In a few days, from Feb 5th to 7th, it's time for the largest free software developer conference in Europe. The 2010 edition of FOSDEM takes place in Brussels and has a strong line-up of topics and speakers.
Simultaneously and also in Brussels the XMPP Standards Foundation is organising its twice yearly XMPP Summit. It starts on Friday, a day before FOSDEM, with an XMPP Hackfest where developers from different projects join forces to tackle compatibility issues and discuss new ideas. Many XSF members are giving talks at FOSDEM on XMPP and will also be there to discuss the future of XMPP on Monday at the Summit.
Both Pandion developers (Sebastiaan and Dries) will be in attendance at these events. We look forward to meeting like minded open source developers and XMPP enthousiasts. Drop us a line if you want to meet up.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Call for Transliteration of "Pandion" Name
To make Pandion instant messenger more globally accessible it supports internationalisation (i18n) of its user interface. Pandion is already available in 26 languages thanks to community contributions. This has helped tremendously in spreading Pandion to users around the world.
But there is one step which has been left out: the name "Pandion" is still in Roman script. So yesterday I implemented support for a transliterated name and now there are several localisations: Pandion (Roman), Пандион (Cyrillic), Pan-di-on (Vietnamese), بانديون (Arabic), पैन्डीऑन (Devanagari), پندین (Urdu).
If you, or someone you know, can write in any non-Roman script, please help by supplying a transliterated version of the "Pandion" name. Any Unicode-based script can be supported.
Please submit your proposed transliteration on the Pandion forum as a new topic so that others can collaborate.
The following scripts are especially desired since the application has already been translated into them:
The transliteration is separate from translating the entire user interface. For example even though currently there is no Hindi translation of Pandion, the name can already be transliterated into Devanagari.
From a PR/brand management perspective this is a delicate operation. For each script or region there could be different transliterations which must be considered on a case by case basis.
If you would also like to help out by translating Pandion please have a look at the Translation how-to guide on the wiki.
Edit: 15/11/09 - Added Arabic, Devanagari, Urdu
But there is one step which has been left out: the name "Pandion" is still in Roman script. So yesterday I implemented support for a transliterated name and now there are several localisations: Pandion (Roman), Пандион (Cyrillic), Pan-di-on (Vietnamese), بانديون (Arabic), पैन्डीऑन (Devanagari), پندین (Urdu).
If you, or someone you know, can write in any non-Roman script, please help by supplying a transliterated version of the "Pandion" name. Any Unicode-based script can be supported.
Please submit your proposed transliteration on the Pandion forum as a new topic so that others can collaborate.
The following scripts are especially desired since the application has already been translated into them:
- Chinese Simplified
- Chinese Traditional
- Greek
- Japanese
- Korean
The transliteration is separate from translating the entire user interface. For example even though currently there is no Hindi translation of Pandion, the name can already be transliterated into Devanagari.
From a PR/brand management perspective this is a delicate operation. For each script or region there could be different transliterations which must be considered on a case by case basis.
If you would also like to help out by translating Pandion please have a look at the Translation how-to guide on the wiki.
Edit: 15/11/09 - Added Arabic, Devanagari, Urdu
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Resolution Achieved Regarding RhymBox/Pandion Dispute
Original article:
http://xmpp.org/xsf/press/2009-11-03.shtml
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, USA; BRUGES, BELGIUM; AND DENVER, COLORADO, USA; NOVEMBER 3, 2009
Justin Fisher and Sebastiaan Deckers are pleased to announce their settlement of ownership over the RhymBox instant messaging software code and domain name.
Messrs. Fisher and Deckers entered into an agreement in May 2003 to further develop the RhymBox instant messaging client originally created by Deckers and RhymBox developer Dries Staelens. This work was to occur under the auspices of RhymBox LLC, a Florida company that Mr. Fisher formed for the purpose. Unfortunately, through a series of misunderstandings and misconceptions, the RhymBox developers removed their support from the venture in June 2004 and re-released their RhymBox client under the name Pandion.
Because of the longstanding controversy over the RhymBox name and code, the parties involved recently decided to reconcile their differences. The agreement, mediated by Peter Saint-Andre, Executive Director of the XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF), contains the following points:
Justin Fisher said: "I want to personally extend my gratitude to Peter Saint-Andre and Sebastiaan Deckers for their cooperation and assistance in working out this agreement. During my involvement with the RhymBox project, I had an opportunity to work with some amazingly talented individuals and participate in the coming of age of the XMPP protocol. Although we did not complete our vision, we did succeed in being the first to bring VoIP to a Jabber client. Fortunately, and to the benefit of the community, the project will go on and will continue its place as a leading XMPP application. We wish everyone involved the best of success."
Sebastiaan Deckers commented: "I thank Peter Saint-Andre and Justin Fisher for their respective roles in establishing this conclusion to the RhymBox saga. This agreement provides suitable closure to the RhymBox brand as it is absorbed by Pandion. The project has already continued for several years under the name Pandion and will continue to do so. This agreement also strengthens the Pandion open source community with absolute legal confidence. The neutral authority of the XSF and the unique position of Peter Saint-Andre in the XMPP community reassure Pandion users to continue enjoying their favourite instant messaging client. As Pandion development continues, the entire XMPP community will benefit from this long-overdue resolution."
Peter Saint-Andre added: "Justin Fisher and Sebastiaan Deckers have impressed me with their professionalism throughout the process of mediating this matter. Despite the sensitive nature of their original disagreement, both parties came together to reach a mutually agreeable settlement. I look forward to continued contributions from both Justin and Sebastiaan regarding Jabber/XMPP technologies."
The XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF) builds open protocols for presence, instant messaging, and real-time communication and collaboration on top of the IETF's Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), and also provides information and infrastructure to the worldwide community of Jabber/XMPP developers, service providers, and end users. Widely considered the lingua franca of instant messaging, XMPP is an Internet standard for presence, real-time messaging, and streaming Extensible Markup Language (XML) data that grew out of the popular Jabber open-source technologies first released in 1999. With approval of XMPP by the IETF in 2004, the XSF continues to develop XMPP extensions that meet the needs of its many stakeholders: open-source and commercial developers (including Apple, HP, Nokia, and Sun), organizations large and small (including the U.S. defense establishment and most Wall Street investment banks), Internet and mobile service providers (including Google, NTT, Portugal Telecom, Twitter, and Facebook), and an estimated 50+ million end users worldwide.
For further information, visit <http://www.xmpp.org/> or contact XSF Executive Director Peter Saint-Andre.
http://xmpp.org/xsf/press/2009-11-03.shtml
XMPP Standards Foundation Plays Key Role in Successful Conclusion
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, USA; BRUGES, BELGIUM; AND DENVER, COLORADO, USA; NOVEMBER 3, 2009
Justin Fisher and Sebastiaan Deckers are pleased to announce their settlement of ownership over the RhymBox instant messaging software code and domain name.
Messrs. Fisher and Deckers entered into an agreement in May 2003 to further develop the RhymBox instant messaging client originally created by Deckers and RhymBox developer Dries Staelens. This work was to occur under the auspices of RhymBox LLC, a Florida company that Mr. Fisher formed for the purpose. Unfortunately, through a series of misunderstandings and misconceptions, the RhymBox developers removed their support from the venture in June 2004 and re-released their RhymBox client under the name Pandion.
Because of the longstanding controversy over the RhymBox name and code, the parties involved recently decided to reconcile their differences. The agreement, mediated by Peter Saint-Andre, Executive Director of the XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF), contains the following points:
- The parties affirm that ownership of all intellectual property related to RhymBox and Pandion belong to Sebastiaan Deckers.
- The rhymbox.com domain has been transferred to Peter Saint-Andre for safekeeping, and will be subsequently transferred to Sebastiaan Deckers upon completion of all outstanding items agreed upon by the parties.
- RhymBox, LLC had been annulled as a corporate entity. Its last official act was to rescind all claims to the RhymBox name and codebase.
- Each party apologizes for and retracts any public statements they have made regarding their past conflict and will work to remedy any outstanding harm caused by such statements.
- The parties affirm that they are no longer in conflict, freeing each side to pursue new opportunities related to instant messaging software and services.
Justin Fisher said: "I want to personally extend my gratitude to Peter Saint-Andre and Sebastiaan Deckers for their cooperation and assistance in working out this agreement. During my involvement with the RhymBox project, I had an opportunity to work with some amazingly talented individuals and participate in the coming of age of the XMPP protocol. Although we did not complete our vision, we did succeed in being the first to bring VoIP to a Jabber client. Fortunately, and to the benefit of the community, the project will go on and will continue its place as a leading XMPP application. We wish everyone involved the best of success."
Sebastiaan Deckers commented: "I thank Peter Saint-Andre and Justin Fisher for their respective roles in establishing this conclusion to the RhymBox saga. This agreement provides suitable closure to the RhymBox brand as it is absorbed by Pandion. The project has already continued for several years under the name Pandion and will continue to do so. This agreement also strengthens the Pandion open source community with absolute legal confidence. The neutral authority of the XSF and the unique position of Peter Saint-Andre in the XMPP community reassure Pandion users to continue enjoying their favourite instant messaging client. As Pandion development continues, the entire XMPP community will benefit from this long-overdue resolution."
Peter Saint-Andre added: "Justin Fisher and Sebastiaan Deckers have impressed me with their professionalism throughout the process of mediating this matter. Despite the sensitive nature of their original disagreement, both parties came together to reach a mutually agreeable settlement. I look forward to continued contributions from both Justin and Sebastiaan regarding Jabber/XMPP technologies."
About the XMPP Standards Foundation
The XMPP Standards Foundation (XSF) builds open protocols for presence, instant messaging, and real-time communication and collaboration on top of the IETF's Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), and also provides information and infrastructure to the worldwide community of Jabber/XMPP developers, service providers, and end users. Widely considered the lingua franca of instant messaging, XMPP is an Internet standard for presence, real-time messaging, and streaming Extensible Markup Language (XML) data that grew out of the popular Jabber open-source technologies first released in 1999. With approval of XMPP by the IETF in 2004, the XSF continues to develop XMPP extensions that meet the needs of its many stakeholders: open-source and commercial developers (including Apple, HP, Nokia, and Sun), organizations large and small (including the U.S. defense establishment and most Wall Street investment banks), Internet and mobile service providers (including Google, NTT, Portugal Telecom, Twitter, and Facebook), and an estimated 50+ million end users worldwide.
For further information, visit <http://www.xmpp.org/> or contact XSF Executive Director Peter Saint-Andre.
Monday, November 2, 2009
About Dialog Redesign
The About dialog is one of the least useful features in any application yet, legally speaking, one of the most important. Pandion became free-as-in-freedom software a few months ago and this new About dialog reflects that situation better.
A few remarks about the new dialog:
- The language in the dialog separates the intellectual property and copyright of the source code from the brand trademark, i.e. the "Pandion" logo and name. I hope this clarifies the freedom for anyone to create derivatives under a different name. In fact all Pandion source code is structured so that branding properties can be changed from a single meta file (/Client/settings/brand.xml).
- The minimalistic design mimics that of Google Chrome to provide a familiar and professional looking user experience. Let's hope the Chromium team appreciates this sincere form of flattery.
- The decision to remove the names of contributors from the About dialog was made to reduce maintenance overhead. The full list of credits is published at the Pandion website's About section. This makes it easier to update the list and allows for search engine indexing of all names, a more useful way for contributors to gain bragging rights.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
New Feature: Welcome Screen
I had a fruitful weekend of experimenting with the CSS capabilities limitations of Internet Explorer 8, among other things. The result is a dialog to welcome new users. A forum feed is integrated to create a tighter Pandion user community.
Gratuitous screenshot:
This feature is available now in Pandion 2.6.35 (development track).
The large button icons are courtesy of the spectacular GPL collection Hydroxygen.
Gratuitous screenshot:
This feature is available now in Pandion 2.6.35 (development track).
The large button icons are courtesy of the spectacular GPL collection Hydroxygen.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
XMPP Client Usage
Friends over at JabberES.org, the Spanish Jabber community website, sent over some nice statistics. This shows the popularity of various XMPP clients today at peak time on the jabberes.org domain. ¡Viva el Pandion!
Announcement: Pandion 2.6.33 Beta
I am very pleased to announce a beta version of Pandion. This is a major step towards the upcoming Pandion 2.6.x stable release.
Download:
Pandion_2.6.33.msi on SourceForge
Release information:
Pandion Installer and Auto-Update Improvements
Detailed changelog:
GitHub Commit History
To stay up to date with the latest releases of Pandion, subscribe to the appcasting feed, follow @pandion on Twitter, or become a fan of the Facebook.com/pandion.im page.
Download:
Pandion_2.6.33.msi on SourceForge
Release information:
Pandion Installer and Auto-Update Improvements
Detailed changelog:
GitHub Commit History
To stay up to date with the latest releases of Pandion, subscribe to the appcasting feed, follow @pandion on Twitter, or become a fan of the Facebook.com/pandion.im page.
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