Trust us, this totally isn't another Dual_EC_DRBG
DARPA's not doing this for shits and giggles; they want to use it (or later iterations of it) for military communication. They also want to open source it.
Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
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Re: Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tried signal, much more inferior to WhatsApp in terms of functionality and usability
A few points that I hope dont come off snarky 1) It's open source, so if you can code and have time, you can help. 2) Some small friction adders seem like a small price to pay to not have a facebook product installed on my phone and suck all my metadata down.
You’re right and I agree with you, but as to point 1, they don’t really act like a proper open source project and it seems more like a “source dump” than anything. It’s hard to compile on your own and they don’t like forks connecting to official servers either.
Re: Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
#23Re: Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tried signal, much more inferior to WhatsApp in terms of functionality and usability
How is Signal inferior to WhatsApp "in terms of functionality and usability"?
Just a few things:
- Signal is a lot less "polished" - FB has spent tons more resources on making a slick streamlined easy to use interface. Even though signal looks similar its missing all the little things.
- there is no easy to use backup. Whatsapp can backup to google drive or icloud and restore it on another phone. Signal you have to figure out how to deal with and transfer your backup file[1]. This isn't easy for regular folks, Signal needs to be able to connect to cloud storage (preferably of your choice).
- Whatsapp deals with and displays media better/faster
- calling works better. last time I checked whatsapp has easy group video and audio calls, Signal had neither.
There is actually lots more. I prefer the idea of using Signal over whatsapp, but I found it not close enough yet. Especially for non-techy ppl.
[1]: https://support.signal.org/hc/en-us/articles/360007059752-Ba...
Re: Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
#25Isn't that called Signal? Maybe just put the funding into extending that?
I tried signal, much more inferior to WhatsApp in terms of functionality and usability
I use signal on the reg, and the short comings are both superficial and unrelated to the security. In my opinion.
What are your specific concerns? I could list things like: lack of bold and italic , poor voice message UI, lack of video conferencing , lack of group names, ...
Note that WhatsApp was wildly popular for over half a decade before it got most of those features.
In other words: I don’t get the point of talking about these cosmetic blemishes. * Signal today feels like WhatsApp at its inception. I.e. a messaging app with the potential to be used by everyone and their dog.
Or is there some fundamental problem you’re encountering that I’m blind / oblivious to?
* edit: let me clarify: “... talking about these cosmetic blemishes as if they’re fundamental blockers to adoption. “
Re: Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
Put effort into improving usability of Signal then? I don't understand.
A lot of the issues can't be solved without relying on an authoritative 3rd party (which is what facebook, whatsapp, skype, etc do). For example, because all messages are p2p, you can't view conversation history that isn't stored locally or sent by the other party upon request (which may not include deleted messages, etc).
Signal relies on an authoritative third party to exactly the same extent that WhatsApp does as far as I know.
Re: Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tried signal, much more inferior to WhatsApp in terms of functionality and usability
A 500 billion dollar corporation will always be able to beat nonprofits on usability. The question you should ask yourself is whether the marginal difference in usability makes up for all the negative consequences of being a Facebook user.
Currently the answer is a definite no, but that may change in future.
Re: Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
#28Do we really need yet another chat app? I think there are far too many of them. Can't we go back to XMPP again and make everything compatible like it was ten years ago?
Re: Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
#29Isn't that called Signal? Maybe just put the funding into extending that?
WhatsApp is Signal under the hood. And as I recall, Moxie helped them set it up.
Re: Darpa wants to make a better, more secure, version of WhatsApp
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
I tried signal, much more inferior to WhatsApp in terms of functionality and usability
Put effort into improving usability of Signal then? I don't understand.
Sure,
Could you let me know where to start developing my own desktop client? Where is the API documentation I can use to do that?