Comment by tptacek
2 years ago
Matrix doesn't have the same threat model as Signal, and isn't a 1:1 replacement for it. Matrix is great (maybe optimal) for things that would otherwise be Slack channels.
2 years ago
Matrix doesn't have the same threat model as Signal, and isn't a 1:1 replacement for it. Matrix is great (maybe optimal) for things that would otherwise be Slack channels.
I don't understand which different threat model you mean. Could you elaborate? To me, it's the same: private, end-to-end encrypted chat with rooms.
Signal:
* Gives the servers virtually no control over communications between parties.
* Goes through huge pains to minimize serverside metadata storage.
* Is a sealed system end-to-end; the client and the server are part of a single coherent design that together make promises about privacy and security that apply to every user of the system; Matrix is a protocol ecosystem.
A good example of this is group messaging: Matrix servers control group membership. In Matrix, group membership is key management; a Matrix server decides who can decrypt your group messages. That's not how Signal works! But I don't think anybody seriously thinks Signal is a replacement for a large Slack.
> * Goes through huge pains to minimize serverside metadata storage.
And yet uses AWS: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39414322
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