Signal is having technical difficulties • Hacker News Board

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#501

Post by Cullinet » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 10:51 PM UTC

alan5 wrote: post #71

I just donated to Signal after seeing the error banner in the app. I realised I was more than happy to pay WhatsApp's yearly charge back in the pre-Facebook days (think it was 70p or so?). Figured I could give Signal a few quid every now and then, maybe keep a server up for a few seconds :) Donation link should anyone be interested: https://signal.org/donate/

don't forget that you can use the Signal protocol in Skype with Skype Private Conversations and delete your own call metadata afterwards as well.

edit : which presumably drives licensing income from Microsoft to The Signal Foundation, which I am presuming is better than nothing and if like me you can start using Signal protocol for calling your family elders via Skype without friction, and I simultaneously create widespread adoption of the Signal protocol, I can't see any downside myself anyhow.

https://az705183.vo.msecnd.net/onlinesupportmedia/onlinesupp...

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#502

Post by CodeGlitch » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 10:53 PM UTC

agilob wrote: post #302

CodeGlitch wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really wish the EU would put up funds for open source software, like signal, it seems to be something they could get behind for the greater good. My previous job involved creating a graphical programming language for the generation of GPU shaders, which the EU partly funded. I knew it was going nowhere, and it made me slightly sad tax payer money was being used on something I knew, despite my best efforts, would no…

>I really wish the EU would put up funds for open source software, like signal, it seems to be something they could get behind for the greater good. They do https://hexus.net/tech/news/software/125747-14-open-source-p...

That's a bug bounty programme, which I agree is useful but not quite what I was talking about.

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#503

Post by Niten » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 10:56 PM UTC

eredengrin wrote: post #486

Niten wrote: post #476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that create an account with end-to-end encryption? If not, it's not a replacement for Signal at all.

yes

Oh, well nice, then

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#504

Post by BeetleB » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 10:59 PM UTC

godelski wrote: post #232

lucb1e wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or that you can use that money for a Matrix server instead of supporting centralization. Element is less polished than Signal app but they've been catching up quite fast. If you and your friends aren't locked into the Signal ecosystem yet, might be worth considering, especially if you're techies.

Matrix comes up a lot but even Signal is often called not polished enough. And for matrix onboarding is hard for techies and I've had zero chance for the general public. Fine to push it towards techies, but my grandma can't figure it out but she can Signal. Push matrix when it's more polished but right now it just feels silly to push it.

Would that not be even a better reason to donate to them...?

(Not a Matrix user, BTW - looked into it some months ago and ran away)

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#505

Post by chopin24 » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 11:01 PM UTC

Groxx wrote: post #435

chopin24 wrote: post #265

For all of you saying we should switch to Matrix, please outline the user sign up flow in your comment. Be detailed. Your audience is your 50 something aunt who calls her iPad her Facebook.

https://app.element.io/ -> click "create account" -> create account. The default is for a matrix.org account which is totally fine for anyone who can't/won't dig deeper.

I tapped this link on my iPhone. There’s nothing that says create account. It says I have to download an app called Element. But you said it was called Matrix.

This is the level of technical ability that you need to be targeting.

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#506

Post by kbelder » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 11:01 PM UTC

rvz wrote: post #257

chopin24 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Telegram is insecure and also being swamped with right wingers. Doesn’t seem promising.

> also being swamped with right wingers So is Signal. 'right wingers' are everywhere.

Yeah; almost half the users are right of center.

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#507

Post by jelliclesfarm » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 11:01 PM UTC

caturopath wrote: post #492

jelliclesfarm wrote: post #471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me try. I am not a legal person. I think there is a limit to the amount of gift in cash or other assets you can make without triggering a federal gift tax of around 40%. For an individual there is a limit of life time gift tax exemption around 11.5 million and 23 million if the gift is made as a couple. 1. A loan is a business transaction here. There is an expectation that it will be repaid. It can also be forgiv…

> I think there is a limit to the amount of gift in cash or other assets you can make without triggering a federal gift tax of around 40%. AFAIK, this does not apply when giving to a charity. > I can’t speak for Acton. Or in any legal capacity, but if it were me, tax deductions to a non profit can be rife with complications because if he ever gets involved with signal as a board member or employee, it might rise ques…

https://pp-990.s3.amazonaws.com/12_2019_prefixes_82-86/82450... : form 990 of Signal Foundation. Source: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/824...

Brian Acton is listed as Principal Officer/President

You can’t donate to your own company and then claim it for a tax deduction.

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#508

Post by GRBurst » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 11:03 PM UTC

I'm using Signal from the early days on where a lot of stuff wasn't working properly. I try to comvince people for quite some time now and whenever there was like a privacy issue on WhatsApp or other messaging apps, I saw people discovering and moving to Signal.

Sadly, whenever there was such an opportunities to shine, they ran into technical difficulties.

As a result, many friends tell me on a different messaging app like telegram that they finally tried out signal but moved on because it wasn't working.

This makes me very sad and I hope that the Signal team is able to learn from that and plan ahead.

@Signal please take your opportunities and make a reminder like a big banner in your office reminding you to ask yourself "is there an opportunity?" Or more concrete "did WhatsApp messed up with privacy?"

For me, I will still try to convince more people to switch to signal :-)

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#509

Post by zed88 » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 11:03 PM UTC

alan5 wrote: post #71

I just donated to Signal after seeing the error banner in the app. I realised I was more than happy to pay WhatsApp's yearly charge back in the pre-Facebook days (think it was 70p or so?). Figured I could give Signal a few quid every now and then, maybe keep a server up for a few seconds :) Donation link should anyone be interested: https://signal.org/donate/

Done, thanks for mentioning this. TBH..I would happily pay for a paid tier of Signal.

Re: Signal is having technical difficulties

#510

Post by eins1234 » Fri, Jan 15, 2021, 11:04 PM UTC

One thing on my wishlist for Signal that's curiously still missing is the lack of a Web app.

On desktop at least, I'm generally of the position that messaging apps should need no capability outside of what's available in my browser (i.e. sending notifications), so when the option is available that's the one I tend to go for (usually have my commonly used ones sitting around in a pinned tab).

Pretty much every chat app out there today (including WhatsApp) has a web app. Anyone know why Signal doesn't? Is it just a prioritization/lack of resources thing?