4 ms·

So, as a linux user wishing to have some communication with other people in the world, what is the correct alternative to skype?

kruhft 13y ago
SSH into a secure common server and use talk(3) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_(software) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_(software)) ;-)
mapleoin 13y ago
Google Hangout maybe?
- ok_craig 13y ago
  That's a bold suggestion given the recent climate here.
  - chm 13y ago
    I think that was meant as sarcasm :)
wfunction 13y ago
Hide your messages in Bitcoin? http://www.fastcolabs.com/3007320/tracking/bitcoin-coming-browser-near-you http://www.fastcolabs.com/3007320/tracking/bitcoin-coming-br...
- cdh 13y ago
  I laughed, because it's funny to think that someone concerned about Microsoft snooping on their chat sessions would be willing to somehow publish those same messages into a (very public) blockchain.
munificence 13y ago
IRC if you don't require audio and video.
- glomph 13y ago
  IRC not usually very secure.
marshray 13y ago
The best recommendation I have at the current time is OTR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging, authenticate your key fingerprints, ensure that neither party's chat program is logging, and that both computers are free of malware. Pidgin supports OTR, but it crashes enough to raise concerns about that last point.
- lelandbatey 13y ago
  I'm confused. The above poster asked what a good chat program is for communicating with other people (namely non-technical users) where the user can't get spied upon. This isn't so much a "how can I be secure" question, but a "what alternatives to Skype do I have that work on Linux" question. Which is one I'm also interested in, since I also want something thats (1)linux compatible, (2) easy and accessible for "average users" of any OS, (3) and secure. And I'm hoping for those things in that order.
  - aidenn0 13y ago
    If you are talking to an average user (implied by #2), then there are short odds that at some point their machine will be compromised, at which point it doesn't matter how secure the communications channel is.
    - lelandbatey 13y ago
      I should clarify, I don't mean secure from all angles. In terms of security I don't want a company looking through my chat logs, and I don't want someone who be able to see what I'm saying via a wifi sniffer.
  - StavrosK 13y ago
    Pidgin with OTR fits the bill. It should really be standard with Pidgin/Adium/anything.
networked 13y ago
For privacy in asynchronous text communication email with GPG is still pretty much as bulletproof a solution as you can get. For real-time text chat you can try Cryptocat: it's cross-pratform, implements the OTR protocol [1] and is rather user-friendly. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging
aclevernickname 13y ago
I've switched to Yate's QT client (http://yate.null.ro http://yate.null.ro) for all my communication needs. allocate about 512MB of RAM to a VM for Asterisk/Openfire/FreePBX, and connect to it. You'll have voice/video plus instant messaging, with no central authority snooping on all your conversations. I realize I could probably use Yate for everything, but I know asterisk and openfire better at this point, so I use them. :)
mlinksva 13y ago
https://jitsi.org/Main/Features https://jitsi.org/Main/Features

kruhft 13y ago

SSH into a secure common server and use talk(3) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_(software) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_(software)) ;-)

mapleoin 13y ago

Google Hangout maybe?

ok_craig 13y ago
That's a bold suggestion given the recent climate here.
- chm 13y ago
  I think that was meant as sarcasm :)

wfunction 13y ago

Hide your messages in Bitcoin? http://www.fastcolabs.com/3007320/tracking/bitcoin-coming-browser-near-you http://www.fastcolabs.com/3007320/tracking/bitcoin-coming-br...

cdh 13y ago
I laughed, because it's funny to think that someone concerned about Microsoft snooping on their chat sessions would be willing to somehow publish those same messages into a (very public) blockchain.

munificence 13y ago

IRC if you don't require audio and video.

glomph 13y ago
IRC not usually very secure.

marshray 13y ago

The best recommendation I have at the current time is OTR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging, authenticate your key fingerprints, ensure that neither party's chat program is logging, and that both computers are free of malware. Pidgin supports OTR, but it crashes enough to raise concerns about that last point.

lelandbatey 13y ago
I'm confused. The above poster asked what a good chat program is for communicating with other people (namely non-technical users) where the user can't get spied upon. This isn't so much a "how can I be secure" question, but a "what alternatives to Skype do I have that work on Linux" question. Which is one I'm also interested in, since I also want something thats (1)linux compatible, (2) easy and accessible for "average users" of any OS, (3) and secure. And I'm hoping for those things in that order.
- aidenn0 13y ago
  If you are talking to an average user (implied by #2), then there are short odds that at some point their machine will be compromised, at which point it doesn't matter how secure the communications channel is.
  - lelandbatey 13y ago
    I should clarify, I don't mean secure from all angles. In terms of security I don't want a company looking through my chat logs, and I don't want someone who be able to see what I'm saying via a wifi sniffer.
- StavrosK 13y ago
  Pidgin with OTR fits the bill. It should really be standard with Pidgin/Adium/anything.

networked 13y ago

For privacy in asynchronous text communication email with GPG is still pretty much as bulletproof a solution as you can get. For real-time text chat you can try Cryptocat: it's cross-pratform, implements the OTR protocol [1] and is rather user-friendly. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-the-Record_Messaging

aclevernickname 13y ago

I've switched to Yate's QT client (http://yate.null.ro http://yate.null.ro) for all my communication needs. allocate about 512MB of RAM to a VM for Asterisk/Openfire/FreePBX, and connect to it. You'll have voice/video plus instant messaging, with no central authority snooping on all your conversations. I realize I could probably use Yate for everything, but I know asterisk and openfire better at this point, so I use them. :)

mlinksva 13y ago

https://jitsi.org/Main/Features https://jitsi.org/Main/Features