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> Why can't someone turn Signal federated? Wouldn't the centralized server just be a different server? The source code is all public and freely licensed, clien
by anjbe 6y ago
> Why can't someone turn Signal federated? Wouldn't the centralized server just be a different server?
The source code is all public and freely licensed, client and server. Anyone could pick it up, turn it federated, and run it. But it’s unlikely Signal would choose to federate with any other servers.
> Side note: isn't it good to be centralized while the app is quickly rolling out new features? Then a switch to federation
It’s pretty clear from Moxie’s words on the topic that he has no desire to federate Signal in the future. He’s solidly convinced that the agility necessary to build a userbase on top of a secure messenger will be lost if he has to spend resources bringing the rest of the ecosystem in line with new developments.
- godelski 6y ago> But it’s unlikely Signal would choose to federate with any other servers. Could you communicate with both the federated version and the centralized version? If so, I don't see the issue. If not, why?
- infogulch 6y agoHow would you start a chat with someone on the central server if the central server refuses any communication with the federation you're on?
- godelski 6y agoI guess there's something I'm missing here. I understand it is phone -> Signal server -> other phone. So don't you only need to know how to talk to the Signal server? Which should be in the OS app? So your app would just need to know which server to communicate with the right person. People that are on the Signal server get contacted through the Signal server. People on a federated server get communications passed through there. I'm sorry if this is a dumb question. I'm really curious but I don't know much about this space. What is Signal doing that restricts you from talking to it?
- acct776 6y agoNot allowing incoming connections from anything besides their signed app.
- infogulch 6y agoSignal probably ties message encryption to client authentication. You could give the 'federated' server your plaintext and encryption keys which acts like a client app on your behalf, but that obliterates the purpose of Signal and E2E messaging entirely. And still, they can ban your server IP at any time at their discretion. Maybe you can try to create a federated server that acts as one user but publishes an authenticated encrypted message on behalf of a different user, but there's no api for that... exactly the api that is being asked for in these requests to add a federation api.