MaltimoreIs there anyone familiar with #Signal from #openwhispersystems development on here? If so, any estimates on when the standalone desktop version will be released?
I'm an alpha tester for #signal #messenger on the desktop now. Already works flawlessly but could use a couple of more settings configurable.
ԜаӀtеr Ⅼарсһуnѕkі@Maltimore but Electron… it's essentially Chrome. I not sure if it leaks IPs via WebRTC, but I don't trust it.
@wxl
I only know Electron to the extent that I know what it is (as in, I understand the use-case).
When you say you don't trust it, do you mean you think it has accidental security holes, or intential data collection mechanisms? It being a fully open source framework, I think the latter should be impossible right?
I only know Electron to the extent that I know what it is (as in, I understand the use-case).
When you say you don't trust it, do you mean you think it has accidental security holes, or intential data collection mechanisms? It being a fully open source framework, I think the latter should be impossible right?
@wxl *intentional
@Maltimore for one, i don't trust Google. they ultimately are in control of the state of Chromium, regardless of input from outside sources. this is also true with WebRTC, which is a Google project. the "solution" from Google is hidden preferences, whereas with Firefox you can at least turn it off easily.
it does look like there's a fix in Electron, but similarly, it only affects whether or not IPs are exposed rather than turning it off entirely. this could probably be solved by Signal, but the problem is ultimately that Google is not a safe partner for a privacy app.
@wxl
but isn't Electron built at github?
but isn't Electron built at github?
@Maltimore the core issue is that Electron consists of Chromium, and with it WebRTC. Chromium is a core component of Electron. without it, it's useless. competing technologies (NW.js) are no better.
@wxl ah the more you know! I had no idea that chromium is within Electron. Thanks for the info.
@Maltimore yeah i discovered this when i was originally looking for a desktop version of Signal. i don't understand a lot about it, but i know that much. i haven't had time to explore further. are you on the mailing list for Signal btw? i'll probably drop a line there at some point in the near future. :)
@wxl
I'm not on the mailing list. Is it public? And if so, how many emails/day roughly? I love signal but I'd probably not sign up if it's more than say an email a day on average.
I'm not on the mailing list. Is it public? And if so, how many emails/day roughly? I love signal but I'd probably not sign up if it's more than say an email a day on average.
@Maltimore yeah, it's public and pretty darn quiet, but if you're interested in the development of the app and especially as an alpha tester, i'd be sure to pay attention to it:
https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/whispersystems
https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/whispersystems
@wxl
Subscribed, thanks! It's not very advertised, this list, is it? A little bit of googling around (DuckDuckGo of course but I guess googling is a word now) didn't immediately turn it up.
One more thing, since we're at it: I'm also interested in the amount of users signal has, is there a primary source for that (i. e. not from newspaper/magazine articles)?
@Maltimore i found it mentioned in GitHub issues. it is remarkable that it is mentioned almost nowhere. search the GitHub org and you'll find it in Signal-Server, BitHub, Flock, and Signal-Android repos in README.md, BUILDING.md or, rarely, both. it's not even in CONTRIBUTING.md!
anyways, i'm sure they can keep track of installations of the present forms of the app, since most app stores allow for this. example: there's 5-10 million installs of Android and 281,451 users of the Chrome extension. it might be harder to track the Electron app, but I'm sure Google can help with that ;)