While we discussed some big ones such as Wave extensions and its wiki-like interface, the feature that we said “may be the most important aspect of Google Wave” was its open-source nature.
Not only did Google promise to let developers improve the code, but they promised federation for Wave, meaning that anyone could take the Wave code and run their own private or public wave server. Today, Google took the first step towards the full federation of its real-time communication platform by announcing that the developer sandbox version of Google Wave is open for experimental federation.
Let’s be clear: this is a very early stage test of federating the Google Wave code onto non-Google servers. It only affects the developer sandbox, meaning that the preview version of Wave that most people are using is not a part of this test. However, it is a big step in making it a widespread product, rather than only a tool of early adopters. Businesses and individuals can begin testing their own local copy of Wave. This is just the beginning of Google’s legitimate attempt to upend email as the standard for web correspondence and communication.
If you’re a developer with a sandbox account and want to get started, Google has published some installation instructions for a Java version. Be warned though: there will be a lot of changes occurring over the next few weeks, many of them based on developer feedback.
More Google Wave Resources from Mashable
- Testing Google Wave: This Thing is Tidal- The Top 6 Game-Changing Features of Google Wave
- Google Wave: 5 Ways It Could Change the Web
- Google Wave Extensions: An Inside Look
- Could Google Wave Redefine Email and Web Communication?
Reviews: Google, Google Wave
Tags: Federation, Google, Google Wave, Google Wave Federation
