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MeetAndSpeak update

March 23rd 2014

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Currently there are about 400 active MeetAndSpeak (MAS) users. I think a status update is in order, there has never really been one.

MAS has been my hobby now about four years. Behind the service there is one person, that's me. I can't say that I enjoy writing PR emails or blog posts so you may have never heard of me.

You can read more about MAS history from the previous post in this blog. But in a nutshell there haven't been any new features in the last two years. I think I made the last bug fix more than a year ago. Code is very stable but written using outdated languages (Perl) and frameworks (Qooxdoo). That's far from optimal. A hobby should be something that enables one to learning new and relevant skills.

The situation changed about six months ago when I decided to start to write a new version of MAS from scratch, this time using the latest tools. Today I estimate that I'm about half done and should be able to rollout the new version to meetandspeak.com just around Christmas 2014, maybe. This exludes mobile client apps. They are separate projects with their own developers and schedules. The overall goal however is that they will be updated to support the new protocol soon after the new server goes online.

The new MAS already contains the following improvements compared to the current version:

  1. Multi session support. You won't be logged out if you use second browser or mobile app.

  2. Text copy and paste support.

  3. Improved link detection. Image link previews.

  4. Modular architecture that allows more seamless updates. Currently I try avoid restarting the server because of IRC server join flood detectors force MAS to slowly reconnect users. The most unlucky user needs to wait around 30 minutes. Restarts also cause a lot of noise on IRC channels where there are many MAS users.

The new version is completely open source. The code is available at: https://github.com/ilkkao/mas. If you like MAS and use github, please star the project.

You might haven't heard much about me but the same is true to other direction. Should I keep pushing the next version forward? Do you have any feedback? You should comment below or send me email to ilkka@meetandspeak.com in English or in Finnish.

Below are couple screenshots. Beware that the UI is still far from final.





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