Hacker Read

tptacek | karma 394296 | avg karma 6.04 · 2015-02-25 00:50:52+00:00

I don't want GPG to get in the way of better, newer options. But even less do I want to read more about people burned by the incompetent engineering of lesser new alternatives.

Can we just declare a flag day and switch to TextSecure?

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Ao7bei3s | karma 1474 | avg karma 4.18 · 2015-02-25 01:21:36

Yes, but not unless:

1. there are full-featured native clients for computers that aren't smartphones

2. it works with anonymous accounts, without needing a phone number

3. federation is open

Right now, TextSecure can't even fully replace OTR (for secure IMs), let alone GPG (for email <- real work).

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whyever | karma 937 | avg karma 2.24 · 2015-02-25 11:32:30+00:00

To replace email, we might want named conversations as well.

yuhong | karma 6263 | avg karma 1.05 · 2015-02-25 09:40:33+00:00

Yea, remember that even in 2020 you would still be much better off using well designed 1990s crypto than things like Telegram or Cryptocat. And TextSecure is not a true replacement.

edwintorok | karma 5758 | avg karma 5.47 · 2015-02-25 13:29:29+00:00

How about Chatsecure with Jabber and OTP? Isn't that a viable alternative too? Doesn't require you to use a phone number, so it works nicely on tablets or desktops (pidgin+otr), etc.