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You can totally run your own server for yourself and your friends: https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure-Server https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSec
by lorenzhs 10y ago
You can totally run your own server for yourself and your friends: https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure-Server https://github.com/WhisperSystems/TextSecure-Server (you'll have to change the server's URL in the client's source as well and compile it yourself, but that's really easy)
What you won't be able to do is federate with the official servers.
Oh, and there's also a WebSocket transport (used by the Desktop client) that doesn't involve Google. That just doesn't provide a pleasant experience on mobile.
- rvense 10y agoYeah, so instead of being in Whisper Systems' walled garden, I can set up my own and ask people to install Rvense's Magical Messenger App. Sit there in my treehouse with a bucket on my head and a NO DUMMIES sign or something.
- eropple 10y ago> you'll have to change the server's URL in the client's source as well and compile it yourself, but that's really easy I'm sorry, but is this a joke? "To not use a centralized server that you can neither audit nor trust, you have to recompile the client, but that's easy?" This smacks of "oh, PGP for email is fiiiiiine." To say nothing of the silliness of the inability to federate.
- AckSyn 10y agoNo, it's not a joke and you shouldn't treat it as such. Non-technical people really shouldn't be whining that their "free service" doesn't cater to a click-and-run crowd. The source is available to the public to create their own, and changing a URL in the code is a single regex command away. Don't casually disregard him because you or others can't understand basics of doing what it takes to alter and run a service in your own private space.
- eropple 10y agoI don't casually disregard him. I thoughtfully and with consideration disregard him, and you as well. The idea that there is a priestly-class of technical people and "non-technical people shouldn't whine" is silly. This is not for technical people. This is for non-technical people. I've been doing this stuff for twenty years. But me being able to do it doesn't do a damned thing to help the people who actually need help. I don't need Signal to communicate with knowledgeable people. We need something to communicate with everyone else.
- bobbyd3 10y ago^ this
- baudehlo 10y agoAnd yet the same argument has been made time and time again against SMTP. Let's stand back for a second and understand why SMTP has stood the test of time. Yes it has flaws that allow the "first contact" problem (ie spam). But the people working on SMTP at least understand the weaknesses and advantages of that.
- superuser2 10y ago>silliness of the inability to federate The moment you open the door for federation, the protocol is written in stone forever. All it takes is one server in the federation network with a substantial user base that chooses not to update. (See SMTP). OWS decided that relinquishing the ability to force updates (i.e. away from a broken cryptosystem) would sacrifice too much in the way of security to be consistent with the project's goals.
- jamesgeck0 10y agoDistributing a modified client is non-trivial, especially if any of your friends use iOS.
- lorenzhs 10y agoYou can sideload apps without a developer subscription. It's annoying but works. But you have an unsolved update problem on both Android and iOS. You really shouldn't do this if you're not 100% sure of the implications.