An introduction to the 3 types of messengers, simply explained. - Thilo Buchholz
thilobuchholz.de
There are centralized, federated, and distributed instant messengers. This article shows their differences and helps in understanding alternatives to WhatsApp.

I’m leaving WhatsApp tomorrow. Now, the privacy-community on the web features countless discussions, blogs, videos, and comments on whether XMPP or Matrix would be the better protocol, whether people should use Signal or not and why - but I’ve been missing one thing: A simple and short article to send to my friends where the main differences between centralized, federated, and distributed messaging services are outlined.

So I wrote one! I thought it might be useful for others too, so I’m sharing it here. Please feel free to bookmark it and share it with your family and friends!

Link to the article in the geminispace: gemini://gemlog.blue/users/yellow/1612715438.gmi

Notice anything missing? Anything wrong and needs to be fixed? Happy to hear and integrate some feedback! :)

  • @ihaphleas
    3•3 years ago

    Ah, you should also mention that DeltaChat uses a federated system — namely email. This provides a very easy on-ramp for lots of people.

    However, DeltaChat doesn’t offer voice and video calls — and this is a major disability. The same is true of Session.

    Perhaps make a section listing those with voice and/or video call ability.

    • @lps
      1•3 years ago

      In the latest release of deltachat they’ve included an interesting workaround which messages the recipient a link to a predetermined jitsi room:). It’s in the advanced settings. I pressume if you also use the jitsi meet app it will open automatically.