Why Jabber?

Because Jabber is an open protocol, it doesn't belong to anyone in particular, so there is no single company driving its destiny (although there are companies using Jabber). Jabber uses a decentralized approach, so the system is more robust. In fact, anyone can run a Jabber server if he wants to. This is a boon to companies that may want to run a private, secure instant messaging network.

Trivia Time

Google Talk, an increasingly popular instant messaging service, uses the Jabber protocol.

Whether you choose to run Jabber, Yahoo!, MSN, or something else, the ideal instant messaging client is a multiprotocol client, one that lets you talk to all these services without having to run a client for Jabber, one for AOL, one for Yahoo!, one for . . . well, you get the idea. In this chapter, I'm going to cover two superb Linux instant messaging clients. One is a great multiprotocol client that handles all your favorite chat services. The second is a powerful IRC client.

What's IRC, you ask? IRC is Internet Relay Chat, and next to your telephone, it is possibly the greatest real-time communication system in the world. I'll tell you all about it shortly.