Simplex-chat on Librem 5?

Hardware Librem 5
2

I couldn’t find is simplex is free software

3

I believe it is, here is the link to the GNU license.

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4

You are right. It is a GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE
Version 3, 19 November 2007

Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc. https://fsf.org/

but I am concern about this paragraph on LICENSE file:

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.

5

the license document not the software self? Or what is the Problem? I am not a licence expert :slight_smile:

6

That is just plain normal. :slight_smile:

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7

AFAIK simplex work on recent android versions. Did you install linux-desktop version?

Have you considered Gnu Jami?

is a working software available for Win, MacOs, iOS, Android, AndroidTV Gnu/linux.
I have it installed on Librem 5. Nowadays I make audio calls, send files (audio, txt, images). It is difficult write text because the GUI doesn’t fit well on screen.

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8

I installed the Desktop version of simplex only on my x86-64 desktop and there it works. I haven’t tried to build an arm64 version for the librem 5, I don’t know how I can do that, I mean there is no documentation for that.

Is jami basically SIP?

9

Jami, is Voice/Video over IP app. It have instant messaging too, but it doesn’t replace SMS.
plus is a SIP client

10

Would this be the same as half-duplex chat? (Time to duck)

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11

From what I’ve read so far it sounds a lot like the GNUnet Messenger (at least the premise that you don’t need to identify yourself before using it). But it seems they already have working relays to workaround NAT traversal issues.

I would add the note for everyone interested though. In the GNUnet Messenger you can identify yourself via signatures on your own sent messages. So impersonation can be prevented.

Also I don’t really like the claim “100% private by design”. Even though it doesn’t seem to use a specific identifier for its users. You will still potentially get identified via your IP address or traffic analysis unless you combine it with onion routing or some other proxy infrastructure.

However I definitely like the concept to open chats via physical exchange of key material. That should be more common in my opinion.

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12

Bumping, I’d be interested in trying out the GUI SimpleX client on Librem 5 but I couldn’t find any instructions on cross compiling.

13

You can use the desktop or Terminal app.

https://simplex.chat/downloads/

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Thanks, I’m not going to use a CLI version, let alone on a small touch screen.

As for the desktop app, which one should I use on Librem5?

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15

Try the .deb first, then if it fails, the AppImage.

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Current packages are either arm64 or x86_x64, not aarch64, and MacOS aarch64 is not suitable.

I could use anbox and apk but that’s going to be very slow.

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17

So basically, another Briar situation.

18

SimpleX devs are happy to work with Pinephone, no news yet on Librem5

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19

Hi librem5_gebruiker1,

seems like you just need some time to wait for the next Updates of Chatty. The Developer of the pinephone App, deliver a Patch for Chatty too.

https://lists.sr.ht/~mil/sxmo-devel/patches/46886

A week ago, to Quote his Website:

" [PATCH sxmo-utils 01/11] apps: add Chatty"
and
“Chatty is Purism’s multi-protocol instant messaging client.”
So be patient.

Thank you for your Question. I missed SimpleX, but will use it in future too.

Have a good Time!

Christal

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20

Hahaha.

And to be pedantic, the answer is “No”. Half-Duplex communication is like a walkie-talkie – communication is two-way but only one at a time. Although there is some confusion, simplex communication typically describes one-way only (e.g. television broadcast antenna to a TV antenna + set).

And for a mathematician, a “simplex” is the abstraction of a triangle to higher dimensions (triangle, tetrahedron, …). See “simplicial homology” (in topology) and “simplex algorithm” (in Linear Programming / Linear Algebra).

But … it’s none of those. I think this was “Simple” “X” concatenated to SimpleX. :wink:

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21

I’m also interested in having SimpleX chat on Librem 5, it’s one of the major important apps for me, but don’t own the device just yet. Can anyone say

  • exactly how bad the performance of Android-based messaging apps is,
  • how much running those apps’s services affects the battery (SimpleX has its own always-on listening service)
  • and whether there are problems with notifications for Android apps, for messaging apps specifically.
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