It does not really compare with Matrix as the underlying concepts are very different.
Matrix is a federated protocol with multiple central server. Everyone can setup a server and connect it to the network of other servers. But clients still connect to servers. Jami is a decentralized (similar to p2p protocols, e.g. torrent) protocol. It does not use centralized servers (at least for the message transport). In detail, it is a bit more complex than that and I can recommend the blog posts on the jami website for a better explanation.
Due to the technical differences I believe the goals are quite different. Hence, Jami does not support the Matrix concept of bridges, its rather a closed network. But be aware that the bridge concept also has drawbacks as for example the E2E encryption between protocols is kind of impossible (at least at the moment and as far as I know).
Jami offers E2E encryption. I would also say due to the decentralized concept it is with respect to privacy and security better than other protocols. But that might be debatable.
What it does not have yet is a group chat feature but I believe the Jami team (so also @AmarOk1412) are working on it. Since it is a p2p protocol it also does not natively support offline messages. Although with the group feature there might be options for offline messages as well. I could even imagine a very basic bridging concept to other protocols using the group feature.
@henry-nicolas
To answer your questions on what Jami offers. Here is the link to Jami’s features, from E2E encryption to how it is decentralized, and more. https://jami.net/discover/
This was included in the initial post. Cheers
@AmarOk1412
If you could tell members of the community what resources you may need to make this happen, to make a Librem 5 Jami application, please let us know. What is it that you would need to make this happen; fundraising, crowdfunding, more developers, volunteers?
Like all projects, help with packaging (actually, I don’t have time to finish the PR for flatpak for example https://github.com/flathub/net.jami.Jami/pull/8 even if there is some other packagers), bug report (always appreciated, even if I don’t answer), help with design (aka, I am not a designer. so for this topic, I have idea for the responsive interface and maybe it’s not perfect), help with code (actually I am the only one active on the Gnome client, and it’s just a very (very) little part of my time). Hopefully, I think the translation part is ok.
There is a lot to do for Jami and a lot of (I think) interesting points (technical stuff or not). But, you know, time is missing for everyone and there is a lot of other things that is actually very interesting to do
Fine, but i’m talking about a place for the average user to get informations, i hardly believe IRC and non official chats on Matrix are the best solution. At least, could you link these pages to the main website? It’s the only place most users are ever going to visit…
Cp 087716829017[quote=“Seven, post:1, topic:7466, full:true”]
GNU Jami (Signal/WhatsApp/Telegram replacement)
Being a piece of GNU software Jami falls inline with the Purism philosophy of using free (freedom) software. The distributed universal and secure Free Software for multimedia communications by Savoir-faire Linux and the GNU community. The website states that Jami is…, “Designed for the general public as well as the industry, Jami aims to provide all of its users a universal communication tool, free, secure and built on a distributed architecture requiring no authority nor central server to operate.” And since this is already cross-platform, having Jami on all devices and form factors is already possible. And finally another thing that maybe important to users is that Jami does not require a phone number or email address to create an account. Just create a user name, using your name is optional. This would seem to fit right in with Purism & the Librem 5. Your thoughts anyone?
https://snapcraft.io/telegram-desktop
I believe that telegram is used by many people and it is easier to convince people to use it. Snapcraft has made it available and open source. Why not install it in Librem5?
Telegram is okay but within Signal every new feature is implemented while keeping privacy in mind. E.g. the profile pictures are not stored server-side, instead they get sent like a normal message (end-to-end encrypted). Signal server software is open source while Telegram’s is not. Telegram does not encrypt message by default (wtf?).
@antpanlinux
All new applications start off with no one using them. Just because many people use Telegram is not a good enough reason why the rest of us should. Now Telegram is an option but Telegram has issues that are addressed in Jami.
Jami is fully GNU certified. It meets the rigorous standards of Free and Privacy minded software. Telegram has not met such standards. Telegram would still be an option but it should be understood that Telegram starts from a different position.
Jami does not require your telephone number. Just a Jami account. Telegram requires phone numbers. If you google it you will find that phone numbers of Telegram users were harvested and sold to other parties. That is a security issue. Telegram has said they fixed that but that’s not all.
Jami communication is decentralized; no servers. Thus greater security. The information is spread out among multiple servers. It would be highly difficult to gain access. The network is all open source. Telegram servers are closed source. And information was accessed in the past. Again Telegram has said they have addressed this.
Jami mobile apps and desktop clients all have end-to-end encryption by default. There is no way to turn it off. This ensures consistent and constant security. Telegram apps encryption is off by default. Not all desktop clients even have the ability to use encryption. In fact only the macOS client has the option of secret chats. The others do not. Look at the chart below.
Jami has already the very things that it needs to be a part of the Librem 5. If you look at earlier responses in this thread you will see that the developer of Jami is all about making it happen.
Jami can also use SIP as many others are not able too.
Jami is all about user’s freedom. Top to bottom. Worth consideration.
@epinez
Signal is a better option as maybe others. I agree end-to-end encryption should be default. Yet Signal still requires a phone number where Jami does not. Signal is not bad but Jami is already in line with the privacy guidelines with Purism and is already GNU certified. Worth a look.
@Gavaudan actually, Telegram encryption is NOT default. That’s not the only concern but a good one. Jami has all this issues covered and addressed very well.
“Telegram is partially open-source and while their app is capable of some genuinely cool stuff, it takes a little extra work to maximize security. For example, the default encryption scheme is server-to-device encryption rather than true end-to-end encryption. You can turn on end-to-end encryption and even set conversations to self-destruct, but this isn’t the default.”
Firstly, you should keep in mind that Telegram doesn’t encrypt chats. Moreover, a social graph is not secured, which means that your contacts are stored on the central server.
End-to-end encryption is not working for the group chats. E2EE is supported only on the mobile version but not desktop.
Moreover, Telegram doesn’t allow anonymous registration for its users.
“So, if your goal is secure messaging, the only way out is secret chat. Secrets chats are encrypted but are not available from all Telegram versions — some desktop clients lack it. When using mobile activate secure messaging by clicking New Secret Chat.”
SIgnal has been working fairly well. I must give my phone number but how could I else get messages from other people ? The Messages app in Android can be used but I prefer to have Signal as my default.
Jami is interesting but it must handle also messages from the post office and transport companies etc. to be really useful.
No, it must not? I have different requirements (privacy, speed, notifications) on the communication with my peers than I have for delivery notifications from the post office. So why should I handle both with the same tool? Not to mention that the post office would mostly be interested in delivering advertising.
Anyway I must have the possibility to receive messages from the post office when I get a package. SMS is the most important way of sending a notice that I have a package that I should fetch from the office. I do not know about other countries but in Sweden I must give my phone number when I order something so I can get a delivery notice. Email is another possibility but it is not as well supported. Paper mail notice is very slow.
… @reC do go on, my interest is piqued, and I have no idea what you meant. (I’m n00b on this) Like what’s a link to a good example and a link to a bad example?
it’s quite simple actually … the GPL (general-public-license) version 3 (the latest) is quite clear on what is permitted or what is NOT permitted when it comes to software that pretends to respect users freedom … as such there are many public licenses that are open-source but not pure free-software GPL compliant. the GNU project makes every piece of software clear in this regard - in the sense that you can without much fuss find exactly what kind of license each piece of software is released under and rest assured that there are no component parts that are not GPL compliant. this is not always the case with other open-source projects.
@nhu
Jami is NOT an SMS replacement or substitute. Signal shouldn’t be either. Like Signal, Jami is a separate app from SMS. I really don’t think you understand what Signal, Telegram, Wire, Jami, are. They are Voice/Video over IP apps. They have instant messaging too, but they don’t replace SMS. The SMS app on Librem is Chatty/Chats. That is a separate application. Just like Signal on your phone is separate from your SMS app. So you can create accounts without a phone number and still use it to make calls to your contacts within the app itself. It is separate, like Signal. Giving your phone number to the post office has nothing to do with this software. That is a separate issue.
i wonder … if it’s not to much to ask … would you be willing to assist with the question @merupp posted above in regards to GNU/Jami vs other similar apps ?
i do think it’s a good thing your brought this software to our attention and i’d like to avoid hijacking the thread or over-generalising about software distribution licenses.
I have different requirements (privacy, speed, notifications) on the communication with my peers than I have for delivery notifications from the post office. So why should I handle both with the same tool? Not to mention that the post office would mostly be interested in delivering advertising.