WhatsApp started as an isolated XMPP server as well. It was the best protocol to base a new app upon and even today it’s a good place to start (if you implement the hundreds of optional extensions).
I think XMPP’s protocol and federation design is better than Matrix’s, but XMPP suffers from many clients not implementing all the necessary extensions to provide a decent experience. I don’t really care about JSON vs XML.
The IETF is working with several services on a cross-platform protocol, probably in part because the DMA will force companies to open up their networks anyway. I think the Matrix project is working on implementing MLS as well.
Many of those things couldn’t be part of the standard. Modern encryption hadn’t been invented yet (and exporting it across borders was illegal) and many concepts simply weren’t a thing way back in the day. The extensibility of the protocol is what has kept it relevant for so long.
That said, the Modern XMPP project is trying to fix the compatibility issues caused by with the Swiss cheese of extension implementations.
WhatsApp started as an isolated XMPP server as well. It was the best protocol to base a new app upon and even today it’s a good place to start (if you implement the hundreds of optional extensions).
I think XMPP’s protocol and federation design is better than Matrix’s, but XMPP suffers from many clients not implementing all the necessary extensions to provide a decent experience. I don’t really care about JSON vs XML.
The IETF is working with several services on a cross-platform protocol, probably in part because the DMA will force companies to open up their networks anyway. I think the Matrix project is working on implementing MLS as well.
Many of the things that XMPP listed as extensions really should have been part of the core protocol, in my opinion.
Many of those things couldn’t be part of the standard. Modern encryption hadn’t been invented yet (and exporting it across borders was illegal) and many concepts simply weren’t a thing way back in the day. The extensibility of the protocol is what has kept it relevant for so long. That said, the Modern XMPP project is trying to fix the compatibility issues caused by with the Swiss cheese of extension implementations.