I consider XMPP/Jabber integration in SFOS a real plus and a great way to avoid being sucked into WhatsApp. However, there are 3 features that should be supported OOTB to make XMPP/Jabber a real alternative:
- end-to-end encryption (OMEMO if possible)
- sharing of media files
and - group support.
I know, some of those features can be ‘retrofitted’ by installing corresponding packages like telepathy-gabble-plus, but let’s be honest: that’s not an alternative for “non-nerd users” . And: I don’t like the idea of uninstalling and re-installing packages with every OS update too much.