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I am in a pretty similar position to you. Have you taken a look at Keybase as an alternative for IM and replacement of Slack-for-sharing-with-yourself? Adva

I am in a pretty similar position to you. Have you taken a look at Keybase as an alternative for IM and replacement of Slack-for-sharing-with-yourself? Advantages over Signal: * Doesn't rely on phone number for auth or id * No limit on devices * Great CLI experience * Smooth to share files and messages in groups * Encryption closer to widely used protocols Downsides: * Server-side closed source (but hey, that goes for pretty much any IM alternative you hope to use outside of close circles today unfortunately) * US-based company * Can't think of much else UI/UX still has some way to go before being on par with e.g. WhatsApp or Telegram, but they've been constantly improving a lot recently so I think they might get there soon.

katet 7y ago
Wow, again, last time I looked at keybase I just remember it being identity verification. Glad to see they're expanding on that. I am - unfortunately - picky :D as you mention, they haven't released their server code and don't seem particularly interested in doing so (which is their full right). Good thread for that here: https://github.com/keybase/client/issues/6374 https://github.com/keybase/client/issues/6374 I get that some people aren't too fussed if the cryptography is done right, and you could reverse engineer the protocol and interop a la Amazon S3, but...yeah. Just not me I guess. I'm new to the limitations you mentioned (# of devices, phone no. Auth, etc.). I'll need to take a good look before I jump ship. But first thought is I think I'll take those downsides as part of the current status quo of messaging apps for a fully open platform I can support and possibly get my parents to use without too much trouble (yep, my principles have priorities, lower ones get sacrificed when absolutely necessary ;)) (I lied about the phone sharing bit a little - Nextcloud sync is really good somehow, I just wish there was something like AirDrop for everyone else)
- Legogris 7y ago
  Yeah, I totally get you. Basically on Signal, you have the same issue as on WhatsApp; phone number required, unique per account, you can ever only have one device at a time (desktop apps are not first-grade clients but sync to phone), and all the privacy and other security issues that come with that... I managed to get a lot of my non-geek friends over to Signal, but if things don't change I think I will switch preference to Keybase soon in lack of better alternatives. It's unfortunate that there's no great implementation of federated IM today. XMPP is a mess and Matrix has a long way to go when it comes to that part, but from what I can tell they have a good vision and might just be able to pull it off so I am keeping a close eye on it. Then we have Secure ScuttleButt, which I find very interesting and would love to see mature.
  - feanaro 7y ago
    > Matrix has a long way to go when it comes to that part, but from what I can tell they have a good vision and might just be able to pull it off so I am keeping a close eye on it. Matrix is pretty usable for me and a bunch of my friends and family these days. The clients are getting pretty good as well.

katet 7y ago

Wow, again, last time I looked at keybase I just remember it being identity verification. Glad to see they're expanding on that. I am - unfortunately - picky :D as you mention, they haven't released their server code and don't seem particularly interested in doing so (which is their full right). Good thread for that here: https://github.com/keybase/client/issues/6374 https://github.com/keybase/client/issues/6374 I get that some people aren't too fussed if the cryptography is done right, and you could reverse engineer the protocol and interop a la Amazon S3, but...yeah. Just not me I guess. I'm new to the limitations you mentioned (# of devices, phone no. Auth, etc.). I'll need to take a good look before I jump ship. But first thought is I think I'll take those downsides as part of the current status quo of messaging apps for a fully open platform I can support and possibly get my parents to use without too much trouble (yep, my principles have priorities, lower ones get sacrificed when absolutely necessary ;)) (I lied about the phone sharing bit a little - Nextcloud sync is really good somehow, I just wish there was something like AirDrop for everyone else)

Legogris 7y ago
Yeah, I totally get you. Basically on Signal, you have the same issue as on WhatsApp; phone number required, unique per account, you can ever only have one device at a time (desktop apps are not first-grade clients but sync to phone), and all the privacy and other security issues that come with that... I managed to get a lot of my non-geek friends over to Signal, but if things don't change I think I will switch preference to Keybase soon in lack of better alternatives. It's unfortunate that there's no great implementation of federated IM today. XMPP is a mess and Matrix has a long way to go when it comes to that part, but from what I can tell they have a good vision and might just be able to pull it off so I am keeping a close eye on it. Then we have Secure ScuttleButt, which I find very interesting and would love to see mature.
- feanaro 7y ago
  > Matrix has a long way to go when it comes to that part, but from what I can tell they have a good vision and might just be able to pull it off so I am keeping a close eye on it. Matrix is pretty usable for me and a bunch of my friends and family these days. The clients are getting pretty good as well.