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content/federations.md

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+Title: Federations
+Category: federation
+slug: federations
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+This is a research into software, technopolitics, labour and people. 
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+Over the past few years there has been a renewed interest in 'alternative' on-line services. These are services that imagine different experiences and models to the ones we are used to from corporations like Google, Facebook and Apple. 
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+Some of these alternatives are that in name only, opting for similar or identical business models as the platform they want to become an alternative to. In essence a different brand serving the same product. 
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+Others take different approach, fundamentally challenging the status quo through putting effort in building ecosystems based around protocols. 
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+The interest of *federations* is to consider software projects that are working towards alternative ecosystems. In particular those projects whose activities have reinvigorated interest for their underlying protocols. They have done so mostly by focusing on design, language and user experience (UX). 
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+If we understand these software practices as critical practices then 
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+* tegen bandwagon -> geen blockchain etc
+* federatie 
+* belang ui, verhaal fb, niemand klaagt om privacy, maar iedereen vertrekt bij interface verandering. zelfde voor snapchat
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+This is the start of a research project that is tentatively titled 'Welcome to the Federation' or 'WTTF' for short. Actually maybe 'wπf' could also work. Who knows?
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+Anyways, the point of departure for this resaearch is the fact that over the past years there has been a renewed interest in 'alternative' on-line services. Think of all the big sites where you spend a lot of time and then imagine the same services, run through a different platform.
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+In particular this research is fascinated with the fact that there have been a few projects that have 'revived' interest in their underlying protocols through a combination of good design and UX. This perhaps raises an issue for those working in the fields of arts and design to contribute more to these projects.
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+As such the project aims to organize a few encounters between developers and people from the cultural field to one the one hand explore each others work being done on floss services and on the other hand have a worksession.

content/meet_the_dev_1.md

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+Title: MDD: Daniel Gultsch
+Category: meet the developer
+slug: conversations-gultsch
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+[Conversations](https://conversations.im) is an instant messaging application for Android that is based on the XMPP protocol. 
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+This is a chat protocol which has at one point also been the underlying technology of both Google and Facebook chat before they closed it down and made it proprietary. From the onset Conversations focused on a combination of user friendliness, security and ultimately visual design to be on par with mobile messengers such as whatsapp and telegram. The work of Conversations has reinvigorated the XMPP protocol. Partly because it focused on implementing the double-ratchett encryption algorithm almost immediately after it was open-sourced. This is the modern userfriendly end-to-end encryption algorithm developed by Moxie Marlinspike for Signal and licensed to companies like Whatsapp. Another effect of the work of Conversations is that the decades old protocol has been updated in the span of a few years to work very well for mobile usage. For me one of the interesting aspects of the development of Conversations is the role that modern thinking on UIs, design and user friendliness played in its popularity. This especially becomes apparent in the very technical and awkward world of XMPP software. The developer has mentioned multiple times that he 'bases' his design on that of his GAFA 'competitors'. Apropos tactical media, this project's appropriation of corporate design, yet very clear and solid political stance (see https://gultsch.de/objection.html) leading to an increase in popularity and community involvement is an interesting development.
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