@ErikJonker It's still a monolithic/single-provider solution though, where you have no choice other than trust a third party with your data.
If you're going to make changes, you should consider going "all the way" by switching to a decentralized solution, like one of the many solutions that are based on XMPP. That still gives you plenty of hosted solutions, but with multiple providers, and also gives you the option to self-host.
@ErikJonker What do you mean, 'for the time being'? Fully decentralized platforms are feature-complete, mature (as in: 20+ years old) and are readily available, supported by a wide diversity of interoperable providers and implementators. Why settle for the next best thing, if you can use the best thing today?
@ErikJonker You're rebuilding anyways if you're moving to Signal :)
Platform recommendations differ based on your requirements. If you want a dead-simple personal solution, maybe go for https://snikket.org/ (both self-hosted as well as hosted). If you just want one account, maybe use any of https://providers.xmpp.net/. Want to run your own server in an enterprise? https://www.igniterealtime.org/projects/openfire/ (full disclosure: that's mine). This scratches the surface of what's available, but are all interoperable!
@ErikJonker How come most people are OK to install Telegram as their second option after Whatsapp but will not go for Signal, I'm completely mystified by that. It's literally at the tip of their fingers but they will stick to Meta or the other guys out of sheer laziness or inertia.
I just stopped advocating for it, I only tell & explain people about it when they ask why I don't use W.
I tried that with signal. But a lot , almost all critical paths, happen on the server. And it's very complex. Signal has a lot more moving parts than WA.
Both use the same E2E encryption protocol. Both have been vetted by independent third parties. Without the server also being open source, I find this a very weak argument in practice.
Metadata tracking is, IMO the only practical argument against WA. But I fail to see how that is a practical, significant treat.
@berkes Good and valid points, checking the implementation is always hard and it remains a monolithic/single platform. For governments however the opensource argument should be important. Signal is definitely more opensource then Whatsapp.
@ErikJonker Moving from whatsap to signal is a good step. Moving to Element (Matrix protocol) an even better one. Because:
Signal is still US-based so similarly conflicted wrt eu-us diclosure- an privacylaws. Element/Matrix is EU based.
Matrix network is distributed by design (like mastodon) and has fully open api for any third-party client (like mastodon) #element#matrix#signal#whatsapp
@matv1 iirc matrix still has huge metadata leaks and e2ee there is both problematic and user-hostile, so no one really uses it, so idk.... I think signal is a better option for regular users
@dosch@spmatich@ErikJonker No. You'll still have to verify ownership of a phone number. But you no longer have to share that number with people you're talking to. By default, nobody gets your number.
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