eta: thanks, i ended up suggesting DeltaChat, but leaving this thread open if other people are looking

hi can someone tell me how to either use signal without ever using a phone or another encrypted messaging service that doesn't require a phone?

note to the linux people that this is for someone who is dealing with meta removing encryption, it can't be too difficult

(not for me, for someone who asked me)
a friend not in this thread suggested one called Session which began as a fork of signal. it doesn't need phone number OR email and collects even less metadata than Delta so that's one to note