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G DATA SECURE CHAT?
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This app was mentioned in 2 comments, with an average of 5.50 upvotes
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>Basically, Signal is open source, but OWS run the only server that has people on it due to this limitation.
I think that's an overstatement. It didn't take me that long to find a Signal fork that runs their own modified version of the Signal server: SecureChat. Their forked repositories are available here and they currently have 50'000-100'000 users on Google Play. Another one is Forsta, but it doesn't look like they have really taken off yet. I'm sure there are more forks if you look for them.
>My understanding is that Moxie has been against federation...
He wasn't against federation at first. They tried doing it with the developers of CyanogenMod, which had about 10 million users at the time:
>The Cyanogen team runs their own TextSecure server for WhisperPush clients, which federates with the Open Whisper Systems TextSecure server, so that both clients can exchange messages with each other seamlessly.
That experiment lasted for about two years. Moxie changed his mind about federation during the process because it was holding back Signal's development:
>What changed was going through that experience. It seriously degraded the UX for our users and held us back in the development process at many times. I'd estimate that all told, we lost about 6 months to a year of progress. It's something we'll probably never do again, and has fully convinced me that federated protocols are a thing of the past in this world of ours.
He later wrote this blog post about his thoughts on federation, and said:
>I've tried to write about why I don't feel like this is going to be a part of our future here: https://whispersystems.org/blog/the-ecosystem-is-moving/
>However, I would love it if someone proved me wrong. The Signal clients and server already support federation, so there shouldn't be any technical hurdles stopping the people who are really into federation from using our software to start their own federated network that demonstrates the viability of their ideas.
>If anyone needs help doing that, let me know. I'd be happy to help.
There is now a Signal fork with the specific aim of building a network of federated, independent servers: https://github.com/CableIM
In principle yes, but there's a difference between licensing software and providing a service. Signal is licensed under GPL, which allows anyone to run, study, share and modify the software. At the same time, the service that Open Whisper Systems provides is only meant to be used by the official Signal client applications. They've made it clear that they are not OK with people distributing modified builds of Signal which use the servers that they operate:
>I really hope the people distributing random/broken builds of Signal signed with random keys will stop, or at least stop using the service we maintain at our expense, and stop directing their users to us when they need support. It is making it more difficult to do our work.
If you modify a Signal client application and start distributing your version to others, Open Whisper Systems would appreciate it if you'd rebrand your client application, set up your own Signal server, and point the client application that you're distributing to your own server. People using your client application would then only be able to communicate with others using the same client application.
This has already been done before: G-Data's SecureChat is a rebranded fork that uses its own servers. It looks like it was forked a long time ago, so it's probably using an older version of the protocol and doesn't include the latest features. Nevertheless, it has now been installed somewhere between 10,000–50,000 times via Google Play.