Mozilla to build WebRTC chat into Firefox

That I do not run it, and have no need to. I am do not need per-application volume or network connectivity; and softmixing, ALSA can do.

What Flash? I'm not aware of the apprtc demo using flash at all. It's just browser WebRTC together with Google's App Engine and TURN services for call initiation.

The more general goal is to experiment with ways to converse and share data from the browser itself. WebRTC enables realtime chat in any webpage without plugins, which is of course valuable. But as the user's agent, the browser (or phone) is in a better position to create and remember links and social connections than any individual page you visit. More efficient and more private than the click-tracking social networks currently do.

Mozilla would also like to provide an alternative to large web silos like Facebook and Google, so part of the experiment is establishing the necessary server-side supports of a WebRTC service.

And a cost for freedom. If the free solution were trivial and everywhere, people would use it without even thinking. If it's in the same split-up world as the proprietary solutions, most people will just continue with the shiniest thing of the moment without a care about the free side.

Opportunity squandered. sigh.

The meet.jit.si people don't exactly oppose Mozilla's plan... they just want Mozilla to execute.

From https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=977864:

> Given that we are often asked about Firefox support and that this ticket was about a way to provide it, I’d like to end the discussion with the following summary of the situation:
>
> 1. Chrome currently provides support for handling multiple media streams (SSRCs) within a single connection. It does so through a non-standard mechanism known as “Plan B”. We currently rely on this mechanism for efficient multiparty video conferencing in Jitsi Meet.
> 2. In early 2013 a debate took place on the IETF about finding a standard way for managing multiple streams within a peer connection. There were several proposals, one of which, known as “Plan A” was authored by and very strongly supported by Mozilla. Arguments that “Plan A” would imply substantial complexity were vigorously countered.
> 3. After long debates the IETF agreed to adopt a “Plan UNIFIED” as a solution, which was basically a somewhat adjusted version of “Plan A”. All other proposals were rejected and in other words: Mozilla won!
> 4. AFAIK Mozilla has not even started implementing their own Plan UNIFIED and people are cautioned not to hold their breath because its implementation implies substantial complexity.
> 5. In the mean time, Mozilla is often encouraging people to basically abandon usage of multiple streams within a single PeerConnection and advising adoption of other means for handling multiparty conferencing
> 6. There seems to be absolutely no inclination in Mozilla to even consider compromises or alternative solutions.
>
> As a longtime admirer of Mozilla, as well as a Firefox user and supporter, I am personally quite saddened by the current state of things but … it is what it is.

Also relevant: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=784517

The network effects for real time chat aren't so great; many people only use it to communicate with a few people; I'd guess the median was 1 other person (e.g. family member in a foreign country). If mobile phones had been replaced by voip, you'd be right, but that seems a way off yet, at least for most people.

I have had no trouble getting the few people I need to talk to with voip to install and use jitsi.