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Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#71

Post by josephg »

lucideer wrote: post #64

NOTE: I don't know what Zom is so ignoring it in the below. Viber, WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, Threema and Discord are all built on the same paradigm: accounts tied to a single service and thus the inertia of network effect makes vendor lock-in a real problem when acquisitions happen or Terms of Service change. Signal is in theory the "best" of these 5 options in the short-term, but it being open source is utterly ir…

Moxie Marlinspike (the guy behind Signal) talked about his rationale for making signal centralized here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj3YFprqAr8

Its been a year and I'm still not sure if I agree with him - which is the sign of a very juicy talk!

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#72

Post by decrypt »

lrvick wrote: post #31
aceelric wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Signal can't be bought. They're a non-profit org

When they run out of money to pay for servers they can sell assets as they please to whomever they please.

Brian Acton, WhatsApp co-founder, one who left Facebook post-acquisition, infused 50M USD into Signal. And, Signal is community-supported through donations. I hope that Signal remains here for a long time.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#73

Post by dividedbyzero »

It would (have been?) interesting to know who isn't switching anywhere (and/or not considering to switch)

Also, I can't seem to find anything about a messenger named Zom, do you mean Zoom? If so, is Zoom really something people use for the same use case as Whatsapp?

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#74

Post by cycomanic »

captainmuon wrote: post #49

Is Matrix a good alternative to Signal? I'm currently using Signal, but I'm not entirely satisfied. My major issues are that I don't like their stance on a couple of issues: third party clients are not allowed, mobile first and desktop is only synced, phone number required, and distribution only over the app stores. Also we frequently get "encryption errors" and everybody ignores them, this is worse than with SSH key…

I like matrix, and the chat feature is pretty rock solid. However for calls and sending files it's currently not as good as Signal. I quite often have an issue with calls connecting (need several tries) while I hardly ever see this with signal. Similarly, sometimes I get failed sending of files (especially if they are big) and they somehow stay as a failed message in your chat afterwards, which is really annoying.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#75

Post by defanor »

I've never used WhatsApp (and only briefly tried some of the other listed messengers), but switching from one centralised and commercial system, once it runs into issues as many similar systems did before it, to another very similar system, doesn't seem quite wise. Personally I'm using XMPP and IRC for instant messaging, and tend to recommend the former: it's a nice and federated protocol, with users and software, and perhaps one of the least offenders wrt fragmentation of messengers. Was surprised to see neither of those among poll options.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#76

Post by amitport »

tlarkworthy wrote: post #14
approxim8ion wrote: post #3

Telegram is a downgrade in terms of both security and privacy. Just leaving the comment for people who consider it. It's an excellent platform and a joy to use but I personally refuse to use it.

If it's good enough for organised criminals and to anger various governments, it's good enough for me

It's not really "good enough" for them. Some criminals seem to use it but it's just a matter of reputation. It doesn't offer any extra privacy over whatsapp.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#79

Post by m_st »

defanor wrote: post #75

I've never used WhatsApp (and only briefly tried some of the other listed messengers), but switching from one centralised and commercial system, once it runs into issues as many similar systems did before it, to another very similar system, doesn't seem quite wise. Personally I'm using XMPP and IRC for instant messaging, and tend to recommend the former: it's a nice and federated protocol, with users and software, an…

Full ack. But then try connecting with your non-tech friends using XMPP or IRC. Won't do.

Re: Poll: Switching from WhatsApp

#80

Post by decrypt »

hlasdjlfhalwjk wrote: post #48
knocte wrote: post #2

zom?

In the past, zom was a XMPP client [0]. From what I can see on GitHub, the new version builds on Matrix [1], so there shouldn't be a separate answer for zom. [0]: https://chatsecure.org/blog/chatsecure-conversations-zom/ [1]: https://github.com/zom/zom-android-matrix

I didn't even know Zom was a thing. I thought they meant Zoom.
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