TID: FMail-lnx64 2.1.0.18-B20170815
RFC-X-No-Archive: Yes
TZUTC: 0100
CHRS: UTF-8 2
PID: GED+LNX 1.1.5-b20161221
MSGID: 2:280/464 5fee0d89
REPLY: 2:221/1.58@fidonet ebeab6f9
Hi August,

On 2020-12-30 22:14:00, you wrote to me:

 WvV>> I have it on my phone, but hardly ever use it, because very
 WvV>> few people I know also have it. And when you do want to
 WvV>> send them a message they also have whatsapp, and you don't
 WvV>> remember they also have signal...

 AA> WhatsApp is owned by FB now, isn't it?  If so, I'd drop it.

Afaik it is. And would be something I would avoid as much as possible. Except
I have no real choic in the matter, because I'm required to have it on my
(company) phone...

 AA> It also seems that the user environment is so saturated with
 AA> alternate/similar choices that people either don't care or don't
 AA> want to change from what they are current using to connect to
 AA> their existing list of contacts.

 AA> And then there is the matter of privacy.  Nobody seems to care -
 AA> unless of course their email accounts get hacked or their private
 AA> pics are somehow copied all over the internet.

I think privacy awareness is getting better. But people still choose the easy
way. Instead of trying to convince others to use the better option, they just
use what's already available/installed/used by most people.

 AA> I have roped in one family friend onto Telegram.  We both feel it
 AA> is a better platform than FB's messenger that clearly has a
 AA> reputation that it monitors content. We have never had a "live"
 AA> chat between us (our online schedules are so different) so
 AA> Telegram's private/live chat and its exploding message feature
 AA> has never been tested. But Signal sounds better.

Me and my 2 brothers use it to communicate amongst eachother. There are some
coworkers that have it available, but most of the time still use whatsapp to
start a conversation. I try to stear that to Telegram sometimes, but not with
great success... :-/

 AA> Does Signal have a desktop app similar to what Telegram offers?

I had to look it up myself. There are clients for several platforms: windows,
mac, linux (only debian based). For my distribution the client is in the
application repositories, but not for the older version I'm currently using.
So not as good as Telegram, but almost as good...

 AA> (I wouldn't ask that if I had internet access at this time. But I
 AA> have to wait until Jan 4 to get my mobile data back, or I have to
 AA> wait until I can connect to the DSL at my shop tomorrow morning
 AA> even to send this.)

So you sent this message from the shop?

 AA> I like Telegram's offerings across ALL devices, especially the
 AA> desktop. The desktop version permits much better editing
 AA> performance.

I like it too!

 AA> I have had some extended personal exchanges on FB Messenger
 AA> *before* I realized that it would probably be good to not
 AA> continue and share info that way.

I only have a fake FB account to be able to view links to FB you sometimes
get. I have never used it to communicate with anyone I know.

 AA>>> It boasts having end-to-end encryption.

 WvV>> That's why I installed it.

 AA> Telegram has the same claim (now) doesn't it?

Afaik: Yes.

 WvV>> And then there also is 'Wire' messenger, which is supposed
 WvV>> to be also pretty good regarding privacy, but I use it even
 WvV>> less...

 AA> Never heard of Wire.  I'm a bit curious.  I will have to try and
 AA> remember to research that - after Jan 4 ofcourse.  :(

On their frontpage they claim: "The most secure collaboration platform"... And
clicking further you can read:


End-to-end encrypted:

All communication through Wire is secured with end-to-end encryption -
messages, conference calls, files.

Independently audited:

Wire is the most extensively publicly audited collaboration and communication
software on the market.

Multi-device messaging:

One account works on up to 8 devices. Messages are encrypted for each device.

Trusted conversations:

Verify each conversation partner's device fingerprints for maximum security.

Forward and backward secrecy:

New encryption keys are used for each message, so a compromised key has
minimal impact.

100% open source:

Wire's source code is available on GitHub for anyone to verify, modify and
improve.
Code on GitHub


But they also seem to be a commercial platform now. Didn't know that, maybe
that has changed...?


Bye, Wilfred.

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