@_elena Everything* is on AWS. Big companies get huge discount and small companies/ startups can take advantage of people’s knowledge. In the last 10 years I worked for companies with millions of users and startups with (pretty much) no users, always on AWS.

* for a good approximation of everything, I guess someone is using Azure too, and a couple of luddites and niche companies use datacenters…

@_elena

Bookmark this thread which has a good discussion on security and anonymity when using #signalapp vs #matrix

@_elena As much as I love self hosting, I will never get my friends or family on board with matrix, it's too weird and unfriendly even for me. Maybe a self-hosted #mattermost or #nextcloud chat?

@_elena Just wait until you discover the whole "FOSS hosted on Microsoft Github" wormhole! e.g., DeltaChat

Microsoft uses GitHub as a means to steal FOSS code snippets without following their licensing requirements for its AI, COPILOT, which also feeds ChatGPT.

@_elena With Matrix you can have the chat being unavailable without any server going down, big improvement.

@_elena

True independence costs a lot… so much for that then…

@_elena Matrix also has drawbacks (Like for example, it has afaik no disappearing messages, and it depends on a centralized ID server unless you run your own server and do not federate). If you want something just for your family and friends, #XMPP is very light weight, can be run via Yunohost, and can do video and audio chat as well. It does have a slight learning curve, but if you stick to Conversations IM (Android) and Siskin (Apple) as mobile clients you may have a pretty good experience. Conversations IM author is active via Mastodon, and via them you can also rent XMPP with your own custom domain name, letting them do the hosting. https://conversations.im/#support An alternative for self-hosting is Snikket as XMPP server, which uses a fork of Conversations as client. https://neilzone.co.uk/2023/08/a-month-using-xmpp-using-snikket-for-every-call-and-chat/

@_elena
if only there was a Matrix server implementation that worked reliably and wasn't a pain in the ass to maintain

@_elena Matrix as a protocol is broken. Personally, I consider it harm reduction for public, federated group chats rather than a tool for private communications.

Signal choose Big Tech cloud services because they are less likely to be censored. It is not ideal, but it is still a solid service… when the servers are operational.

If you want to selfhost an alternative, while security-wise there's none, you should have a look at XMPP. If you still use Yunohost, Prosody (an XMPP server implementation) should be there. For clients, you have Conversations on Android (which can also work as a UnifiedPush distributor) and Monal on iOS; just make sure OMEMO (the Signal-based encryption) is enabled by default.

@_elena Well, AFAIK, ddg uses bing as their primary index.

Actually, the incestuous relationship with Microsoft has been commented on, e.g. ddg protects against anything BUT Microsoft.

Not really news.

@_elena I don't think #matrix is good for family and friends, I recommend #DeltaChat for that use case, it is much more user-friendly and simple for family and friends, registration is painless, just set a name and avatar, no private information needed, no passwords, no captcha, no SMS codes, etc.

and it has good multi-device multi-profile support

@_elena
Hard truth is using non-major service providers are likely to have more outages especially for applications at that scale (DDG, Signal).

Infrastructure can only segregate their risks to an extent - they are called major for a reason.

To solve the problem that one building bringing down one-third of the internet we need more providers in the network and hosting market, not just a different application.

@_elena its already hard enough to convince one person to switch to signal, i think im just gonna start speaking in riddles via sms

@_elena if you do not want to use a service hosted on aws, by all means, do not use signal. however, if you want high confidence that your private communications remain private, use signal, not matrix. 🤷

@_elena

Facts are often unpopular, that's why alternate realities are conjured up.

@_elena
The Cloud is back to the 1960s, someone's elses server / single point point of failure.

I wrote a book examining it set in a fantasy. The technology bits are real.
https://www.corvidspress.com/fiction/otherworld-series/no-silver-lining/

@_elena DuckDuckGo is a relative alternative: infrastructure is from Microsoft, data from Bing, and advertising is delivered by the Microsoft network (so: money fuels Microsoft cash flow).
https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/company/advertise-on-duckduckgo-search

@_elena My matrix experience is bad and hard to get people to feel at home on.
But #deltachat wow wow wow.
People are surprised by the ease and functionalities of delta chat.
So i'll recommend to push for that, instead of matrix.

@_elena it also took RedHat quay.io

@_elena what's about switching to Telegram?
I know there is a cost upfront but worth every penny.

@_elena Seems like #Todoist is down too. Is there a connection?

@_elena There is a tradeoff in everything. Having something decentralized is cool, but Signal just checks sooo many other boxes, that I can accept that they are hosted on AWS in the US.
Their encryption is top notch, so it doesn't really matter where the data is stored (and in the case of signal, they don't even store anything for long).
Plus the app is pretty easy to use for everyone and also used by enough people to make it a viable option for the masses.

Matrix on the other hand is decentralized but has so many other pitfalls and issues that I can't recommend it to anyone that's non-technical.

@_elena Perhaps it is a sign that humans should go back to the nornality, because they are gone way too far in this digital madness.
I read few researchers some weeks ago. What they write is frightening. They checked those young generations living in the EU and almost 34% of them can not properly write something by using their hands. Another twenty is already acting like the digital junkies. Take them phones away and you will get same effects like by the drugs.
Where the heck humanity is going?

@_elena have you seen https://nextcloud.com/talk/ before?

@_elena

Scuttlebutt is designed to be decentralised and hence entirely independent of giant corporations:
https://scuttlebutt.nz/

@_elena well, I think both cases are also valid for using these services.

There not really any non big tech alternatives to MS / AWS cloud stuff out there yet, but Duck and Signal added A LOT of privacy ALREADY until then. Utopia is still far, but we get closer.

@_elena follow the white rabbit.

@_elena i do understand your point, but sometime there is also not much alternative for some services, such as AWS. Considering Signal relies on donation, they have to walk a thin line between affordable and ethical.
I struggled to get most of my contact to move to Signal, that is super easy to set up and identify contacts. Matrix would be far too much of a learning curve for most.
People loading on Meredith’s message re AWS also do not do any good, imo.

@_elena : or run you own XMPP server (e.g., Prosody).
I set up my very private one for my family: secure, light, fast, open source.

@_elena Show them this, I'm sure you'll convince them: https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/@stefano/115405518106745404

@_elena
>Oh my, is this time to convince my family & friends to move to Matrix? 🥲

I have been dreading this day.. I cannot face my family after telling them, the jump to Signal was the last jump

@_elena definitely, I installed concur #matrix server on my RPI and try to convince family and friends..

@_elena Amazon took out Flickr as well. I know it's a photography site for boomers but here we are.

https://status.flickr.net/