Hi all,
Thanks Georg for laying this out. I really like the direction you are
proposing, and I think it fits with where the discussion has landed so
far.
Based on the thread and some follow up discussion, I would suggest the
following approach, which I think keeps things moving while avoiding
unnecessary process overhead:
First, I do not think we need formal XSF approval to move forward with
practical outreach materials like the flyer you describe. If the goal
is to
help people get started with XMPP, then just doing the work is likely
more
valuable than waiting for a formal stamp. Trying to frame this as an
official XSF endorsed artifact also risks opening discussions about
completeness and representation that we simply do not have time for
before
FOSDEM.
So my suggestion would be: just create the flyer. Mentioning the XSF or
linking to xmpp.org is fine, but without positioning it as an official or
comprehensive XSF statement. From my perspective, that removes most of
the
risk while keeping all of the upside. On the funding side, I am confident
we can sort something out one way or another, so I would not let that
be a
blocker.
Second, building on the earlier discussion, this feels like a good
opportunity for the Communications Team to play a more active role than
just posting a simple message of support. A blog post on xmpp.org that:
- mentions and links to the DI.DAY initiative and the shared values
around decentralization and digital independence,
- highlights the concrete, user friendly XMPP based projects that
already fit well with DI.DAY goals,
- and explicitly invites other XMPP projects to do their own
outreach,
recipes, or materials,
would be a great way to support this effort. This also shifts the focus
slightly from "projects submit a paragraph to XSF" to "projects tell
their
own story, and we help point people to it", which feels more scalable and
more in line with the ecosystem.
This way, we keep the XSF out of the critical path, we support Georgs
concrete plans for FOSDEM, and we still give visibility and coordination
where it makes sense. It also leaves plenty of room for others to join
in,
including via the existing chat where coordination is already happening.
If this sounds reasonable to others, I think it gives us a clear and
practical next step.
Kind regards,
Guus
On Fri, Jan 16, 2026 at 1:24 AM Georg Lukas <[email protected]> wrote:
* Daniel Gultsch <[email protected]> [2026-01-15 13:28]:
People have reached out to DI.DAY and the website now mentions XMPP in
a footnote of a footnote. People are trying to get them to clean up
the wording around that mention a bit but I’m afraid that is the
maximum we will get out of them. I don’t think they will publish an
official XMPP recipe.
I agree with that assessment (for now). I want to meet with the DI.DAY
folks at FOSDEM and to talk to them about how realistic an inclusion of
an XMPP recipe on the main page would be. To improve our chances I would
like to see the following happen ahead of FOSDEM:
1. Prepare (and maybe already publish) a blog post on xmpp.org,
- mentioning and linking the initiative (I don't consider linking to
them an endorsement of Signal, but rather an endorsement of
decentralized / federated communications, which fully aligns with
our goals.
- highlighting a few XMPP-based projects that are aimed at beginners,
with one paragraph each, and maybe something like an "easy / medium
/ hard" rating. I'm thinking of Quicksy, Snikket, weblin, maybe
also
"regular" XMPP clients like Conversations and Monal.
- outlining whatever "network effect" functionality we have, like the
Quicksy directory, getting JIDs from address books, QR-code based
contact invitations, ...
I hope that user-oriented projects interested in a mention can provide
a logo and a paragrpah of intro to commteam within the next week.
My pessimist brain says that getting listed at DI.DAY will be hard
without a free, low-barrier, multi-platform client, but we can show our
best side and try.
2. Axel Reimer already wrote and published repsective recipes in German
that are close enough to what I would like to see,
under https://eversten.net/tags/xmpp/
I would like to add English translations and to use that material as the
basis for our own outreach initiative, in whatever ways are deemed
acceptable.
3. Prepare (and bring to FOSDEM) a pack of "How do I get XMPP" flyers or
leaflets, based on Axel's work. They should mention DI.DAY, and maybe
even be branded with the DI.DAY design (it is allowed to use their
styles and logos for projects that promote the digital independence
initiative, if they link to the DI.DAY site). The target audience IMO is
not so much FOSDEM visitors, but rather their friends and families. I
would like to provide the onboarding instructions for Quicksy and
Conversations/Monal, in English and German.
I plan to prepare these flyers, either privately or with an XSF mention,
if we can get SCAM / Board approval. In the latter case, it would be
also great to get them funded from the SCAM budget. Eddie kindly offered
to print them together with the "XMPP News 2025" flyers.
Kind regards
Georg
