Hi!
One of the major obstacles for new Jabber users is the selection of the
"right" server to create an account on. I often find myself in the
position of explaining people the advantage that you can choose one for
yourself, then pointing them to Daniel's compliance list[1], explaining
them how to register there (some on the website, some in-band). But
usually I don't even get that far because all this is just "too
complicated" and the requirement to inform yourself beforehand which
server to use is just something the common user does not want to do.
Of course I could just say "use server X" and be done with it. But still
this is one information too much for the user to remember ("What should
I do again? Install this app? Select this option? Enter which server?
...). Furthermore the idea behind XMPP is to _not_ use and recommend
just single servers.
Another solution could be for clients to provide a pre-defined static
server list. The downsides of this solution are obvious, I hope I do not
have to mention them here again.
So my idea is like this:
- There could be a "list server" which provides a list of possible XMPP
servers users can register on. One stable server would be enough
(ideally on xmpp.org perhaps?) but several could be possible.
- This list could then be queried by arbitrary clients using a defined
API. The results can be used when a user wants to register a new
account. Of course users should still be able to enter a server manually.
- The entries in this list should be added, removed and maintained by
the corresponding server admins themselves, i.e. if they decide to stop
new registrations for some reason, they just deactivate this on the list
server and their xmpp server will not pop up anymore on the clients for
new registrations until the setting changes again.
- The list server should query the known servers regularly for a)
supported XEPs, b) security issues like certs and so on, c) uptime.
Based on this information the clients could then decide which servers to
offer users when registering and maybe randomly select one of these if
preferred.
- More information about the servers could be added, like location,
description, website, terms & conditions, status information, age,
whatever... All this data could as well be used by clients.
If implemented correctly I think this could solve the server selection
issue when onboarding once and for all. What do you think?
Unfortunately I do not have the time and resources right now to define
or implement this myself, but I would be happy if someone picks up on
the idea. I am of course available for further discussions.
Regards
Stefan
[1] https://conversations.im/compliance/
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