4 ms·

The outbox has to exist somewhere. Instead of a central server like the group chat you could use some sort of distributed storage... but then some node(s) need

The outbox has to exist somewhere. Instead of a central server like the group chat you could use some sort of distributed storage... but then some node(s) need to be online at all times to deliver asynchronous messages.

627467 5y ago
I supposed I'm (and you seem to be) implying that in the scenario of a group made up of A, B and C, if A and C are online when A sends a message (and then A goes offline) then B can receive A's message forwarded by C. We wouldn't need a server in this case, would we?
- conradev 5y ago
  I do want to point out that it is possible to use a central server while keeping metadata private if you use noise
  - ebb_earl_co 5y ago
    How do you mean? Could you link to where you could find that? Because I searched for 'metadata' in the Noise Protocol repository and came up with nothing (https://github.com/noiseprotocol/noise_wiki/search?q=metadata https://github.com/noiseprotocol/noise_wiki/search?q=metadat...) N.b. I am very much an amateur and am fascinated by private communication methods
    - conradev 5y ago
      The Noise Protocol is a specific project, that, funnily enough, doesn’t include generating noise. I believe the name is intended to mean that the messages look like noise. Here are some protocols that use noise (specifically differentially private noise): https://vuvuzela.io/research https://vuvuzela.io/research https://people.csail.mit.edu/nickolai/papers/tyagi-stadium-eprint.pdf https://people.csail.mit.edu/nickolai/papers/tyagi-stadium-e...
xwolfi 5y ago
If you care abt privacy you could just wait till someone is online to send the outbox content. You dont need asynchronous messages to be stored centrally, but you d need both to be online at the same time at some point. That s a feature I never saw in a chat app, they always have a central crap keeping messages defeating any kind of serverless claim.
- zaarn 5y ago
  What if I have a friend who, due to timezones, is never online when I am. Or very rarely. Seems a bit ignorant of the wider needs of an internet community to not allow people to talk if they don't share enough of a timezone.

627467 5y ago

I supposed I'm (and you seem to be) implying that in the scenario of a group made up of A, B and C, if A and C are online when A sends a message (and then A goes offline) then B can receive A's message forwarded by C. We wouldn't need a server in this case, would we?

conradev 5y ago
I do want to point out that it is possible to use a central server while keeping metadata private if you use noise
- ebb_earl_co 5y ago
  How do you mean? Could you link to where you could find that? Because I searched for 'metadata' in the Noise Protocol repository and came up with nothing (https://github.com/noiseprotocol/noise_wiki/search?q=metadata https://github.com/noiseprotocol/noise_wiki/search?q=metadat...) N.b. I am very much an amateur and am fascinated by private communication methods
  - conradev 5y ago
    The Noise Protocol is a specific project, that, funnily enough, doesn’t include generating noise. I believe the name is intended to mean that the messages look like noise. Here are some protocols that use noise (specifically differentially private noise): https://vuvuzela.io/research https://vuvuzela.io/research https://people.csail.mit.edu/nickolai/papers/tyagi-stadium-eprint.pdf https://people.csail.mit.edu/nickolai/papers/tyagi-stadium-e...

xwolfi 5y ago

If you care abt privacy you could just wait till someone is online to send the outbox content. You dont need asynchronous messages to be stored centrally, but you d need both to be online at the same time at some point. That s a feature I never saw in a chat app, they always have a central crap keeping messages defeating any kind of serverless claim.

zaarn 5y ago
What if I have a friend who, due to timezones, is never online when I am. Or very rarely. Seems a bit ignorant of the wider needs of an internet community to not allow people to talk if they don't share enough of a timezone.