While Signal’s home base is the US, they are a non profit org that doesn’t operate in the same way as for-profit corporations. Also, Signal collects basically zero data so there’s no incentive to sell out, and who would want to buy them anyway when they have no data and the server and client are open source.
Matrix is great, but I wouldn’t compare it to Signal. I use both for very different purposes.
Agree with the sentiment against signal. However, Matrix is terrible for anyone who doesn’t want to bother with reading up on several hours of information just to use a text messenger. I will start recommending Matrix the moment someone actually manages to produce a feature complete client with usable UI/UX.
FWIW Matrix and XMPP are also decentralised, much like e-mail is, which is why I recommended it.
I’m immediately skeptic about SimpleX’s premise of having no user IDs; they’ll likely need some unique field for each user, this might as well be a UUID or something like that… So what’s the benefit?
Signal is American
Opt for a Matrix or XMPP provider in Europe (magicbroccoli.de is a genuinely great XMPP provider)
While Signal’s home base is the US, they are a non profit org that doesn’t operate in the same way as for-profit corporations. Also, Signal collects basically zero data so there’s no incentive to sell out, and who would want to buy them anyway when they have no data and the server and client are open source.
Matrix is great, but I wouldn’t compare it to Signal. I use both for very different purposes.
Agree with the sentiment against signal. However, Matrix is terrible for anyone who doesn’t want to bother with reading up on several hours of information just to use a text messenger. I will start recommending Matrix the moment someone actually manages to produce a feature complete client with usable UI/UX.
yeah been trying out matrix. Setup a server and tried various clients. They are all shit.
XMPP is more comparable to Signal, yes.
Signal does need (yes, need) a phone number, and most people only have one so that is identifiable info.
This puts it at mostly the same level as some competitors, including WhatsApp which is often advised against.
Also simplex is a good alternative, it’s decentralized:)
This? https://https/://simplex.chat/
FWIW Matrix and XMPP are also decentralised, much like e-mail is, which is why I recommended it. I’m immediately skeptic about SimpleX’s premise of having no user IDs; they’ll likely need some unique field for each user, this might as well be a UUID or something like that… So what’s the benefit?