Comparisons of XMPP, Signal, MQTT, Tox, Telegram

[hardworkingnewbie]

SPF: SRS

www.open-spf.org

 

[rambler]

Greetings, everyone!

I apologize for bringing up an old topic, but I think it is quite relevant today.

I specifically registered on the forum to reply in this thread.

I'm in the process of choosing a reliable private messenger and in my search I came across this thread with the simple title "Comparisons of XMPP, Signal, MQTT, Tox, Telegram". It seemed to me that there is a simple and accessible discussion here and it will be easy to make a choice after reading the topic. Of course, reading the topic I realized that it is more like choosing a messenger for a secret military operation in another country than choosing a messenger for sending smiles to your friends and family....

Nevertheless, I have two questions:

1. Why in such a deep and serious discussion of choosing a private and reliable messenger is it not considered that requiring a real phone number to register is a big red flag?
2. At this point, I've been reading about all the possible ways to communicate for a few weeks now and I'm increasingly interested in those that are not tied to a phone number. One of them is of course XMPP, but I wondered why no one mentioned a messenger like SimpleX? I found it in Privacy Guides, where they also recommend Signal, which I don't like because of the need to enter a phone number. And not only because it is not quite anonymous in itself, but also because I need a messenger where I can register many profiles. That's why I got interested in XMPP (although I've known about it for a long time, but I always thought it was too complicated and unpopular - once it really was) and now - SimpleX. Basically I'd like to hear from you - what are the disadvantages of SimpleX, if you know about it at all? Is it worth looking into or should I stick with XMPP?

Good luck everyone!

 

[sidetone]

As for phone number, it depends on the purpose of that account. One reason is if someone needs a messaging service to communicate without having to give their phone number. Some have mentioned on these forums how requiring a phone number can be a privacy problem. I thought I remembered others have made it a central issue in messaging related threads on these forums.

Nothing may be "secure", if it needs your mobile phone number to register, IMO.

Signal is a good replacement for SMS texting, and it helps communicate long distance. Signal is ok for anyone you would give your number to. It can also be an inconvenience to need a phone number for each multiple account. Signal is more secure than Telegram and Facebook's messaging services. Other than that, it depends on purpose.

This thread was in part an attempt to see why some messaging services were accepted by certain organizations. The reason is, because it's by type of opensource. XMPP, MIMI, IAX and SIP are open standards or proposed open standards. This means other services aren't bad, it means they are in a different category than open standards Thread opensource-communication-frameworks-xmpp-sip-amqp-mqtt-cap-iax.79474

Some questions have been answered on these forums and perhaps this thread.

Maybe a thread is needed to compare services which are open source, but not open standards. I've never heard of SimpleX before reading this.

 

[shkhln]

blah blah blah

At first I wanted to write "пошел нахер", then I thought about it some more and you definitely should talk to Sidetone here. Preferably daily. That way you'll accumulate irreversible brain damage, which is a fitting punishment for spam.

 

[rambler]

It is funny how nowadays anyone can be called spammer for properly asking question I would not argue here, because it will not bring us anywhere. I just wonder what is the evidence that I am spammer and not actually interested in this topic myself? I belive if you can not read my mind - you can not answer this question, just assume that I have had advertising intentions. And if anybody interested - I am not anyhow linked to that app, just have genuine interest. Cheers!

 

[ralphbsz]

I'm in the process of choosing a reliable private messenger ...

Can you explain what your requirements are? Because the choice of technology depends CRUCIALLY on what the technology is supposed to accomplish.

For example, just today I used Facebook Messenger, Google Chat, WhatsApp, cell phone SMS, plus of course cell phone calls. That's on a Sunday (so no work-related stuff), and we're travelling (so no home phone, nor walking over to chat with neighbors in person). Why do I use all these apps? Because of the old German saying: "Du muss die Leute da abholen, wo sie stehen" (you have to pick up people where they are waiting). If someone wants to use communications app X, I will adjust to it, within reason. Certain apps I won't discuss certain topics on (like discussing sex on my office's internal app would be a big mistake). Certain apps I don't consider secure enough for some exchanges.

... requiring a real phone number to register is a big red flag?

For certain uses, it is NOT a red flag. On the contrary, for those uses I consider it to be a real plus, and I inherently trust the app more, because I know that they have done a better job authenticating their users. For example, if I get a message on for example LinkedIn or Facebook from my friend "Adam Bob" with whom I have not chatted on that platform ever, I will initially be really careful, because those platforms do ZERO authentication of users when signing them up. On Facebook Messenger it is even worse, with the current wave of accounts being cloned: if I get a message from my friend "Adam Bob" who I have chatted with all the time, and suddenly their behavior becomes dangerous (like asking me for money because of some emergency), I usually find that it is not Adam Bob, but some scammer/hacker. In contrast, if I get a message via SMS from someone who has Adam Bob's phone number, or on Google Chat from someone who uses Adam Bob's gmail address, I'm initially more likely to trust the message (and when it gets to sending money, I would definitely first insist on seeing them in person).

I fully believe that there are other applications, where people see it as an advantage that no phone number is required for authentication. Great for them; for me, this is usually a disadvantage.

 

[Jose]

Why do I use all these apps? Because of the old German saying: "Du muss die Leute da abholen, wo sie stehen" (you have to pick up people where they are waiting). If someone wants to use communications app X, I will adjust to it, within reason.

"Within reason" for me excludes anything that is not open source, and anything for which there is no independent provider. Yes, this rules out pretty much everything except email and XMPP. I was on Whatsapp briefly for the sake of communicating with my mother more easily. I used a throw-away phone number and promptly ditched them when the web UI stopped working in Firefox. I found other ways of talking to mom.

For certain uses, it is NOT a red flag...

Your phone number is a unique identifier that literally follows you around whenever you have your phone on you. I'm simply not interested. There are other ways to detect spammers and crackers.

I give out my land line whenever someone insists on a phone number. It doesn't ring anywhere. I've even resorted to buying a pre-paid SIM with cash whenever Youtube or whatever was being a pain. I'm glad that's still possible. I'm also half-expecting a no-knock warrant since in these times caring about your privacy certainly means you're a drug dealer. To be clear, I am not.