SimpleX Chat – Many suggested this and I will explicitly recommend against it due to the founder’s positions on various topics. This includes being anti-vaxx, believing COVID-19 was a hoax, trans- and homophobia, climate denial; In the SimpleX Groupchat he’s also been seen basically bootlicking trump a couple times, but I’ve lost receipts to that.
I did not know this. I’ve seen people recommend SimpleX on lemmy too, but probably they didn’t know.
Me neither, this is actually disgusting, immediately uninstalled, a founder that has these views most likely shouldn’t be trusted with your data, anyway.
So happy the article linked to the Fediverse post, immediately liked and boosted it.
Never used SimpleX much really but will be immediately uninstalling it. Saw the guy’s tweets, he’s fucking insane, and retweets RFK Jr 🤢. Will do my best to inform others.
Fuck… Is there an alternative?
Can’t use telegram cus banned, won’t use signal because usa and for a while they got very buddy-buddy with the zucc, matrix requires me hosting and it isn’t exactly private… So what’s left?
Although I don’t totally oppose judging people because of their views (shaming has been and can be a very useful for improving societies), I wonder if software written by such people should be. Seems to me that we don’t have the abundance of software yet that would allow doing that.
Especially I’m wary of judging people for being dumb in applications like Twitter that use dark patterns to entice them into being dumb. In some way it feels to me like punching down, like blaming the victim.
This attitude has worked so well for allowing the current crop of tech billionaires to grow and cement their influence over the entire world. If people would just stop using their platforms when they hear the CEO’s batshit views then they would be nobodies.
Are you asking if I insist that the minds behind my secure private chat have some moral standing and common sense? One would hope so. I wouldn’t trust encryption made by anti-vaxer more than I would trust a plane put tougher by flat-earther. I don’t want to be the hero of the next leopard eat my face song.
My understanding of encryption is that the point is that you don’t have to trust the people doing it. You just have to trust the security research community that proved that the algorithms/protocols work. Or if you’re a hardcore security guy yourself, you can review it yourself.
Also, my understanding of people is that what they seem like is no evidence for what kind of people they really are.
It’s a tricky line. On one hand, I agree that you don’t need to trust the person—just the code and the cryptographic model. But at the same time, if the dev is actively pushing misinformation or has a history of hostility toward marginalized groups, it erodes my confidence in their ethical choices about security and privacy. Trust isn’t just technical.
On the other hand, when people show they who they really are… you should believe them. There are some views that are either ignorant or bad will. I think evidence of those is a reasonable deal-breaker. And it’s perfectly ok if you have your line drown somewhere else as well.
Views that seriously harm or endanger other people are dangerous.
If the founder would have opposing views in e.g. should we narrow down the car roads in cities and widen the pedestrian walks - ok. I think there’s a lot to this question, I think pedestrian walks should be wider, cars are dangerous, etc. But this is not as dangerous as:
“Do you deny scientific evidence that COVID is real and a real danger to a lot of humans”
I did not know this. I’ve seen people recommend SimpleX on lemmy too, but probably they didn’t know.
This should be an awareness post on some tech communities
Thank you so, so, so, so much for saying this!
Me neither, this is actually disgusting, immediately uninstalled, a founder that has these views most likely shouldn’t be trusted with your data, anyway.
So happy the article linked to the Fediverse post, immediately liked and boosted it.
Never used SimpleX much really but will be immediately uninstalling it. Saw the guy’s tweets, he’s fucking insane, and retweets RFK Jr 🤢. Will do my best to inform others.
Fuck… Is there an alternative? Can’t use telegram cus banned, won’t use signal because usa and for a while they got very buddy-buddy with the zucc, matrix requires me hosting and it isn’t exactly private… So what’s left?
XMPP? The clients not supporting things can suck, but it’s worked well for me.
It is forkable if necessary. I do think SimpleX is a great piece of software that shouldn’t be reinvented because of the founder.
The write-up I’m referencing has some at the end. Maybe Delta chat?
why does matrix require you self hosting? There’s a bunch of free open-signup servers available
Although I don’t totally oppose judging people because of their views (shaming has been and can be a very useful for improving societies), I wonder if software written by such people should be. Seems to me that we don’t have the abundance of software yet that would allow doing that.
Especially I’m wary of judging people for being dumb in applications like Twitter that use dark patterns to entice them into being dumb. In some way it feels to me like punching down, like blaming the victim.
This attitude has worked so well for allowing the current crop of tech billionaires to grow and cement their influence over the entire world. If people would just stop using their platforms when they hear the CEO’s batshit views then they would be nobodies.
The SimpleX Chat is AGPL. If the founder is problematic, one can fork it and avoid reinventing what has already been made.
go on then
Are you asking if I insist that the minds behind my secure private chat have some moral standing and common sense? One would hope so. I wouldn’t trust encryption made by anti-vaxer more than I would trust a plane put tougher by flat-earther. I don’t want to be the hero of the next leopard eat my face song.
Important to note: SimpleX Chat has gone through two security audits.
My understanding of encryption is that the point is that you don’t have to trust the people doing it. You just have to trust the security research community that proved that the algorithms/protocols work. Or if you’re a hardcore security guy yourself, you can review it yourself.
Also, my understanding of people is that what they seem like is no evidence for what kind of people they really are.
It’s a tricky line. On one hand, I agree that you don’t need to trust the person—just the code and the cryptographic model. But at the same time, if the dev is actively pushing misinformation or has a history of hostility toward marginalized groups, it erodes my confidence in their ethical choices about security and privacy. Trust isn’t just technical.
You can use a perfect algorithm and still be insecure because the implementation was bad. You are trusting the SimpleX Chat devs to a degree.
On the other hand, when people show they who they really are… you should believe them. There are some views that are either ignorant or bad will. I think evidence of those is a reasonable deal-breaker. And it’s perfectly ok if you have your line drown somewhere else as well.
Views that seriously harm or endanger other people are dangerous.
If the founder would have opposing views in e.g. should we narrow down the car roads in cities and widen the pedestrian walks - ok. I think there’s a lot to this question, I think pedestrian walks should be wider, cars are dangerous, etc. But this is not as dangerous as:
“Do you deny scientific evidence that COVID is real and a real danger to a lot of humans”