Post A3GwpikeT2WRawaZe4 by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
(DIR) More posts by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
(DIR) Post #A3GqZhlZlM0sBJ07dY by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:00:34Z
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Although I'm a fan of #Signalapp, I think it's not a good practice to hide tweets like this from their profile. (is a reaction to todays server outage)You can do better, #Signal !I'm currently looking into providing #Matrix to my communities, but the requirements are quite high, so I need some investigation ...
(DIR) Post #A3GqZiGPuggPixQki0 by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:03:30Z
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@fnetX Signal sucks 👎 And they work actively against decentralization by spreading negative nonsense.Hiding Element isn't enough for them.It's a good idea to move to Matrix.It works really good and protects your privacy,unlike Signal...
(DIR) Post #A3GrVZVgcLEJN3A60e by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:13:56Z
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@nipos well, I'm already using Matrix and I'm not convinced so far. Element is slow and resource hungry although fancy. Other clients are not that advanced and were partly incompatible with the official client(s), especially in terms of session management. When I created a new Element sessions, my other devices stopped receiving messages. I just created some new sessions today to work around that ...
(DIR) Post #A3GricZuWOIoeQMOPY by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:16:20Z
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@nipos I also prefer the more resource-friendly approach of saving messages only on my devices and using servers merely as cache. This is what Signal does, Matrix doesn't.Whatever, I was asked to find a solution for team communication which moved from some abandoned Slack channels to Signal and e-Mail (sic!). The latter often leads to people left out because they were forgotten in the CC ...
(DIR) Post #A3GrlYLKiwmcNuwJxQ by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:16:53Z
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@fnetX I've never experienced the problem with the sessions so far.Matrix supports many devices for the same account very good.I have more than five devices connected and get new messages everywhere.The speed of Element depends mostly on the server.Some are faster,some aren't.
(DIR) Post #A3GrrF0HXags8qnzea by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:17:54Z
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@nipos ... so I compared Mattermost, Matrix and Rocket.Chat. While I consider Rocket.Chat as a very nice replacement for the Slack situation when used standalone, I don't like having too many chat accounts on too many instances - this is where Matrix steps in. Oh, and of course, I'm a fan of federation, so I think using a Matrix server is future-proof (e.g. for collaboration among teams with other organizations etc)
(DIR) Post #A3Grw7d2O78OiVGCzQ by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:18:48Z
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@nipos ... well, the issue was using a non-element client first. It seems to work now, after re-registering all clients and verifying each session in Element.
(DIR) Post #A3Gs4eZnlxrvDeoatE by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:20:20Z
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@fnetX Matrix is great for team communication.The server part is really bloated and needs tons of resources unfortunately but for the users it's a good experience in my opinion so I'm okay with doing the hard work.Many big projects choose Matrix as tool for team communication,for example Mozilla and KDE.And Element is very similar to Slack,that makes the move easier.
(DIR) Post #A3GsJIbHlGZbPCUbGS by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:22:58Z
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@nipos Oh but as to federation: I still think it's worth supporting Signal as they make security easy. I have been able to convince so many people to use Signal, so I don't need Whatsapp anymore, will remove it within the next few weeks. But that was a transition over years.Joining Matrix is - sadly - too hard, because it costs a few more clicks. People actually don't care about privacy, so Signal is a good compromise as it provides some privacy by default for those who don't care in detail.
(DIR) Post #A3GsUXipsZl3USNyIi by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:25:01Z
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@fnetX I tested RocketChat too and find it very interesting.Its design is quite similar to Element and it works in a similar way Matrix does: It stores all messages on the server and only loads them when needed.And it supports decentralization,too but it's still in a experimental stage and not really reliable.Mattermost completely lacks federation so I'm not a big fan of it.
(DIR) Post #A3GsczXyJMQ46VKh7I by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:26:31Z
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@fnetX I think you're talking about end to end encryption problems,correct?That's the only thing that's still a big problematic with alternative clients.Most of them don't support it at all.If you need encryption,you should use Element or SchildiChat (a Element fork with Whatsapp design).
(DIR) Post #A3GsrWM57zGbuXhQAq by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:29:09Z
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@nipos ... well, but since Matrix is an open standard, Matrix federation is probably more useful than an eventual future Rocket.Chat federation, right?Well, I'd love to setup Synapse today, but the backend looks ... terrible. Reading the docs with "well this has been a bug for ... years, you can workaround by ..." is not always a good thing I fear. And the troubleshooting section sounds like the app is super ressource hungry. I disapprove from an environmental perspective.
(DIR) Post #A3Gt2dkhxvME2RWJiS by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:31:10Z
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@nipos well, I'm using nheko and I like it.There is no point in the open standard when everyone uses the default client which is super slow on my old machine. Btw, do you know about any other (upcoming) server implementations?
(DIR) Post #A3GtBPVcI8WMTAdwie by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:32:46Z
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@fnetX It's worth to warn people about Signal.You need more reasons?Here you go: https://cryptpad.toot.koeln/pad/#/2/pad/view/0uonE17tyihTCtZGmg4IL6LHOOprrt0t0Q8Cqbygzs4/ Well,this text was written only as a reply for a single post some months ago but I shared it about ten times in the last days 🤣 I agree that Matrix is not as easy but it's worth it.If people understand how to use emails and write a email address,then they should understand how to use Matrix,too.If that's still too complicated,you should have a look at @session
(DIR) Post #A3GtN3PYHCfZPRMIVM by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:34:51Z
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@nipos I think it's worth to warn people about WhatsApp and telegram, I'm okay if they agree to use Signal. Using a messenger is not a technical issue, it is a decision you have to take with your whole social environment. There is no value in using a secure messenger, if you can only share notes between your sessions. There is no point in using all available secure messengers, when you still stick to the other ones. They will collect your metadata, even when you use them a little less.
(DIR) Post #A3GtXUzOb2mFpy6YhU by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:36:45Z
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@fnetX I'm using Fractal and I like it 😃 I run my own server and I fully trust myself so I can live without end to end encryption 🤣 Anyway I hope that encryption support for Fractal arrives some day.They've said they're working on it for months already.I agree that it doesn't make sense that everyone uses the same client for an open standard and I don't like that bloated Electron shit anyway.As for server implementations,I find https://github.com/matrix-construct/construct very interesting.It's written in C++ and blazing fast while it needs only a few megabyte of RAM.It still lacks a few features but it's actively developed and I look forward to replacing Synapse with it some day.
(DIR) Post #A3GtoL8MUYHAC6KScS by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:39:47Z
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@fnetX I also think that Matrix as a open standard is the better solution.I always try out new stuff even if I don't need it just because I'm interested in open source stuff and so I came to RocketChat some day.I have a account but don't use it that actively.And I also agree that Synapse has huge problems and it's a pain to operate it but I do it anyway because I believe in Matrix as the future of messaging.
(DIR) Post #A3GtuFBBXk0NSqSspk by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:40:51Z
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@nipos What's the tradeoff with that server? I'm okay with experimental software, even in production ... I'll definitely check it out myself.I don't trust myself, because I think you can never trust human beings. Every additional layer of security is to be used. Even I set this principles years ago, I received a reminder the hard way as one of our servers was hacked just last year because of a typo in a config file.
(DIR) Post #A3Gu9VWV3l9SUtiGOW by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:43:36Z
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@nipos Yes, open protocols, decentralization and federation are the best things from a technical perspective. But since I'm not only working with the users who are interested in the best solutions but in the simplest, I don't always agree with people who want to have all people on the 'best' thing, because I experience how difficult it is to get them move away from the 'worst' thing.
(DIR) Post #A3GuFTfUrwCCTwlfmq by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:44:42Z
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@fnetX Did you read my text from the link?If yes,why do you think Signal is any better than Whatsapp?It isn't 👎 There are so many reasons why Signal is not a app I would want to use.And I agree that the messenger choice is not entirely a technical issue.That's why it is so difficult to get away from Whatsapp.But what is the point in doing the hard work to move away from Whatsapp if your replacement isn't any better.Had a look at Session?Still too complicated?Well,then use Threema.It has its problems,too but it's more or less mainstream nowadays and the chances that people accept it are quite high.That's the only centralized messenger I'd personally ever touch.They look trustworthy to me but in the end it's still centralized and you can never know what *really* happens on the server,even if any code would be available that they say runs on the server.
(DIR) Post #A3GudyK4Y2caVNQVma by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:49:01Z
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@nipos Signal is pretty advanced when it comes to solving issues related to E2EE. I believe that their work on the Signal protocol only made many more apps available. Their approaches to phone number lookup, group systems, SVR and otheres where quite innovative at the time they published them and I'm sure many developers learned a lesson or got inspired by their implementations.
(DIR) Post #A3Guk8677OQwYhpl3o by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:50:14Z
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@nipos There's still a difference between actively sharing plaintext metadata with facebook as WA does and using a messenger which makes the use of metadata not completely impossible. Apart from interaction data, there is no plaintext user data in Signal anymore.
(DIR) Post #A3Gump7e7lt6Zopq8O by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:50:44Z
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@fnetX The main issue I experienced with Construct was that I couldn't forget rooms.One user said he couldn't even leave them but that worked for me.Forgetting means deleting a room I've already left from the archive so that it isn't visible at all anymore and that doesn't seem to be implemented yet.Another issue I experienced a few times was that federation stopped to work.Restarting the construct software fixed it,so if that happens for you too,a cron-job with systemctl restart construct which runs every few days might be enough.But I don't know if this problem even occurs for every user or was a specific one with my installation.Another problem is that it forces SSL so it's difficult to run it behind a reverse proxy.The developers recommendation is to open the construct ports directly to the internet.That's fine for 8448 but on 443 it prevents you from running other websites on the same machine.
(DIR) Post #A3Guxx2X1lmaJlkUxU by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T19:52:43Z
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@nipos hmm ... well, you could probably use ssl for the local proxy part too, but yeah, that should be done better. I'm actually following the opposite approach: I don't think apps should implement TLS anymore because they're often bad at it. I'd even be okay for using a TLS proxy even for single app servers.
(DIR) Post #A3GvE4Z0p0LuHnd2mW by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:55:11Z
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@fnetX I'm using lighttpd as webserver and that doesn't support SSL for the reverse proxy backend unfortunately 😕 If you use Apache or Nginx,you should be fine by doing it with an SSL reverse proxy.And I agree that apps shouldn't have a own TLS implementation because in 90% of all cases they run behind a reverse proxy anyway.
(DIR) Post #A3GvV4atxg8FIscR3g by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T19:58:43Z
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@fnetX So you want to support a decentralization hater,let the NSA sniff on your interaction data and make Bezos even richer because you think the messaging contents are safe?I couldn't text someone without feeling bad then.
(DIR) Post #A3Gvim3dg0a1rrasDo by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T20:01:08Z
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@nipos Oh you use lighttpd 😘 I moved away from lighttpd as I required HTTP/2 and some other features, but just checked back there a while ago and noticed that most of it got implemented by now. This makes me kinda sad, because the devs refused to look into it for quite a while even if there were many requests for it. Well, whatever, I'm happy with caddy for most servers at the moment, it's really making things so much easier. But lighttpd will come back if I ever really have to scale up.
(DIR) Post #A3Gvw6QDH5Qqn4VZ5M by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T20:03:36Z
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@nipos haha, well ... no, I'm not a fan of supporting Signal like in donating. My money will be wasted there.But using it, yes. Once I happen to get rid of WhatsApp and Telegram, I can purge Signal from my tooling list, too.But there are worse enemies to fight at the moment, and it's difficult enough to tell users a "no, I'm not available via WhatsApp" and "No, I won't install Discord" or a "there are better solutions than Zoom" or "No, this prop. Windows app does not run on my machine" ...
(DIR) Post #A3GwpikeT2WRawaZe4 by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T20:13:38Z
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@nipos btw to construct: it sadly looks like a single-maintainer app and development doesn't seem to be steady. I fear it doesn't match the prod-policies haha ... But I'll still consider it when Synapse is worse :D
(DIR) Post #A3GxQAlVn23wu4NAki by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T20:20:13Z
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@fnetX I miss HTTP/2,too and I hope it will come to Lighttpd soon.I think that especially for Matrix it would speed up the large number of requests very much.But I've been waiting for months.It looks like there doesn't happen that much.
(DIR) Post #A3GxWiYR4kqDR5NSjo by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T20:21:24Z
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@fnetX I agree that it's difficult to tell people that I don't have Whatsapp or Discord but the chance that they already have Signal is quite low.So why bring them to a bad service if you have the chance to do it right?
(DIR) Post #A3Gxjkmu5EVu7wMQT2 by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T20:23:47Z
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@fnetX Yes,it's a single-maintainer app but development is steady.He uses a personal repository for development where you'll see more activity: https://github.com/jevolk/charybdis I think he only merges it into the main project when it's at a stable state.
(DIR) Post #A3Gxs7LC7DjIOIO7pg by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T20:25:17Z
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@nipos Isn't HTTP/2 in #lighttpd available since 1.4.56 as of December?
(DIR) Post #A3GxzN6Xu9OVJAzmTY by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T20:26:37Z
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@fnetX I didn't read the changelog when I installed the update.I'll have a look at that tomorrow.
(DIR) Post #A3Gy94flHzfR2R5tJ2 by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T20:28:21Z
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@nipos Oh, most of my contacts have Signal. Okay, that's partly because of my, I've been pushing Signal in the past six years, but many people already have Signal in political contexts. Many projects do use Signal in my near environment. So no, although I did recommend Signal to some users, it's not the main reason for the app being my primary messenger. I actually know few people I would like to contact who don't use Signal.
(DIR) Post #A3GyNvyjtZ5cQ03YFk by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T20:31:01Z
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@fnetX Oh,that's sad 😕 Most people I chat with often do already have Matrix.I did excessive advertising and it worked 😃
(DIR) Post #A3GyQBQtPNCWvZIUvw by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T20:31:27Z
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@nipos there was a lot of progress in lighttpd throughout 2020. It's a pity we completely removed it from the stack, but it just started to feel like legacy and when we became more and more issues where we couldn't make it fulfill the needs in a straightforward manner, we decided to replace it for Caddy. I still love it for being - well - light.
(DIR) Post #A3Gyh2hh7EYsmICAhk by nipos@social.avareborn.de
2021-01-15T20:34:30Z
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@fnetX I made my first experience with Lighttpd on a Raspberry Pi where big Apache was slow as hell.Lighttpd improved the speed of my websites very much.Now I have a big fat HP ProLiant server and I still use Lighttpd because it works really good.There have been many cases where I felt limited with Lighttpds features but after all I don't regret that I still use it and I always found a workaround.
(DIR) Post #A3Gz8CqnUwRk4BPDgu by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T20:39:24Z
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@nipos Apache was the reason for switching to lighttpd as well. But at the moment, I don't find the time to spend my energy in system administration. I'm studying, coding and ... well, working in a long list of projects, including political activism and much more. System administration had to be more straightforward and since I use Caddy I never needed more than five minutes to solve something anymore.
(DIR) Post #A3GzeLkfwGkswKryLY by fnetX@social.anoxinon.de
2021-01-15T20:45:12Z
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@nipos I think lighttpd has it's power for high-scale deployments. Caddy is flexible.I do not run a few high load apps but a dozen of tiny projects and services with low (or no 😆 ) load so it's better for my use case to opt for flexible configuration rather than awesome performance. And caddy isn't that bad.It's a different thing for your use case, so I'll be happy if you stick to that awesome webserver 😉