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But that's not the argument the author makes. He is worried about the apps getting compromised at the platform level.

tptacek 8y ago
That's a security concern he feels he can address for himself if Signal is made available to him on F-Droid. But for the overwhelming majority of Signal users, there isn't even in theory a security benefit, because they're exposed to their platform vendor no matter what Signal does. Signal has decided --- sensibly, I think! --- to focus on the needs of the "normie" users. DeVault disagrees with that decision. He is welcome to do so, but it was Signal's decision to make, not his.
- xorcist 8y ago
  He is indeed welcome to do so. It is perfectly rational for him to choose some other software. Far from not something that warrants a character assassination. Specifically, it's not something "clownish" that we should be "ashamed" to have on the front page. We get the community we deserve.
  - tptacek 8y ago
    Please read what I wrote more carefully. Him wanting to use different software isn't clownish. I respect the prerogative of the phone sysadmins. Him saying that Moxie Marlinspike is untrustworthy because of a disagreement, and then urging people to use Matrix --- that's a clownish argument. And it is the bulk of his argument, paragraph by paragraph: all the reasons why the only rational reason anyone could disagree with Drew DeVault is if they are sneakily trying to screw people over.
    - xorcist 8y ago
      Literally nowhere in the article does he say that. The article presents two main arguments why the author chooses not to use Signal (and that by extension, other people with the same interest should do the same), that it requires Google services with root privileges, and that it doesn't federate or interoperate. There are no personal attacks on Signal's author, the author presents his reasons in a fairly objective light, so there should be no reason to chastise him.

That's a security concern he feels he can address for himself if Signal is made available to him on F-Droid. But for the overwhelming majority of Signal users, there isn't even in theory a security benefit, because they're exposed to their platform vendor no matter what Signal does. Signal has decided --- sensibly, I think! --- to focus on the needs of the "normie" users. DeVault disagrees with that decision. He is welcome to do so, but it was Signal's decision to make, not his.

xorcist 8y ago
He is indeed welcome to do so. It is perfectly rational for him to choose some other software. Far from not something that warrants a character assassination. Specifically, it's not something "clownish" that we should be "ashamed" to have on the front page. We get the community we deserve.
- tptacek 8y ago
  Please read what I wrote more carefully. Him wanting to use different software isn't clownish. I respect the prerogative of the phone sysadmins. Him saying that Moxie Marlinspike is untrustworthy because of a disagreement, and then urging people to use Matrix --- that's a clownish argument. And it is the bulk of his argument, paragraph by paragraph: all the reasons why the only rational reason anyone could disagree with Drew DeVault is if they are sneakily trying to screw people over.
  - xorcist 8y ago
    Literally nowhere in the article does he say that. The article presents two main arguments why the author chooses not to use Signal (and that by extension, other people with the same interest should do the same), that it requires Google services with root privileges, and that it doesn't federate or interoperate. There are no personal attacks on Signal's author, the author presents his reasons in a fairly objective light, so there should be no reason to chastise him.