chat protocols and programs.
IRC
- unencrypted by default.
- TLS for client-to-server encryption.
- OTR or blowfish for end-to-end encryption.
irssi has otr support built in in newer versions.
federated.
p2p. text. lots of other things thrown in. haven't looked in a while.
tox. p2p. text/video/audio
What I'm wanting:
private (stuff only viewable (ignoring the
) by people who I explicitly choose to be able to view it)
one to many (so I don't have to resend an encrypted message to each person I want to see it)
capable of doing text/pictures/audio/video
has to run on both android (preferably installable through F-Droid) and desktop (linux AND windows preferably)
What about IRC?
one-to-many
Why it doesn't fit what I want
no audio/video.
What about:
p2p, encrypted, capable of text/picture/audio/video.
Why it doesn't fit what I want
The android app for it
can't do group-chat which would be used for the one-to-many requirement.
edit: it /can/ do group-chat. don't remember why I put this here.
maybe it was that it couldn't do group voice-chat? can it?
What about email?
federated, encrypted if using PGP, any file can be sent over email.
Why it doesn't fit what I want
one-to-many doesn't work very well. no audio or video.
What about:
p2p, encrypted, capable of text/pictures/audio/video
Why it doesn't fit what I want
the android app tries to share user keys as retroshare:// URLs which, when pasted into the desktop program, are considered invalid.
android app doesn't have an "add contact" button on the "contacts" view selectable from the main hamburger menu...
there's a "paste link" (wat?) option. what type of links? retroshare:// links?
didn't find an option to export my ID as a URL/link from the desktop version of retroshare.
What about aTalk?
xmpp so federated, end to end encryption (OMEMO), capable of text/pictures/audio/video
Why I'm not using aTalk
I've never goten aTalk to voice and video chat with anything other than another aTalk.
What about telegram?
IM, VoIP, multiplatform (android, ios, windows, mac OS, GNU+linux), e2e encryption.
Why I'm not using telegram
"Telegram accounts are tied to telephone numbers and are verified by SMS."
I could use something like textnow to make an account anyway, but even after that
I don't want vendor-locked-in chat.
What about signal?
IM, e2e encryption
Why I'm not using signal
pretty much the same shit as telegram
What about mumble?
no video, but works good for the audio part of the requiement. phone and desktop software (linux /and/ windows) works well together.
Why I'm not using mumble
I am using mumble. I might have to rething the requiement that what I'm looking for needs to do all of the things I need at once.
What about discord?
does text, does audio, no video
Why I'm not using discor
discord says in their privacy policy they're collecting everything and they can do whatever they want with it.
What about matrix?
does text
Why I'm not using matrix
I am, but it is a big pile of chat over HTTP, and the only client I was able to get working was
What about keybase/zoom?
video/audio, text, "encrypted"
What's wrong with keybase?
I can't run my own server and I don't want to trust some random company.
What about...
I'll have to think of more things and put them here.