Board Changes at Signal

https://mastodon.world/@signalapp/110549355267860258

by logic • 3 years ago

77 65 3 years ago

mastodon.world

Solvency• 3 years ago

If nothing else, I've learned a man with the name "Moxie Marlinspike" exists today.

DaiPlusPlus• 3 years ago

They’re kinda legendary - and I can’t deny having a cool name does help with getting people to recognise you.

candiddevmike2• 3 years ago

With moxie gone, will signal remove the cryptocoin shit?

sneak2• 3 years ago

If you build a truly private e2ee communications system, it is a little bit silly not to include a payments feature, as it's just an e2ee messaging use case (like stickers, or reactions, or stories, etc).

There are lots of useful apps you can build atop e2ee messaging: location sharing, payments, group chats, secret sharing, etc.

candiddevmike2• 3 years ago

It is silly to include it, I have other apps to do that without using cryptocurrency. It was a MobileCoin grift.

Fervicus• 3 years ago

I had to check under settings to see if this feature was even there. I had totally forgotten about it. I never see it in my daily usage.

crossroadsguy3• 3 years ago

For most people (yes “most” people - who are again a minuscule fraction of IM app users) Signal is the “that other car” - not the car that they drive in the city on which “eco friendly” sticker is put, but the one which is marked eco friendly, yes, but mostly remains parked and is for rather the display of one’s principles. At least seeing the shape and form Signal is today.

So if we are being honest - it really doesn’t matter.

dogecoinbase• 3 years ago

Glad to hear Moxie's out. As a reminder, Signal didn't publish the source for their server-side from 20 April 2020 to 6 April 2021 [0] while they secretly added a cryptocurrency payment system to which Moxie was a paid technical advisor [1], which Moxie denied they were doing in January 2021 [2].

0: https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/04/06/it-looks-like-signa... (source was published shortly after the publication of that article)

1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26715013 (comment from founder of MobileCoin)

2: https://www.theverge.com/22249391/signal-app-abuse-messaging...

ggm• 3 years ago

I'm not "glad to hear Moxie's out" -signal wouldn't exist without his work.

I agree the crypto was stupid. But, it was a product of the times, and I believe it grew (from scant evidence) out of concern about independent funding longterm for the project. It didn't work: it rebounded badly.

I use signal every day. I'm glad it exists, I'm glad he did the work. I like Meredith, and I think the new board needs to be given time to bed in and for us to see how things eventuate.

juped• 3 years ago

I don't want Signal to have payments (or to axe SMS support). Those are both stupid things for Signal to do, which make it worse for me and worse in general. However, "what if [author's political opponents] used Signal?!" is a revolting hook to hang that hit piece on.

robbintt2• 3 years ago

I don't buy that this really matters, I'm an avid signal user and never even heard of this.

elektor• 3 years ago

Does anyone have any insight on the new board members?

Good for privacy?

none_to_remain• 3 years ago

You can see their bios on signalfoundation.org , but it doesn't look very promising at a glance. Think tanks, federal agencies, NGO blob, etc.

TechBro86154• 3 years ago

I agree, the fed connections aren't a great sign... it reminds me of when Condy Rice joined the Dropbox board.

But to be fair that's the person in charge of policy, so it's the kind of profile you'd expect. (Of course, you're free to argue that a messaging application has no good reason to hire for such a position in the first place.)

crossroadsguy3• 3 years ago

At a quick look, at least for one new member that I know about, it looks like lots of more “talk” has been added.

mariusseufzer• 3 years ago

Maybe we’ll finally get a backup feature on iOS?

signaluser5• 3 years ago

Seeing usage statistics, it seems that signal is dying slowly. It boomed during covid but almost no new chat is started there nowadays.

bilal4hmed6• 3 years ago

Can you provide a link to the stats please?

signaluser5• 3 years ago

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&q=...

robbintt2• 3 years ago

Does it matter if it is growing or shrinking? The users are getting usage, and the maintainers are providing a service. Is there a profit motive being unfulfilled?

hadlock• 3 years ago

In 2020-2021 it seemed like 20-30% of my contacts were using signal as their SMS/MMS app of choice. Then they forced SMS users off the platform, giving some reasoning that SMS users don't understand which messages get encrypted, or something. I lost track of signal's usage and uninstalled it after it lost SMS support. At this point I don't know anyone still using Signal regularly anymore.

tapoxi2• 3 years ago

It's #10 on the U.S. App Store, placing it ahead of Skype, Viber, and WeChat. Not as popular as some, but certainly doing fine.

bilal4hmed6• 3 years ago

One thing Id really like to see is cross OS transfer. I feel Im locked in to my OS because of Signal right now as Ill lose messages. There are some messages I dont want lost and sadly having them in signal is a bummer.

This is where whatsapp just excels

getcrunk3• 3 years ago

They should have a manual backup export to an encrypted format and make you responsible for the key

bilal4hmed6• 3 years ago

I would accept that too, but I should be able to take my messages with me anywhere I go

proaralyst• 3 years ago

They have exactly that: you can set up a periodic encrypted backup under settings > chats. It'll occasionally ask you for your backup password so you don't forget it too

caycep• 3 years ago

Wow, did not realize Moxie was doing something else...when did he step back?

bilal4hmed6• 3 years ago

over a year ago https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/10/22876891/signal-ceo-steps...

TechBro86154• 3 years ago

Maybe it was announced a year ago, and he "changed roles" then, but this toot(?) from today suggests he's only now fully leaving: https://mastodon.world/@signalapp/110549359401156075

getcrunk3• 3 years ago

I see some comments saying they are happy moxie is out. I for one am saddened.

I trusted signal in part due to his persona. And his in your face attitude towards that one company that provided software to law enforcement that claimed to hack signal.

ricopags• 3 years ago

Cellebrite[0] is the company in question.

[0]https://signal.org/blog/cellebrite-vulnerabilities/

red-iron-pine• 3 years ago

By a truly unbelievable coincidence, I was recently out for a walk when I saw a small package fall off a truck ahead of me. As I got closer, the dull enterprise typeface slowly came into focus: Cellebrite.

Yeah, uh huh.

Good analysis tho

TechBro86154• 3 years ago

The OP didn't mention Moxie leaving, so here's a link to the source [0] (toot?) for that:

After over a decade spent creating Signal, Moxie has departed to focus on new efforts. As the founder of Signal, the work he did and the organization he built are the reason Signal exists. We are infinitely grateful. He remains a friend and a core part of the Signal legacy

Safe travels to Moxie. I look forward to seeing what he builds next.

[0] https://mastodon.world/@signalapp/110549359401156075

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF4• 3 years ago

I worry about what it means for the future of Signal in terms of their privacy features. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some compromises even despite good intentions. It’s good that effective alternatives exist for such use but it might frustrate people who bet on Signal in some way.

frabbit4• 3 years ago

Moxie the anarchist owes the rest of us a public statement about what he thinks Signal is now that the board has US State Department ghouls on it.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF4• 3 years ago

what he thinks Signal is now

I suspect it would be some approximation of “no longer his”. I can understand your frustration but this kind of message is likely only to exacerbate his.

getcrunk3• 3 years ago

Cfr, wef … list goes on

crossroadsguy3• 3 years ago

No I am happy. Yes, he was a puritan. And what else, a benevolent dictator, who did things without taking absolutely ZERO user feedback? Yes, that definitely was the case. Yes, we are yet to see how it pans out, but it’s pointless to have a Signal that is used by so few people that it barely matters. I hope that chages.

I mean Signal is worse than Mastodon in adoption as of today and it had so so many opportunities wasted on things that were never needed (in fact those efforts should have been categorically avoided) and a lot effort was also wasted on not doing things that should have been done. Hope that changes as well with his departure. Or I’ll rather see Signal put out of its misery in a kind and quick way.

frabbit4• 3 years ago

Katherine Maher? The US State Department definitely-not-a-spook one? The one that was at Wikipedia and "spent time in Syria and Lybia"?

Sounds wonderful for a messaging system that is going to be definitely trusted not to be manipulated by the USA.

Board Changes at Signal

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