Apps Messaging Manifesto

[John Taylor]

Following Alasdair's reminder that we're not trying to create a  
messaging system to beat all messaging systems, I thought it might be  
useful to have a short "manifesto" that can guide our design  
decisions.  This is similar to the one that helped us design PLASTIC.

Here's what I'd like to see in our manifesto.  Does anyone have  
anything to add (or for that matter, update or delete), bearing in  
mind we want to  keep it short.


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1) A simple solution which does the right thing nearly all the time  
is better than a complicated one which does the right thing all the  
time.

2) The design of the messaging system (and messages) should place a  
low burden on authors who wish to make their applications compliant.

3) We don't have all the answers up front, and our goal should be to  
get software out into the community quickly so that we can get  
feedback to refine our ideas.


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With regard to 3), I'd be interested in hearing from people which  
applications they intend to modify to use the messaging protocol.   
Authors who are actively working on software that tracks the standard  
are the ones who will be best placed to discover flaws and  
improvements to it and effect changes.   As for myself, I intend to  
provide a Java module for the Workbench that will serve as a Hub, and  
a Java library to make life easier for clients.  In particular, I  
intend to maintain an applet that allows data centres to create  
messaging-enabled web pages.  If time allows I will also provide a  
Python client.


John