Comment by godelski
2 years ago
You can run Signal app forks on the Signal server. Molly is a popular one. You just can't create new servers. I wish you could, but I get the reasoning of not wanting honeypots. But that doesn't stop you from running your own network of Signal servers. So I don't see anything stopping anyone. I mean Mullvad runs their own stuff and I don't see half the complaints about them. I've always been curious why Signal is so unique here. If 1/100th the people that made these concerns developed a open community of signal servers, I'm sure we'd have a viable alternative network. What's stopping everyone?
One of the big lessons from Twitter and Reddit was third party apps are tolerated or even encouraged until they are not. Unlike, for example Discord, I haven't see any indication that third party clients are causing account bans, yet.
The status of open source, privacy respecting messaging apps looks really healthy to me, compared to where we've been over the past 30+ years (thinking starting with ICQ.) Signal was a big leap toward getting average people using much more secure messaging, although it is pretty clear even most 'tech' people don't grasp what is going on or why it is important to be able to use e2ee separate from a combined client+server provider.
Yes, but my argument is more in the realms of "why are there no projects to create an open network using the existing architecture" not "we shouldn't have an open network and completely rely on Signal forever."
The Signal devs have been very clear that they consider forked or third party clients freeloaders and will cut them off, sooner or later.
Source? Sounds like even a bigger reason to create a parallel network
I recall reading this as well on their website
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