Značky: #Newsletter, #Linux

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the latest edition of your pseudo-monthly JMP update!

In case it’s been a while since you checked out JMP, here’s a refresher: JMP lets you send and receive text and picture messages (and calls) through a real phone number right from your computer, tablet, phone, or anything else that has a Jabber client.  Among other things, JMP has these features: Your phone number on every device; Multiple phone numbers, one app; Free as in Freedom; Share one number with multiple people.

It has been a while since we got a newsletter out, and lots has been happening as we race towards our launch.

For those who have experienced the issue with Google Voice participants not showing up properly in our MMS group texting stack, we have a new stack in testing right now.  Let support know if you want to try it out, it has been working well so far for those already using it.

If you check your account settings for the “refer a friend” option you will now see two kinds of referral code.  The list of one-time use codes remains the same as always: a free month for your friend, and a free month’s worth of credit for you if they start paying.  The new code up in the top is multi-use and you can post and share it as much as you like.  It provides credit equivalent to an additional month to anyone who uses it on sign up after their initial $15 deposit as normal, and then a free month’s worth of credit for you after that payment fully clears.

We mentioned before that much of the team will be present at FOSSY, and we can now reveal why: there will be a conference track dedicated to XMPP, which we are helping to facilitate!  Call for proposals ends May 14th. Sign up and come out this summer!

For quite some time now, customers have been asked while registering if they would like to enable others who know their phone number to discover their Jabber ID, to enable upgrading to end-to-end encryption, video calls, etc.  The first version of this feature is now live, and users of at least Cheogram Android and Movim can check the contact details of anyone they exchange SMS with to see if a Jabber ID is listed.  We are happy to announce that we have also partnered with Quicksy to allow discovery of anyone registered for their app or directory as well.

Jabber-side reactions are now translated where possible into the tapback pseudo-syntax recognized by many Android and iMessage users so that your reactions will appear in a native way to those users.  In Cheogram Android you can swipe to reply to a message and enter a single emoji as the reply to send a reaction/tapback.

There have been two Cheogram Android releases since our last newsletter, with a third coming out today.  You no longer need to add a contact to send a message or initiate a call.  The app has seen the addition of moderation features for channel administrators, as well as respecting these moderation actions on display.  For offensive media arriving from other sources, in avatars, or just not moderated quickly enough, users also have the ability to permanently block any media they see from their device.

Cheogram Android has seen some new sticker-related features including default sticker packs and the ability to import any sticker pack made for signal (browse signalstickers.com to find more sticker packs, just tap “add to signal” to add them to Cheogram Android).

There are also brand-new features today in 2.12.1-5, including a new onboarding flow that allows new users to register and pay for JMP before getting a Jabber ID, and then set up their very own Snikket instance all from within the app.  This flow also features some new introductory material about the Jabber network which we will continue to refine over time:

Notifications about new messages now use the conversation style in Android.  This means that you can set seperate priority and sounds per-conversation at the OS level on new enough version of Android.  There is also an option in each conversation’s menu to add that conversation to your homescreen, something that has always been possible with the app but hopefully this makes it more discoverable for some.

For communities organizing in Jabber channels, sometimes it can be useful to notify everyone present about a message.  Cheogram Android now respects the attention element from members and higher in any channel or group chat.  To send a message with this priority attached, start the message body with @here (this will not be included in the actual message people see).

This release also brings an experimental prototype supporting WebXDC.  This is an experimental specification to allow developers to ship mini-apps that work inside your chats.  Take any *.xdc file and send it to a contact or group chat where everyone uses Cheogram Android and you can play games, share notes, shopping lists, calendars, and more.  Please come by the channel to discuss the future of this technology on the Jabber network with us.

To learn what’s happening with JMP between newsletters, here are some ways you can find out:

• The chatroom remains the heart of the community.  You can also join from your web browser or from Matrix.
• The blog, where you may be reading this. Can also be followed in a client like Movim.
• The Lemmy Community
• The Subreddit
• On Twitter

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful rest of your week!

Značky: #Linux, #Newsletter

Značky: #Linux, #Newsletter

Kubernetes is perhaps the hottest term in the DevOps industry today. I have got a hidden gem for you in this newsletter.

💭 Let's have a look at the interesting things included here:

• Free Kubernetes course
• Selected LHB Linux articles
• Memes that can only be understood by Linux

Značky: #Linux, #Newsletter

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the latest edition of your pseudo-monthly JMP update!

In case it’s been a while since you checked out JMP, here’s a refresher: JMP lets you send and receive text and picture messages (and calls) through a real phone number right from your computer, tablet, phone, or anything else that has a Jabber client.  Among other things, JMP has these features: Your phone number on every device; Multiple phone numbers, one app; Free as in Freedom; Share one number with multiple people.

JMP is 6 years old today!  When we launched in 2017 we had no idea exactly how far we’d go, or that we’d be making one of the most popular chat clients on F-Droid (that is Cheogram Android, which is based on Conversations).  Last year we called JMP “phone-feature-complete” and since then we’ve made all of JMP’s features even easier to use, shepherding big improvements to various Jabber clients, including Movim and Dino, while continuing to provide first-class telephony and messaging features in our flagship mobile app: Cheogram Android.

With so many of the edges now smoothed, and a new onboarding flow almost ready to go, it’s now time to announce: JMP will be leaving beta this year!

What does that mean?  Primarily this is our vote of confidence (as the JMP and Cheogram team) that JMP, and apps we develop such as Cheogram Android, are ready for widespread use.  While of course there will still be improvements to make, we believe it will be able to be recommended to your friends and family (especiall Android users) without reservation.

Naturally there are a couple things to do yet to make that happen, and one of them is to put Cheogram Android in the Play Store at last.  This will be a paid (but still free-as-in-freedom) app that will include one month of JMP service.  Of course, you will still be able to get Cheogram Android from all the other places you can already get it (such as F-Droid and our own repos/APKs).

The other main thing is to set a final post-beta monthly price for JMP.  And, while it won’t take effect until we launch later this year, we are able to now officially announce it: US$4.99/month, with incidental pricing remaining the same (i.e. extra/international minutes will remain what they are now).  Note that there will be discounts for additional JMP numbers linked to your primary JMP number, and also (before JMP leaves beta) a chance to lock in the existing pricing for a period of time.  Having never changed the price since we started JMP 6 years ago, and given the inflation and our own staffing costs since then, we feel the new price will allow JMP to remain both sustainable, and able to face new challenges and exciting opportunities going forward (like the EU’s DMA, for one).  We want to make JMP the best phone number service, and Cheogram the best gateway to everything in the world!

Speaking of Cheogram, a JMP newsletter these days wouldn’t be complete without mention of new Cheogram Android features (2.12.1-2 released in APK form and Cheogram F-Droid repo today!):

• it will now offer to setup Dialer integration automatically when available
• the Call Logs (cdrs) command replaces the usage command (giving you more info)
• the new onboarding flow is improved even more
  
• admins of a Snikket instance can create a new Jabber ID and JMP number all inside the app now (see the video demo)
• new theme: any colour you want! (requires Android 11 or higher)

Note that the Call Logs (cdrs) command will roll out to everyone in about a week.  If you’d like to try it before then, please send a private inquiry to JMP support and we’ll activate it for you.

Lastly, some of you may be interested to know that the JMP/Cheogram team are going to be venturing out to a conference for the first time since March 2020!  In particular, most of the JMP/Cheogram team will be attending FOSSY this year, in Portland, Oregon, USA this July 13-16.  We’ll be announcing specifics of our involvement (whether we have a booth, talks, etc.) closer to the dates.  In the meantime, just know we’ll be there, and would love to chat with any JMP/Cheogram users, prospective customers, or otherwise!

With that, we’ll cap off our 6 years. :)  And what an exciting 6 years it’s been!  With the big launch this year, you can bet on many more to come!

To learn what’s happening with JMP between newsletters, here are some ways you can find out:

• The chatroom remains the heart of the community.  You can also join from your web browser or from Matrix.
• The blog, where you may be reading this. Can also be followed in a client like Movim.
• The Lemmy Community
• The Subreddit
• On Twitter

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful rest of your week!