Going toe-to-toe with proprietary players these days means including a capable AI assistant. As Ragu used to say, “It’s in there.”
Click image for larger view.
Last week at Nextcloud’s Enterprise Day event in Paris, the Germany-based company who’s flagship product, Nextcloud Hub, makes it possible for enterprises (and individuals) to build their own cloud, announced the latest release of Nextcloud Talk, which is an easy-to-deploy and completely open-source alternative to Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, or other proprietary collaboration apps.
Released as a set of features to be used within Hub, all of Talk’s features, including a gee-whiz AI assistant, have been available to Nextcloud users for a while. Now however, they’re a bit more cohesive and integrated, making it easier to navigate the complex labyrinth of project collaboration.
If you don’t know, Nextcloud Hub can be consumed either as a hosted service from a wide assortment of companies, or installed on a private server. This means that unlike most collaboration platforms, it’s not accessed through cloud servers controlled by the software’s vendor, which results in users being in control of things like where their data is being stored and who has access to it.
As far as Talk goes, it also comes with its own desktop client app, meaning users won’t have to hook up through a browser on a website — which offers not only convenience, but added security.
All of these things put together makes Nextcloud Talk a big deal for a variety of reasons.
Click image for larger view.
For starters, it mean that a legitimate open source outfit is doing something meaningful to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Microsoft and other proprietary monopoly players. All of Nextcloud’s products, including Hub and Talk, are covered under copyleft licensing, the GNU Affero General Public License, which means you’re never going to find the day when there are free and paid versions of the platform.
Another thing: while Microsoft and other US-based proprietary players have been playing a losing game of dodge ball lately to comply with EU regulations, Nextcloud makes it easy to work within the lines when it comes to privacy and data sovereignty compliance.
“Companies need powerful collaboration tools – but most solutions are not GDPR-compliant and lock organizations into dependence on US tech giants,” Nextcloud CEO Frank Karlitschek said in a statement. “We address the limitations of other platforms by delivering true digital sovereignty and full transparency. Our tools enable organizations to manage their communication with complete control over their data, independently and securely.”
Take my word for it, Karlitschek isn’t just saying words he thinks you want to hear. Many years ago he was one of the founders of OwnCloud, which he helped fork into Nextcloud when he saw software that he helped create being used in an open-core mix in which important functions were being released under proprietary licenses.
Click image for larger view.
Talking About Nextcloud Talk
Because Nextcloud Talk has been available on Nextcloud’s platform for a while, this unveiling is more of a milepost than an actual release of a new project. Call it a marking of the point where these features are ready for the folks at Nextcloud to say “better than” rather than “me too.”
“The latest release brings a range of enhancements, making Nextcloud Talk an even more powerful tool for secure collaboration,” the company said in a statement. “It combines chat, video calls, and webinars within a single application, supported by advanced AI-driven features designed to simplify daily workflows.”
Key Highlights of Nextcloud Talk:
- New Desktop App: Enhanced integration and notifications enable direct communication and seamless participation in calls – always at hand and without the need to search for browser tabs, fostering more efficient collaboration.
- High-Security Communication: Nextcloud says it’s “the only collaboration platform meeting the highest security standards.” Furthermore, it says that Nextcloud Talk can also be deployed in airgap environments.
- New AI Features: AI-generated summaries of video conferences and chat logs, as well as to-do list creation, are among the new AI features in Talk.
- Visual Collaboration: The interactive whiteboard adds a tool for collaborative brainstorming as well as real-time idea development. Nextcloud says it’s “perfect for workshops and project sketching during calls.”
- Mindfulness Features: Last weeks announcement includes additions to Talk’s features that help support a healthy meeting culture. Meetings can now be ended after a set time – ending the problem of meetings that extend well beyond their scheduled end times.
- Simplified Collaboration: Collaborating on documents is now possible directly within chats or video calls.
Click image for larger view.
The latest and greatest Nextcloud Hub 9 was released in September of this year and will be supported through September 2025.
Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux
Does anyone know whether NextCloud Talk has any connections to Jitsi Meeting, or is it a completely different codebase?