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Briar Desktop for Linux

briarproject.org

51–60 of 87 posts

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#51

I don't feel comfortable trusting a new "secure" messaging platform or interested in doing the work to dig through the sources to see if it's legit or not combined with the fact that I don't even know if the source they provide generates the same binary they distribute to many. Just use Matrix instead.

> combined with the fact that I don't even know if the source they provide generates the same binary they distribute to many.

builds are reproducible

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#52
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A new environment with just a handful of apps comes every so often. In that regard, what are other apps like Briar? The premise is: > Briar is a messaging app designed for activists, journalists, and anyone else who needs a safe, easy and robust way to communicate. Unlike traditional messaging apps, Briar doesn’t rely on a central server - messages are synchronized directly between the users' devices. If the internet…

There's some overlap with P2P Matrix (which isn't yet done but is in the works).

Difference is P2P isnt matrix's main goal. Their approach to P2P is to just bundle an entire homeserver on your phone or desktop client.

Briar was built for P2P from the ground up, so presumably they planned this better.

This isn't a criticism of matrix. Matrix is great and I use it everyday but gotta give credit where its due.

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#53
post #50

I don't feel comfortable trusting a new "secure" messaging platform or interested in doing the work to dig through the sources to see if it's legit or not combined with the fact that I don't even know if the source they provide generates the same binary they distribute to many. Just use Matrix instead.

Briar is p2p/offgridy/meshnety and Matrix is federated, always on internet connected.

So Briar messages are sent directly peer-to-peer? That's pretty cool. How does it work? There is a graphic on the website that suggests it uses Tor.

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#54
It's great that the messaging works over bluetooth and local wifi, but I really wish the phone app would be able to cache and relay encrypted messages to others.

Or does that somehow work through the posts and forums in the app?

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#55

Never heard of Briar. Title made me think it was some new cool desktop environment for linux. It took me longer than I care to admit before I realized Briar is just a messaging app.

A new environment with just a handful of apps comes every so often. In that regard, what are other apps like Briar? The premise is: > Briar is a messaging app designed for activists, journalists, and anyone else who needs a safe, easy and robust way to communicate. Unlike traditional messaging apps, Briar doesn’t rely on a central server - messages are synchronized directly between the users' devices. If the internet…

> what are other apps like Briar?

It sounds similar to Scuttlebutt https://scuttlebutt.nz/

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#56
post #14

Do any of these "decentralized" and "end to end" encryption communication systems actually solve the fundamental problem which is that you have to trust the person you're communicating with to not give up the content of the messages they've sent and received. People's telegram and signal comms are always showing up in subpoenas because someone unlocks their phone for the feds. I guess what I'm thinking here is that t…

As Ben Franklin said, "Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead." There's no technical solution for that. End-to-end encryption will help if one person sends information to one competent, trustworthy journalist. It won't help much if large groups of people try using it to conspire to overthrow a government: someone will talk, someone will be an undercover double agent.

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#57

I don't feel comfortable trusting a new "secure" messaging platform or interested in doing the work to dig through the sources to see if it's legit or not combined with the fact that I don't even know if the source they provide generates the same binary they distribute to many. Just use Matrix instead.

> Just use Matrix instead.

No just don't. Matrix exposes metadata to every connected server.

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#58

It's great that the messaging works over bluetooth and local wifi, but I really wish the phone app would be able to cache and relay encrypted messages to others. Or does that somehow work through the posts and forums in the app?

Apparently being worked on: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30025858

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#59
post #14

Do any of these "decentralized" and "end to end" encryption communication systems actually solve the fundamental problem which is that you have to trust the person you're communicating with to not give up the content of the messages they've sent and received. People's telegram and signal comms are always showing up in subpoenas because someone unlocks their phone for the feds. I guess what I'm thinking here is that t…

Signal has a "Disappearing Messages" feature that deletes conversations contents after a set amount of time. This is the only feature that I'm aware of on these major messenger services that works to solve the concern for your conversations on the recipients devices.

Conspiracies using Signal and similar services often fall apart because someone in the conversation is undercover or has a change of heart: someone thought he was signing up to a protest movement and then finds out that others want to kidnap a politician and hold her hostage (the governor of the state of Michigan, where this happened) and sends the messages to the cops, even though they were set to disappear.

Figuring out a solution for this would enable new kinds of horror, like when in 1984 Winston is shown a photo that implicates the party leader in a crime and his torturer then tosses it in the "memory hole" to burn it up. You can see evidence of something horrific but you cannot share it, cannot prove it and then it disappears.

Re: Briar Desktop for Linux

#60

Never heard of Briar. Title made me think it was some new cool desktop environment for linux. It took me longer than I care to admit before I realized Briar is just a messaging app.

I also assumed it was a window manager or a GUI or something of that nature. They could tweak a few works to make that clear, though. The project looks cool.
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