16 13:51:15 UTC

There is no way in #PeerTube to essentially 'boost' (retweet) a video from another instance, is there?
I want people to be able to go to my PeerTube instance and watch a video that I recommended without leaving my instance but all likes and comments should obviously go to the original source. (And the video itself should obviously be streamed from the original source as well.)
#askfedi #ActivityPub

2025-10-08 15:42:35 UTC

I just heard at @npub1cza…d6az that @npub168y…upza is getting #Fediverse integration. When is @npub1mtr…trt0 getting news and comments via #ActivityPub?
#FediForum

2025-10-06 10:09:47 UTC

Since a speaker at #FediDay25 made the offhand comment that "advertisement is free speech" allow me to offer a quick rebuttal: No, emotionally manipulating people into buying shit they don’t need is not free speech.
Any instance distributing advertisements into the #Fediverse needs to be defederated immediately.

2025-10-04 06:52:35 UTC

We are not going to write open letters on how we are heroically going to withdraw from Europe. We will stay here continuing to operate as usual. We are infrastructure.
#Conversations_im #XMPP

2025-10-04 06:50:14 UTC

EU Chat Control won't apply to the federated Jabber/XMPP ecosystem.
#Conversations_im is used by various militaries, police forces and intelligence agencies in Europe. They will make sure it won't get any client side scanning.
#XMPP #Jabber #ChatControl

2025-09-23 10:33:51 UTC

- reply

I legit don’t know what "Trust & Safety" is. Maybe moderation on matrix.org? In that case the budget line should probably also count towards "Operating the matrix.org server"

2025-09-23 10:32:12 UTC

In his 'Enter the Matrix' talk¹, @npub1cw9…wx3j suggested donating to the Matrix Foundation to address the issue of one company controlling 90% of the ecosystem and spec.
Here's how the foundation spends its money:²
• Administrative overhead
• Operating the matrix.org server
• Director’s salary
• Hosting Matrix Conf
No funds for software development or spec writing.
Hosting the conference (12.5% of budget) is obviously a good investment.
¹: https://media.ccc.de/v/ds25-506-enter-the-matrix-oder-warum-signal-auch-doof-ist
²: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec/issues/571#issuecomment-2673151460

2025-09-23 08:32:31 UTC

I must admit the iPhone Air looks pretty cool. Now that Google is locking down #Android, I might as well get one of those and do #Conversations_im for iOS instead.
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/252/677/978/042/388/original/945640b4925c52da.jpg
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/252/678/740/631/877/original/3089757af58b7c7f.jpg

2025-09-06 08:39:52 UTC

I'm paying Google ~100 euros a month for their services and the privilege of publishing Conversations on the Play Store.
For a week now, I have been unable to release any updates because I'm still hoping to talk to someone at Google about their false accusation that I'm collecting users' email addresses, and any publication would reset my slot in the queue.

2025-09-02 13:35:49 UTC

If you can’t make it to #Datenspuren, I will also be at #MRMCD25 talking about #UnifiedPush.
I taught myself how to use mermaid.js. Expect graphs!
https://talks.mrmcd.net/2025/talk/RLQMGN/
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/134/964/323/965/833/original/7895f60d71ae7b52.png
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/134/964/337/276/612/original/62cddb70c7d7968e.png

2025-08-31 08:05:22 UTC

- reply

Google rejected my appeal and included this helpful screenshot to demonstrate that Conversations is collecting email addresses.
Extending this logic means that any app with a free form text field is technically collecting users social security numbers. Because the user could potentially enter that.
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/122/335/000/531/666/original/08a656af5a18c1d9.png

2025-08-31 03:17:34 UTC

- reply

I admitted to collecting email addresses because it is the fastest way to get the release out, and now I’m appealing the decision. Let’s see where this is going. Spoiler: very likely nowhere. Google doesn’t make mistakes.
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/121/208/792/521/481/original/9f62d859b97879b3.png

2025-08-29 15:15:21 UTC

According to Google, #Conversations_im is now also collecting users’ email addresses.
Pretty much the exact same thing that happened to Quicksy about a month ago¹ is now also happening to Conversations.
An app update I submitted ~48 hours ago passed review without any issues. A subsequent update just now, which contained very minor bug fixes, was rejected because I failed to declare that I’m collecting email addresses.
I’m so tired of this bullshit.
¹: https://gultsch.social/@daniel/114954618263198238
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/112/697/363/147/680/original/e1f9f0ef0e4056e7.png

2025-08-22 06:58:47 UTC

Every new #Conversations_im release involves testing on the four major #XMPP servers and on devices as old as this 10-year old Nexus 5.
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/071/111/498/231/317/original/81849409ff9a4898.jpg

2025-08-21 11:24:24 UTC

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is important. However, on self-hosted or otherwise trusted servers, the client-to-server transport layer presents a much larger attack surface. It’s the first hurdle an adversary must overcome before they can attack E2EE.
That’s why #Conversations_im includes advanced MITM detection called Channel Binding. Turn it on today!
It’s optional for now because not all servers support it. Talk to your admins.
Neither @npub1m9z…whzq nor @npub17gp…nrxn offer comparable protection.
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/066/464/406/138/552/original/deb3f628366470d2.png

2025-08-01 17:11:11 UTC

Someone or something at Google started to hallucinate that #Quicksy is collecting the user's email address and would not approve the app update until we declared that in our data policy.
The sign up process in Quicksy hasn't changed in 7 years. I don't even know where the user would enter their email address and I'm not aware of an API that collects this automatically.
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/954/573/721/993/628/original/454cf98884960197.jpeg

2025-06-30 08:12:31 UTC

Looks like the Jabber/XMPP community will have a booth at @npub1nxl…jpt0 this year.
August 16th and 17th. Save the date. See you there.
I promise we will bring stickers!
https://froscon.org/
#XMPP #Jabber #Conversations_im

2025-04-14 15:19:16 UTC

The "Open source developers don’t care about UI" trope is incredibly insulting.
It’s like telling the forth runner across the finish line at a marathon they clearly don’t care about winning.
Nobody wants their app to look bad. We can and do look at other apps and try to follow trends. Trends change rapidly and UI development is difficult and time consuming.

2025-04-09 17:08:29 UTC

- reply

Glad you asked. Signal is a centralized service run on Big Tech infrastructure. You can decide to trust Signal as your service provider; That’s absolutely fine and reasonable even. But they don’t allow federation or inter-op with anyone who wants to make different choices.
#XMPP gives you that choice. Don’t trust me to be your server operator? That’s fine: pick a different one.
Donations to Signal are directly funding Amazon, Google and Microsoft.¹
¹: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/824506840

2025-04-09 13:25:30 UTC

Looks like Dino is enabling #OMEMO by default for the next release¹. I think that was the last of the major #XMPP clients to do so. Hopefully we can now put the "But XMPP is not encrypted by default" debate to rest.
¹: https://github.com/dino/dino/commit/fc6447c56e7fdaf6f6d843a2215d870caee4aba0

2025-04-09 10:51:06 UTC

The good news is you don’t have to wait for the slow, democratic process of the European Union to impose tariffs on US-based digital services. You can boycott Amazon, WhatsApp, and Signal today.

2025-04-03 15:15:32 UTC

I think I’ve found a relatively nice solution for #FediLinks in #Conversations_im.
You can put web+ap URIs into a message (or room description) and ideally a click on those will open your Mastodon client. However if no installed app supports those (the only app that I’m aware of is Fedilab) Conversations will open a browser instead.
Currently no app will create web+ap links but it is fairly easy to handcraft them.
cc @npub1dpw…vfu6
#XMPP #ActivityPub

2025-04-03 05:41:17 UTC

Today I’m announcing a 45% tariff on #Conversations_im sold in the USA.

2025-03-28 11:05:47 UTC

- reply

I understand the concern about bad fallback on the web. I just wish people would be a bit more pragmatic about it and at least add support for reading / opening such URIs. Nobody suggested replace all Follow buttons with web+activitypub: links.
Can we have support for FEP-07d7 in #Tusky and #Fedilab? (cc @npub18wv…53pp @npub14kx…urew)
It shouldn’t be that hard to implement at least one of the possible URI schemes in #Conversations_im, #Lttrs, #Tusky and #Fedilab. Maybe get @npub17gp…nrxn on board too?

2025-03-27 21:06:26 UTC

Is there any #ActivityPub / #Mastodon URI scheme used in the wild that would allow me to open an ActivityPub account directly in my Android app?
I've seen 'acct' and 'web+ap' mentioned but none seem to be implemented.
The goal is that given a text of "Here is my Mastodon profile acct:daniel@gultsch.social" #Conversations_im can link that directly into #Tusky. (Just like mailto and xmpp URIs open my E-Mail or IM app respectively)
Have @npub14kx…urew or @npub18wv…53pp considered that? If not why not?

2025-03-05 16:51:43 UTC

After gradually moving all my code repositories from #Github to @npub1fh7…ee83 I have now disabled my Github Sponsors account. A very big thank you to everyone who has supported me over the years. 😍
Not just in light of recent events - after all this is a process I started over two years ago - but also in light of recent events I want to have as little dependencies as possible to platforms run by the Tech Oligarchs.

2025-03-05 12:24:32 UTC

It’s very important for me to say that existing quicksy.im account will continue to exist for a long time. The server Quicksy runs on is very cheap (10 Euro / month). Worst case we will move them over to the conversations.im server and basically run them for free. (~1000 Quicksy users is a drop in the bucket for conversations.im)
What bothers me - and makes me unsure about the future of Quicksy - is paying 100 Euro a month in SMS fees.

2025-03-05 12:14:59 UTC

We need to talk about Quicksy.im again 🤨
· Quicksy has 880 monthly active users. The median number of messages send and received per user per month is 25
· Quicksy is experiencing a high volume of unsuccessful registrations, meaning attempts that trigger an SMS but don't result in account creation. This occurs when SMS messages don't arrive or when users 'test' the service with fake or nonexistent numbers. These failed registrations drive up costs with little benefit.

2025-02-09 14:44:28 UTC

It’s incredibly sad that we’ve lost the open, federated team chat space to #Matrix—where the only viable server isn’t open source, it’s debatable whether the underlying standard is truly open, and the most charitable thing I’ve heard about the UX is that it’s 'OK.'
#XMPP #Jabber

2025-02-01 08:14:19 UTC

- reply

I'm happy that #Matrix works for you. From a developer POV the dominance of Element (the company) is a huge liability and I prefer a standardization organization where I can actively participate without paying millions of dollars in member fees.

2025-02-01 08:02:09 UTC

- reply

synapse nation grade or the slow one?

2025-02-01 07:36:31 UTC

I'm skipping #FOSDEM this year, but the #XMPP Standards Foundation will be there! Stop by the Realtime Lounge¹ to chat about XMPP, pick up some merch, and maybe grab a #Conversations_im sticker—while supplies last! 🚀
¹: https://xmpp.org/2025/01/xmpp-at-fosdem-2025/#realtime-lounge (K building 2nd floor, beside the elevator)

2025-02-01 06:42:34 UTC

I don’t usually do this kind of evangelism, but if you’re looking for a reason to try #XMPP on #GlobalSwitchDay, now’s the perfect time: #Conversations_im is currently free on Google Play!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.siacs.conversations
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/927/267/285/116/702/original/df2f46487f323cab.png

2025-01-19 15:36:13 UTC

- reply

All good. I didn’t even have any issues with your original post.
Things that have existed and evolved for 25 years are brittle.
The question is do you look at the 2-3 clients we actually recommend or everything under the sun that calls itself #XMPP.
I’m not holding Delta Chat responsible for mutt+gnupg even though it would probably be somewhat compatible.

2025-01-19 15:18:39 UTC

- reply

I don’t have the numbers (Maybe we can try digging some up) but my best guess is that the overwhelming majority of messages flowing through the public XMPP network are OMEMO encrypted these days. (Excluding those to and from public channels, obviously)
Yes there are clients that don’t have OMEMO but I don’t think they are responsible for a lot of the traffic.

2025-01-19 12:45:34 UTC

I love open source, and I want young people to know there’s a career path outside of #FAANG. Open source can be financially sustainable—it just gets super hard if one of your key goals is making your investors even richer. #Conversations_im is about the same age as #Matrix. I never took VC funding, and I’m doing fine.
#OpenSource

2025-01-12 16:01:52 UTC

- reply

Stärkere Sanktionen und ein wehrhaftes Europa 🇪🇺 schließen sich ja nicht aus. Ich für meinen Teil hätte mir im Februar 2022 gerne einen Pulli angezogen und den Gashahn abgedreht.

2025-01-12 14:50:56 UTC

Gerade ein sehr angenehmes Interview von Tilo Jung mit Jan van Aken zu Ende gehört.
Bei dem, was Jan van Aken über Wirtschafts-, Sozial- und Verkehrspolitik zu sagen hat, gibt es von mir ja viel Zustimmung.
Ich würde mir wünschen, @npub1shz…mgz4 hätte mehr Bewusstsein dafür, dass, wenn ein Autokrat in ein wehrloses Europa einfällt, wir die ganze schöne Sozialpolitik auch nicht mehr umsetzen können.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls0tBHgy_xI
#BTW25

2025-01-09 09:28:47 UTC

- reply

we are running an #XMPP server (ejabberd) with a user count that is at least an order of magnitude higher without any issues. (concurrent online that is)

2024-12-26 13:56:49 UTC

If you run a public #XMPP server can you look up what percentage of connected clients are Blabber? I’m wondering if the 15% reported by jabberfr.org is a weird outlier. On our server (conversations.im) the number is closer to 4-5% but we are obviously biased towards Conversations users.

2024-12-26 08:56:21 UTC

The same security issue is likely to be found in some of the crazier forks of Conversations like c0nnect. As mentioned earlier¹ I’ve reached out to the developers a month ago and they didn’t care.
¹: https://gultsch.social/@daniel/113521011923491030

2024-12-26 08:52:31 UTC

#Conversations_im and #BlabberIm traditionally had compatible backup formats. However the backup format has changed in the two years since Blabber has been abandoned. To migrate to Conversations and keep your history do the following:
· Create Backup on Blabber
· Install version 2.12.7 of Conversations from F-Droid and restore backup. Do not activate the account!
· Upgrade to latest Conversations.
· Optionally: Create another backup and migrate to the Play Store version.

2024-12-26 08:45:56 UTC

⚠️ 🚨 It’s time to stop using Blabber.im 🚨⚠️
The abandoned fork of #Conversations_im has a critical security issue: attackers can bypass STARTTLS negotiation, resulting in an unencrypted connection to a fake server. This vulnerability is similar to the STARTLS attack discovered in various email clients¹
✅ Fixed in Conversations 2.13.1 (Feb 2024)
📢 Please migrate to Conversations immediately! It's free on Google Play until the end of the year and always free on #fdroid
¹: https://archive.fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-2179--protocols-security-of-starttls-in-the-e-mail-context/

2024-12-24 10:26:16 UTC

Continuing a decade-long tradition #Conversations_im is currently available for free on Google Play.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.siacs.conversations
Merry Christmas 🎄 Happy Holidays ☃️ and have fun at #38C3

2024-12-05 11:09:02 UTC

- reply

Have you tried Hamilton?

2024-11-26 11:29:14 UTC

I installed #Signal and #Conversations_im on a clean install of #GrapheneOS on my Pixel 4a and measured the battery impact. The results are shocking!
Both messengers had only one contact: my regular phone.
I used my regular phone to send messages to the Pixel 4a (which was not used for anything else over the course of the experiment).
I always sent the same message via Signal and #XMPP (mixing up which app went first). In total I sent ~32 messages in intervals of 10mins to a few hours.
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/549/013/306/917/061/original/15a8f30c98cca77a.png

2024-11-21 20:21:12 UTC

- reply

Offering TURN has diminishing returns. STUN gets you from not being able to establish any connections outside of your local network to 70%. TURN gets you the other 30% but at crazy costs as who ever runs it will be paying for the traffic.

2024-11-21 18:23:15 UTC

- reply

To be clear I’m only talking about STUN. I have no intention of running a TURN server.
The specific STUN server that we would be using (stun.conversations.im) is quasi public already.

2024-11-21 18:03:40 UTC

More thoughts on the STUN server fallback question:
· This is something other #XMPP Clients just do quietly without having a big debate about it¹
· I don't think users should configure this. Anyone who knows what a STUN server is will likely switch to a server offering one.
· Treat it like channel search. On first use (call, file transfer), ask once: Use our fallback STUN server? Yes/No.
¹: https://github.com/dino/dino/blob/v0.4.4/plugins/ice/src/plugin.vala#L49-L52

2024-11-19 15:43:35 UTC

Should #Conversations_im add stun.conversations.im as a fallback for #XMPP servers missing XEP-0215: External Service Discovery?
I’ve hesitated to add anything resembling "calling home" (no update checker, no metrics).
However, the main goal here wouldn’t be improving A/V call success (though it helps) but making P2P file transfers more reliable. Many servers still lack HTTP Upload, and the refactored Jingle File Transfer would benefit greatly from a fallback STUN server.

2024-11-16 11:39:50 UTC

It’s funny how the only reason WhatsApp exists is to help Meta show you more targeted ads.
You are not paying with your data—you are literally paying by being psychologically manipulated into buying shit you don’t need.

2024-10-29 07:07:41 UTC

- reply

At the #XMPP Summit − after a topic is well-discussed and a rough consensus reached − someone needs to volunteer to write the XEP.
Last year, I volunteered to write the XEP for synchronizing read states across devices.
It's called Message Displayed Synchronization and is now in Last Call, where community feedback is gathered before a XEP becomes 'stable.'
https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0490.html
Prototype implementations are in @npub1xxs…xwre and #Conversations_im.
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/389/442/876/757/771/original/22b3e0fe889fab73.jpg

2024-10-28 14:45:54 UTC

- reply

If you don’t consider yourself a developer but rather an enthusiastic user or admin we regularly have booths at various conferences (FOSDEM, CLT, FrOSCon, …) that are a great opportunity to meet us.
If however you are a developer and always wondered what standards mailing list discussions would look like IRL you can find more information on the Summit here: https://wiki.xmpp.org/web/Conferences/Summit_27

2024-10-28 14:40:28 UTC

- reply

Interoperability is a big part of what makes #XMPP great. However agreeing on a common strategy or even establishing a rough priority for certain features can be hard.
I believe those in-person events do a lot in getting us on the same page.
If you are an XMPP developer (client, server, gateway) I strongly encourage you to come.
I keep saying 'developer' and use that as a shorthand for: To get the most out of the summit you should have a background in reading (and maybe even writing) XEPs.

2024-10-28 14:23:29 UTC

- reply

If you have ever followed a thread on the standards mailing list or participated in a discussion on the public XSF channel it is a bit like that only in person.
The different topics are broken up by short breaks that are great for networking and getting to know other XMPP developers. (Think hallway discussion at other conferences.)

2024-10-28 14:18:58 UTC

What is the #XMPP Summit and should you go? 🧵
The XMPP Summit is a two day event for the people who write and implement the XMPP extensions (XEP). It is not a conference. There are no presentations. It is more like a round table discussion and active participation is encouraged.
Similar to an unconference at the beginning of Day 1 participants can suggest topics and others can indicate (via a +1) whether or not they are interested in that topic. Afterwards a rough order of topics is established

2024-10-27 09:40:52 UTC

I just got word that the 27th #XMPP Summit will indeed take place on the two days leading up to #FOSDEM 2025.
Thursday, January 30th 2025 and Friday, January 31st at the Thon Hotel EU in Brussels, Belgium.
Save the date! RSVP if you plan to attend in person.
If you are an XMPP developer and enjoy long discussions over minute details of XMPP protocol extensions this event is perfect for you!
Looking forward to seeing everyone in person again. Stay tuned for more details.

2024-10-20 07:27:27 UTC

- reply

Sorry this wasn’t meant to be an accusation. I’ve been a very happy member for almost two years and will continue to be.
Build log says HTTP Response code 429. That’s literally all I know.
But if it's not intentional that’s even more reason for you and @npub1mtr…trt0 to get in touch.

2024-10-20 06:05:24 UTC

Good news and bad news.
#Conversations_im 2.17.0 has support for emoji reactions 🎉
Since @npub1fh7…ee83 appears to be under constant DDoS attacks they have added pretty strict rate limits that the @npub1mtr…trt0 build server keeps running into. 😞
Another build cycle just failed and it's unclear when 2.17.0 will be available on F-Droid.
Maybe Codeberg and F-Droid can back channel an allow list or something? 🙏
https://gultsch.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/338/231/555/189/887/original/481d2071c8bf0e49.png

2024-08-22 06:49:31 UTC

Thanks to Thilo, developer of @npub1xxs…xwre, Quicksy is now available on iOS!
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/quicksy/id6538727270
Jabber/XMPP with Easy Entry and Easy Discovery
Conversations for you. Quicksy for your less tech-savvy friends
Remember you don’t have to be on Quicksy yourself to give your friends an easy way to find your #XMPP address. Instead you can enter your XMPP address-phone number tuple into the Quicksy Directory
https://quicksy.im/#get-listed
You can also initiate the conversation by adding +123455…@quicksy.im