Perhaps you're referring to the fact that there's no 'standard' solution. This is the way of things, it seems - network effects weaken as choice increases.
I've never heard of it being peer reviewed by Signal.
And even if it is, there's a lot of stuff around Whatsapp apart from the protocol that most likely is not.
I know the OP didn't mention about a platform being dependent on having a mobile phone number...but an advantage of matrix is that it does not require such a number. I state this because the OP focused on desktop, so i am making an assumption here. Also, matrix (and other federated-based platforms) need not be hosted in a single silo...much like email, can be hosted by numerous servers, and yet interact freely.
The desktop client is still a resource hog though, I hope they'll manage to improve it. Matrix is the main reason I still use IRC channels (through bridges).
The riot.im website isn't bad from resource usage perspective. At least doesn't bog down my machine...though I'll admit "a website" may not fulfill OP's request for desktop app.
Wire (https://wire.com/) is end-to-end encrypted, based on Signal protocol. It's open-source and cross-platform with mobile apps. I've been using it instead of Skype for two years and I don't regret that decision.
You meet a random person and wish to connect on a chat/presence system - that is what I mean by "beyond team communications". Acceptability of such a system for that purpose either requires overwhelming adoption of a single provider (Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger) or federation (SMS, SMTP, XMPP back when Google had not yet killed it). Team communications does not suffer that acceptability requirement because tooling is hierarchically mandated.
I've been eying Wire for the interface and ease of installation. In terms of looks and handling it seems like one of the best options to hand to people with little technical interest/aptitude/patience.
Moxie Marlinspike has commented that Wire does not use the Signal Protocol but only took some components from it and created their own protocol, which he did "not recommend"
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12690148
Has there been any changes to that situation?
Am working on converting my people to Riot.IM/Matrix.org. Pretty user-friendly, considering they're alpha or beta, and their attention to their cryptography.
> The primary problem with PGP is that there is no Forward Secrecy. Losing a key means that all content encrypted with thatkey is compromised. There are two ways of dealing with this:
> create a single master holy grail key and guard it with your life
> create keys frequently and destroy them as soon as they are no longer needed
Might be slightly off topic, but have you used Clatter from the Windows Store? Logs into 10 or 15 web clients at once. URLs can be added. Looks to be encapsulated edge, but highly useful.
OMEMO[1] seems to be the new hotness for end to end XMPP encryption. The feature is that it is better integrated than OTR and tends to be easier to use.
1. Set up private test room on riot.im/matrix.org server.
2. Have family members download mobile riot.im app/client.
3. Have them play around with the system - specifically within the private room that you set up - and see what they like/dislike.
4. If they like it, and you aren't too worried about privacy, keep using that private room on the riot.im/matrix.org server.
5. Alternatively, for maximum privacy, set up your own matrix instance - using the reference synapse server - on a private VPS that you control, etc. Because of federation (for the win!), you can always later connect with other servers/rooms (that are not on your server, think like email federation).
Honestly, the UI on riot.im is so very intuitive, and has a very low learning curve; quite newbie-friendly (in my opinion). Good luck!
Wickr is a great option. they have Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android apps. They also have a pro app that can do end to end encrypted voice and video calling with forward secrecy. the best part is message timers that cause remote destruction of messages. https://www.wickr.com/
52 comments
[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 109 ms ] threadBitmessage, Tox, Wire, Matrix. Even Signal offers a desktop app, but it needs a phone number to register.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_instant_messagin...
Perhaps you're referring to the fact that there's no 'standard' solution. This is the way of things, it seems - network effects weaken as choice increases.
Moxie Marlinspike has commented that Wire does not use the Signal Protocol but only took some components from it and created their own protocol, which he did "not recommend" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12690148 Has there been any changes to that situation?
signal and whatsapp’s “native clients” are chromium-driven, but can run independently of the browser.
I still don't trust their encryption when compared to Matrix.
* Totally multi platform, even for platforms not yet invented
* Totally robust, though you might want to follow an operational guide for this [1]
[0] https://www.gnupg.org/
[1] https://gist.github.com/grugq/03167bed45e774551155
> The primary problem with PGP is that there is no Forward Secrecy. Losing a key means that all content encrypted with thatkey is compromised. There are two ways of dealing with this:
> create a single master holy grail key and guard it with your life
> create keys frequently and destroy them as soon as they are no longer needed
[0] https://gist.github.com/grugq/03167bed45e774551155#key-loss-...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward_secrecy
https://github.com/cryptocat/cryptocat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadim_Kobeissi
Any mail client with either PGP or SMIME.
You can pair it with conversations on android (https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.siacs.conversations/).
[1] https://omemo.top/
* Simple for family members to download and use?
* Opensource (server & client)
* Available on Linux, Windows, iOS and Android
Riot/matrix seems like a great match, but I worry that family members will be unable to use it easily.
psi https://psi-im.org/
> * Opensource (server & client)
Can install your own prosody instance or use one of the many free xmpp servers avalable.
> * Available on Linux, Windows, iOS and Android
I don't know about iOS, but on Android Conversations is excellent: https://f-droid.org/packages/eu.siacs.conversations/ and https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.siacs.conve...
1. Set up private test room on riot.im/matrix.org server.
2. Have family members download mobile riot.im app/client.
3. Have them play around with the system - specifically within the private room that you set up - and see what they like/dislike.
4. If they like it, and you aren't too worried about privacy, keep using that private room on the riot.im/matrix.org server.
5. Alternatively, for maximum privacy, set up your own matrix instance - using the reference synapse server - on a private VPS that you control, etc. Because of federation (for the win!), you can always later connect with other servers/rooms (that are not on your server, think like email federation).
Honestly, the UI on riot.im is so very intuitive, and has a very low learning curve; quite newbie-friendly (in my opinion). Good luck!
https://www.wickr.com/