Feature:Multi-backend support

Fact: a lot of people think we're crazy for using the IRC protocol as core transport.

Due to the limitations of IRC, as well as the potential cross-platform compatibility, it would generally make sense to add support for multiple protocols side-by-side. Which is actually not difficult, thanks to Sockethub abstracting protocol implementation and Hyperchannel only having to deal with Activity Streams.

With this, we could have an XMPP group chat running next to an IRC chat. Or it could even be a closed-source and centralized backends like Gitter, Slack, or Hipchat. As soon as we have support for multiple backends, we can then experiment and choose which one offers the best performance, features, and UX for Kosmos Pro.

If we add more platforms/protocols, we could also think about providing IRC gateways to those other ones.

Notes

• https://xmpp.org/extensions/xep-0045.html
• https://help.hipchat.com/knowledgebase/articles/64377-xmpp-jabber-support-details
• https://slack.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201727913-Connecting-to-Slack-over-IRC-and-XMPP
• Idea: set up FB Messenger Platform as space with channels per user (great for small to medium-size companies)