A self-taught programmer, Badri is interested in software that allows him to do what he wants, rather than forcing him to do what it wants. He tries to minimise screen time by using an ebook reader and planning code in a notebook.
In 2017, Badri co-founded the science and culture magazine Snipette, whose website and backend are largely powered by self-hosted software. He is currently freelancing as a programmer, and is involved in software support for the Planet Hool foundation and the Sawaliram project. A long-time user of XMPP, he is also volunteering for the upcoming cooperative-based chat service Prav. He lives on a farm in Salem District, Tamil Nadu, and when not programming can be found reading, writing, or listening to podcasts—often with a cat on his back!
Accepted Talks:
Prav: a community-owned chat app
Imagine if your Airtel number could only speak to other Airtel numbers, and you had to get a BSNL SIM card to reach your BSNL contacts? This is the situation with messaging apps like WhatsApp…but it wasn’t always the case. Earlier, people from different chat apps could all communicate with each other.
The Prav project aims to create a community-owned chat app. Instead of one company or person calling the shots, we will register as a cooperative society so every user can take part in the decisions. And by using XMPP, an open chat standard, we will allow people on other XMPP services to talk to their friends on Prav too.
This talk is for anyone who wants to think deeper about the messaging apps they use. The main focus will be on the Prav project, but I will mention other messaging options out there too. And to provide some context, I will also tell the personal story of my relationship with messaging apps—starting from texting my grandfather with Gmail and Yahoo and making calls on Google Talk to why I have not signed up for WhatsApp yet ;-)