Subject: RE: Jabber at IETF 59?

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 07:41:04 +0200

Hi all,

Sort of meta-point.  As a WG chair, it would be nice to use jabber
or something similar.  However, it seems that Jabber & my VPN
are incompatible.  One solution would be not to run my VPN, but
then it would be hard to get my mail.  At the same time, Steve
Bellovin (& my personal firewall client) seem to indicate that
the IETF network isn't all that safe.

Given these issues, how useful is Jabber?  

John

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From: "Steven M. Bellovin" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 01 Mar 2004 14:50:23 +0900

>Given these issues, how useful is Jabber?  

What is the problem you're having?  Jabber uses one outgoing TCP 
connection, which is about the safest thing you can do.  If your VPN 
client doesn't let you do that, I'm not sure what conferencing system 
you can use.

One reason I like it is the ability to run the protocol over SSL -- 
that encrypts the session from the client to the Jabber server, which 
is very nice when everyone is using wireless nets.  (Btw -- one reason 
I use psi is that it's one of the very few clients that actually checks 
the server's certificate -- gabber, for example, does not.)

		--Steve Bellovin, http://www.research.att.com/~smb

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From: Matt Mathis <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 01:01:18 -0500 (EST)

It feels to me as though the the service itself may be having problems.   I was 
able to test jabber early this morning w/ my freshly installed Linux client, 
but now it just hangs during login.  It doesn't even care if I give the wrong 
password.

I am in the process of getting an account an a public server, to see if perhaps 
it is only the IETF authentication service that is wedged.

Thanks,
--MM--

-- 
--MM--
(On the road in a distant time zone with no phone - please use email)