Live data from Hacker News

OpenMailBox: An alternative to Gmail based on free software

perseosblog.com

21–30 of 31 posts

Re: OpenMailBox: An alternative to Gmail based on free software

#21
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The terms of service are here: https://openmailbox.org/cgu.php There are some typos there and they don't say much. Do I need to say more about the quality of this?

It's based in France, can't expect the creator(s) to speak perfect English

How comforting it is to be only subject to French surveillance: http://gigaom.com/2013/07/04/france-has-its-own-prism-like-s...

Re: OpenMailBox: An alternative to Gmail based on free software

#23
post #18
post #6

The obvious question that arises with companies like this is if I don't trust Google, why should I trust you? Using open source software isn't a signal that you are trustworthy. Especially considering none of your customers can verify the actual code you are using. What would prevent a similar company from starting with open source software and inserting all sorts of evil code before deploying it on their servers?

The terms of service are here: https://openmailbox.org/cgu.php There are some typos there and they don't say much. Do I need to say more about the quality of this?

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/

Re: OpenMailBox: An alternative to Gmail based on free software

#24

There are several security concerns here. First of all, I didn't see any mention of encryption. Is data encrypted at all, or are you able to read everything going on in the server? If encrypted, in what way? Why should I trust you with my data if it's not encrypted? How will I hold you accountable if I'm not paying you? Second, HTTPS is a nice start, but it's just public/private key encrypted connection. It's still s…

> Most users will click through a security certificate warning generated by their browsers for the sake of convenience.

This can be avoided by using HSTS.

Re: OpenMailBox: An alternative to Gmail based on free software

#26
post #6

The obvious question that arises with companies like this is if I don't trust Google, why should I trust you? Using open source software isn't a signal that you are trustworthy. Especially considering none of your customers can verify the actual code you are using. What would prevent a similar company from starting with open source software and inserting all sorts of evil code before deploying it on their servers?

and I ask, how is that the use of open source software can guarantee privacy? from the article

"OpenMailBox is an recently email service (June 2013), which promises to respect your privacy thanks to the exclusive use of free software "

and the business model? bills needs to get paid...

Re: OpenMailBox: An alternative to Gmail based on free software

#27
From the comments on the blog:

"How do you plan to avoid [turning over encryption keys to authorities]?" - Majik

Response:

"I give the informations because I do not want help criminals." - Pierre Barre

http://www.perseosblog.com/en/posts/openmailbox-an-alternati...

Re: OpenMailBox: An alternative to Gmail based on free software

#28
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The terms of service are here: https://openmailbox.org/cgu.php There are some typos there and they don't say much. Do I need to say more about the quality of this?

It's based in France, can't expect the creator(s) to speak perfect English

Good. The text I'm referring to is in French. Can I expect him to write perfect French on a legal document?

Re: OpenMailBox: An alternative to Gmail based on free software

#29
post #23
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The terms of service are here: https://openmailbox.org/cgu.php There are some typos there and they don't say much. Do I need to say more about the quality of this?

https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/

I'm not basing my judgement on where it comes from. I read the ToS and, since they're in French, I'm sharing two observations:

- there are typos there

- they don't say much

It's not good quality per se, that's it. I don't care where it's coming form.

Re: OpenMailBox: An alternative to Gmail based on free software

#30
post #9
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The software used in the mail stack is purely open source software. Looks like they are running a fairly standard Postfix stack and are using roundcube for webmail [1]. I'll stick with my current solution of lavabit (which encrypts all mails stored on their server) [2] and running my own roundcube instance for when I need webmail. [1] https://openmailbox.org/licences.php [2] http://lavabit.com

The fact that lavabit unexpectedly went down last night (and is still down) without them announcing it beforehand, or saying when it will be back up, is really annoying me right now.

This might be why... https://lavabit.com/
Post reply on HN