Signal-Desktop on arm64

[Torrone]

@prog-amateur

Hello Torrone, I don’t come to say “you see I was right” , so I’d rather say to you: now, I hope you understand my concerns regarding Signal. I still today have concerns about the metadata stored in their servers. Like Tor, Signal is surrounded by personalities and organizations that, without accusing, I have no proof, nevertheless require a deep audit (technically but also financially).

I’m not sure I understand what you mean.
Signal is the most protective mainstream service in terms of metadata. Independent audits and court cases have proven this to be true.
There are messaging systems that do even better, but they are much more constraining to use and there is almost no chance that someone around you is using them.
It’s up to you to take these elements into account when choosing the service that best suits your needs.

[dom0]

@amarok

How about a $0 per month prepaid plan, just to acquire a phone number?

While that may be an option for some, all of those plans require that you pay with your data as well as paying taxes and fees monthly or yearly. This is why Signal is not actually free yet. You must pay to use Signal, either in money, data, or both.

Thank you for the information though.

@weirdnerd

I hope you find a good way to register for Signal without SMS. Please share it when you do.

If I am ever able to register for Signal, I will be sure to update this post.

@Bass20

I don’t want to switch either but I do have some friends using Threema, is that an option?

As long as you have friends that actually use Threema, then yes, I think that it is a good option. Threema has been audited and is also open source now.

@dcz

I’m going to go slightly off-topic here (feel free to tell me to split), but my friends and family have been able to reach me over XMPP for the last 15 years at the same JID, using the same software.

I actually created XMPP accounts for myself and my parents last year. Many thanks to Purism and any other developers involved in creating the Chats app, which allows me to send OMEMO end-to-end encrypted XMPP messages using my PinePhone. Honestly, if Signal wants to be easily accessible to as many people as possible, as they claim, then they need to invest in incorporating it into mobile linux, like the Chats app does with XMPP.

@Torrone

There are messaging systems that do even better, but they are much more constraining to use and there is almost no chance that someone around you is using them.

This is why I really want a lot of people to keep pushing Signal to be freely available to everyone. It has become mainstream and is uniquely not evil, as far as I can tell, in the small group of mainstream communication platforms. So I think that we need to keep pushing for them to open up and allow everyone around the world to use it for free. Currently, you either need to purchase a phone number with money or data or both. For many people around the world, that is not safe.

[amarok]

Some additional ideas, which may work for some people:

How to Use Signal Without Giving Out Your Phone Number

"Your phone number is only used as a way to identify your Signal account (basically, it’s your username), and your phone company doesn’t have access to any information about anything that goes on in Signal.

This means that, as long as you have access to a phone number where you can answer voice calls, like a landline or a VoIP number, you can use that phone number with Signal."

… Or:

“If following these instructions isn’t too daunting, you can purchase phone numbers for $1/month from Twilio to use for Signal.”