Spark is an open-source instant messaging program (based on

XMPP Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP, originally named Jabber) is an open communication protocol designed for instant messaging (IM), presence information, and contact list maintenance. Based on XML (Extensible Markup Language), it ...

protocol) that allows users to communicate in real time. It can be integrated with the

Openfire Openfire (previously known as Wildfire, and Jive Messenger) is an instant messaging (IM) and groupchat server for the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). It is written in Java and licensed under the Apache License 2.0. History The ...

server to provide additional features such as controlling the various Spark functionalities from a central management console, or integrating with a proprietary customer support service known as Fastpath which allows its users to interact with the platform using the Spark client. Being a

cross-platform In computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software r ...

application, Spark can run on various systems. Installers for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

and

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

are available on the official website.

History

Previously known as Jive Communicator, Spark was designed by

Jive Software Jive Software, an Aurea Software company, is a provider of communication and collaboration software for business. Jive was headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2001, Jive maintains additional offices in Portland, OR; San Francisco, C ...

with a lightweight graphical design and simplistic user interface for business usage. Later, it was open-sourced and donated to the Ignite Realtime community, along with

, for further improvement and development.

Features

Spark is based on a popular open-source Smack API library, also developed by Ignite Realtime. It has a tabbed interface for managing conversations, a quick and full history, and a search feature inside the contacts window which is designed for organizations with many units and employees. Other features include shortcuts to access recent and favorite contacts, and Spark supports ad hoc and regular group chats. Spark supports

SSL/TLS Transport Layer Security (TLS) is a cryptographic protocol designed to provide communications security over a computer network. The protocol is widely used in applications such as email, instant messaging, and voice over IP, but its use in securi ...

encryption, and additionally provides an option to use

Off-the-Record Messaging Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) is a cryptographic protocol that provides encryption for instant messaging conversations. OTR uses a combination of AES symmetric-key algorithm with 128 bits key length, the Diffie–Hellman key exchange with 1536 bi ...

for end-to-end encryption. Though it is designed to work with

servers, it can also integrate with Kraken IM Gateway plugin for

, and provide an option to connect with various other IM networks. The software’s user interface is intended to be lightweight with skins, tabbed conversations and plugin support. It contains single sign-on and file transfer capability, as well as privacy lists.

References

External links

Official website

GitHub repository
{{Instant messaging Java platform software Instant messaging Free software programmed in Java (programming language) Windows software Linux software Free software Free XMPP clients

History

Features

See also

References

External links