Imnebuddy - pronounced “I am any buddy”
Techie, hippie, commie nerd
I’m not denying that major flaw of Signal, in which part, yes exposing your phone number tied to your Signal account basically negates Signal’s security, as well as Signal’s centralized server being proprietary. Nevertheless, when using Matrix, you need to ensure you and everyone you communicate with uses a client that isn’t still using the deprecated libolm cryptography backend (and that it uses vodozemac).
https://lemmy.ml/comment/15999861
In the blog posts I read where the author, a security engineer, audited and/or reported vulnerabilities with two E2EE chat protocols commonly recommended as Signal alternatives–Matrix and XMPP–both had implemented half-baked solutions or refused to solve the issue at all in some regards, and both had evangelists that gave dismissive responses. The XMPP chud dev gave a laughably childish response, and the Matrix dev even admitted the team being aware of the olm vulnerability and deliberately refused to fix it for years. Not that Signal cultists are any better and not negating the legitimate security and trust issues with the Signal platform, but Signal is still a decent platform for most people’s threat model, though it would be nice if there was an alternative that could compete with Signal to recommend to most people instead. If you care about metadata resistance and your threat model involves high stakes if your assets are compromised, the blog author suggests Tor-based solutions such as Cwtch and Ricochet Refresh.
I’m with you there. This wasn’t meant as an argument against your statement. I brought up the issues regarding Matrix and XMPP as they are often recommended as alternatives to Signal, and after learning about this blog in a previous conversation I had about this topic, I thought it would be a good resource to bring up so people can be informed about those platforms and some alternatives that may be better than Signal while being metadata resistant.
Many Signal alternatives also have security issues of their own, often making them less secure than Signal. This includes Matrix and XMPP. In the blog post regarding XMPP+OMEMO, the author replies to a question about which would be better than Signal, Matrix, and XMPP with this suggestion:
Anyone who cares about metadata resistance should look at Cwtch, Ricochet, or any other Tor-based solution. Not a mobile app. Not XMPP. Not Matrix.
In regards to Ricochet, not having a mobile app version makes it difficult to recommend to less tech savvy people.
As long as we don’t have nuclear war and America suffers from dedollarization, I believe the world will do much better. Death to Amerikkka and its hegemony.
https://github.com/exander77/proton-bridge-android
There is a way to do it locally on an Android device using Termux.
Have you tried one of these providers? https://providers.xmpp.net/
I didn’t have an issue with registration on macaw.me or monocles.de, but I haven’t used those accounts yet.
I will be honest, I haven’t came around to using XMPP myself yet, but I am pretty sure you are able to do all of those things, at least with the help of extensions. Here’s the XMPP standards that are currently stable or experimental:
Files/Images:
Emojis/Stickers:
Looking at clients, I see various ones that have at least some of the features you are looking for (especially file and image sharing, I haven’t found a client that has explicitly implemented the stickers specification yet, but Movim seems to have them):
I would give it some more time. It seems those features are in development, but this is essentially an alternative to Matrix that is more standardized. It’s a widely adopted and integrated protocol, so I don’t doubt the features you are looking for will become more fleshed out some day.
That’s like saying you can use email if you like living in the 70s-80s. XMPP is a pretty healthy and active project that is standardized like email and ActivityPub. I would consider XMPP pretty modern, especially considering its features, extensions, etc., as well as the numerous applications it is integrated in.
XMPP is also used in very popular games, consoles, and clients.
XMPP it is, then.
Whistles casually
https://github.com/pluja/awesome-privacy#instant-messaging
https://github.com/pluja/awesome-privacy#teamworking-tools
https://github.com/pluja/awesome-privacy#video-and-audio-conferencing
https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted#communication---irc
https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted#communication---video-conferencing
https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted#communication---xmpp---servers
https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted#communication---xmpp---web-clients
https://github.com/redecentralize/alternative-internet#messaging
Referencing my buried comment with suggestions:
I don’t remember and can’t find a post I saw in the past recommending better video chat applications for more than two users. I believe one was Jitsi and another Wire. I just found another video conferencing application someone recommended online: MiroTalk. Different open source software excel in different areas.
Sorry, I just realized this post is about instant messaging platforms and not specifically their video chat features.
I like Element better because of its Markdown capabilities (though still very limited) and the ability to edit messages. I used element for my team coding projects in college, which worked very well and integrated nicely with our GitHub updates, but it sucked for video conferences. Signal barely holds up for two-user video chats, though that could be my internet or someone else’s.
I also want to self host my own XMPP server someday.
There is Revolt. Maybe younger people will like that more.
I don’t remember and can’t find a post I saw in the past recommending better video chat applications for more than two users. I believe one was Jitsi and another Wire. I just found another video conferencing application someone recommended online: MiroTalk. Different open source software excel in different areas.
Sorry, I just realized this post is about instant messaging platforms and not specifically their video chat features.
I like Element better because of its Markdown capabilities (though still very limited) and the ability to edit messages. I used element for my team coding projects in college, which worked very well and integrated nicely with our GitHub updates, but it sucked for video conferences. Signal barely holds up for two-user video chats, though that could be my internet or someone else’s.
I also want to self host my own XMPP server someday.
There is Revolt. Maybe younger people will like that more.
HealthyPi Move is open source (including hardware) and doesn’t send data anywhere (only locally to the app being developed). It’s available for pre-order at this time.