It seems like I constantly see “X secure messaging option is actually bullshit because it was purchased by Dr. Evil and Y is actually just e-mailing your messages directly to Xi Jinping.”
Is there an authoritatively “best” one I can just…download and setup easily? Is Signal good? Or do I need to solder a Raspberry Pi to the flux modulator of my home Linux NAS GUI, etc…?
My understanding is that Briar is ethically the best, but no one uses it. Signal is the best if you actually want to use it to communicate. Telegram is where the pirates and drugs are.
Here’s the long version: when a dev is making a messaging app, they eventually have to make a choice: do I integrate SMS/MMS? If they want to make this app a daily driver messaging platform to help you ungoogle your android phone, they have to integrate SMS/MMS, which has security vulnerabilities and limits how secure they can make their app. More importantly, people do not tolerate ads on their messaging app, so they flat-out cannot monetize it without losing their entire userbase. If they don’t integrate SMS/MMS, they are creating a closed ecosystem, and a closed ecosystem can be profitable. If leadership changes, the new leaders might decide to turn their users into either cutomers or products.
Briar seems like meshtastic but with no additional hardware at the expense of significantly less range when offline.