4 ms·

+1 for Signal (used to be TextSecure). They now have a desktop app in beta which synchronises perfectly with my mobile

by alistair77 11y ago

julioneander 11y ago
Installing Signal to try as well! Can Signal be taken down like WhatsApp if the same happens again in the future?
- vincentkriek 11y ago
  Yes, Signal's advantage is the cryptographical security of the messages. It's NOT server independent.
  - etiam 11y ago
    I practice I agree, for now. In principle, since both the Signal client and server are FLOSS, it should be possible to resist a block in some ways that might not be so easy with for example Whatsapp, but as far as I can tell, as things stand right now there is no built-in way to switch server, and asking millions of regular people to make changes to the source code of their cellphone software, recompile and manually reinstall does not seem like a recipe for success. I wonder if one might sensibly work around these things by fallback/optional connection to the server through Tor if Tor is available on the device?
akerro 11y ago
>They now have a desktop app It sit on the top of a close-source browser...
- exo762 11y ago
  Chromium? No more closed source blobs [0] [0]: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/26/googles_not_listening_binary_blob_banished_from_chromium_build/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/26/googles_not_listenin...
- oceanofsolaris 11y ago
  You can also use it with chromium, which is open source.
  - akerro 11y ago
    Which downloads blobs from google when you're not looking...
- sneak 11y ago
  No it doesn't. If you're going to wave this flag, you should be complaining about the management controller inside of your CPU (presuming you are already running an open source OS).
  - akerro 11y ago
    >you should be complaining about the management controller inside of your CPU And I am! I can't wait for Novena! Also notice a difference. Having a close-sourced CPU is different than having a close-source browser which has much more possibilities to compromise you. It can start camera, microphone, read disk files, locate you and transmit everything to "cloud".

+1 for Signal (used to be TextSecure). They now have a desktop app in beta which synchronises perfectly with my mobile

julioneander 11y ago

Installing Signal to try as well! Can Signal be taken down like WhatsApp if the same happens again in the future?

vincentkriek 11y ago
Yes, Signal's advantage is the cryptographical security of the messages. It's NOT server independent.
- etiam 11y ago
  I practice I agree, for now. In principle, since both the Signal client and server are FLOSS, it should be possible to resist a block in some ways that might not be so easy with for example Whatsapp, but as far as I can tell, as things stand right now there is no built-in way to switch server, and asking millions of regular people to make changes to the source code of their cellphone software, recompile and manually reinstall does not seem like a recipe for success. I wonder if one might sensibly work around these things by fallback/optional connection to the server through Tor if Tor is available on the device?

akerro 11y ago

>They now have a desktop app It sit on the top of a close-source browser...

exo762 11y ago
Chromium? No more closed source blobs [0] [0]: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/26/googles_not_listening_binary_blob_banished_from_chromium_build/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/26/googles_not_listenin...
oceanofsolaris 11y ago
You can also use it with chromium, which is open source.
- akerro 11y ago
  Which downloads blobs from google when you're not looking...
sneak 11y ago
No it doesn't. If you're going to wave this flag, you should be complaining about the management controller inside of your CPU (presuming you are already running an open source OS).
- akerro 11y ago
  >you should be complaining about the management controller inside of your CPU And I am! I can't wait for Novena! Also notice a difference. Having a close-sourced CPU is different than having a close-source browser which has much more possibilities to compromise you. It can start camera, microphone, read disk files, locate you and transmit everything to "cloud".