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How would it being open source solve the problem of addressing?

by cwyers 7y ago

kspacewalk2 7y ago
Addresses can be made non-identifying.
- cwyers 7y ago
  Yes, but people typically want addresses to be identifying to _somebody_ otherwise they're not actually all that useful. If I am Alice and know Bob, I want to know Bob's address. Using the cell phone number, an address I already have for Bob, solves that problem. Verifying the number via SMS provides some reasonable (but not ironclad) guarantees that it actually is Bob. Yes, as an address scheme, it prioritizes convenience over other things. If you want wide acceptance, that's a requirement. Wide acceptance can be useful if you need to adopt something in a hurry and you didn't think to set up something in advance. It's also great because it isn't exactly great opsec to look different from the crowd, and using Tor is a giant "HI I AM DOING CRIMES" beacon to the world.
- newscracker 7y ago
  Then why hasn’t that happened with Signal yet? Being open source may not have much of a correlation on how features change for such apps.
  - cwyers 7y ago
    Signal is really three things with the same name (four or five, if you count the foundation and/or the LLC): 1) The Signal protocol, which can have multiple implementations (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Skype all use it), 2) The Signal client and server, which are open source, and 3) The Signal service operated by Signal Messenger, LLC. You can use either 1 or 2 to implement a system that doesn't require a phone number to use. Wire, for instance, is a messenger that has adopted parts of the Signal protocol and the Signal source code. [https://github.com/wireapp/proteus/blob/develop/src/internal/session.rs#L2 https://github.com/wireapp/proteus/blob/develop/src/internal...] What you can't do is change how the Signal servers operated by Signal Messenger are operated, or refer to your own client/server using Signal trademarks.
    - newscracker 7y ago
      For all practical purposes, "Signal" being open source hasn't made that happen. As for Wire, yes, I know about its origins and I use it too, but even Wire had disagreements with Signal on using the protocol and finally managed to settle it (this is from 2016, so take it for what it's worth). [1] Wire is also focusing more on paying users and businesses and building features exclusively for that market. So the free tier is no longer a great place to be in. [1]: https://medium.com/@wireapp/axolotl-and-proteus-788519b186a7#.1m3nvx1lh https://medium.com/@wireapp/axolotl-and-proteus-788519b186a7...

How would it being open source solve the problem of addressing?

by cwyers 7y ago

How would it being open source solve the problem of addressing?

kspacewalk2 7y ago

Addresses can be made non-identifying.

cwyers 7y ago
Yes, but people typically want addresses to be identifying to _somebody_ otherwise they're not actually all that useful. If I am Alice and know Bob, I want to know Bob's address. Using the cell phone number, an address I already have for Bob, solves that problem. Verifying the number via SMS provides some reasonable (but not ironclad) guarantees that it actually is Bob. Yes, as an address scheme, it prioritizes convenience over other things. If you want wide acceptance, that's a requirement. Wide acceptance can be useful if you need to adopt something in a hurry and you didn't think to set up something in advance. It's also great because it isn't exactly great opsec to look different from the crowd, and using Tor is a giant "HI I AM DOING CRIMES" beacon to the world.
newscracker 7y ago
Then why hasn’t that happened with Signal yet? Being open source may not have much of a correlation on how features change for such apps.
- cwyers 7y ago
  Signal is really three things with the same name (four or five, if you count the foundation and/or the LLC): 1) The Signal protocol, which can have multiple implementations (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Skype all use it), 2) The Signal client and server, which are open source, and 3) The Signal service operated by Signal Messenger, LLC. You can use either 1 or 2 to implement a system that doesn't require a phone number to use. Wire, for instance, is a messenger that has adopted parts of the Signal protocol and the Signal source code. [https://github.com/wireapp/proteus/blob/develop/src/internal/session.rs#L2 https://github.com/wireapp/proteus/blob/develop/src/internal...] What you can't do is change how the Signal servers operated by Signal Messenger are operated, or refer to your own client/server using Signal trademarks.
  - newscracker 7y ago
    For all practical purposes, "Signal" being open source hasn't made that happen. As for Wire, yes, I know about its origins and I use it too, but even Wire had disagreements with Signal on using the protocol and finally managed to settle it (this is from 2016, so take it for what it's worth). [1] Wire is also focusing more on paying users and businesses and building features exclusively for that market. So the free tier is no longer a great place to be in. [1]: https://medium.com/@wireapp/axolotl-and-proteus-788519b186a7#.1m3nvx1lh https://medium.com/@wireapp/axolotl-and-proteus-788519b186a7...