A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.
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I realize that end2end encryption with XMPP doesn’t seem as strong as something like Matrix
Who told you this bit of misinformation? OMEMO e2ee on XMPP is significantly "stronger" than what Matrix does (which is a watered down version).
Snikket mentioned below is probably the easiest to get started with.
Nobody told me this, it was just lack of information on my part. Matrix makes a big deal about end2end encryption but Prosody and Openfire don't seem to put that point out front.
Why would they? They are not selling snakeoil 😏
On a more serious note: e2ee is a client feature, so it makes little sense for server software to highlight it.
Is there a client for Android that you would recommend which implements OMEMO?
Conversations from F-Droid is pretty solid.
If you are using Snikket, use the Snikket app. It has OMEMO enabled by default. Otherwise I think Cheogram is good, see: https://joinjabber.org/docs/apps/#
You can use Snikket with other servers too, there is no restriction or special sauce. It's mostly a fork of Conversations.
Prosody and Openfire are servers while end-to-end encryption happens on the client side (that's why it's called end-to-end). It would be kind of strange if a server implementation talks about E2EE. The OMEMO protocol only needs server features which are widely implemented. Maybe there is an ancient XMPP server implementation out there that doesn't support it, but you will be fine with Prosody, Snikket, ejabberd or anything else really.
Self hosting XMPP works well for most internal things. IMHO communication software that you’re relying on shouldn’t be hosted at home.
Both of those that you mentioned are great. I’ve used ejabberd in addition to that. I think prosody is better. Here’s a link to a list of more servers.
Another option since XMPP can do E2EE is use conversations.im it is my go to for XMPP hosting.
Being that this community is for self-hosting I prefer to keep all of my services self-hosted. I have seen that list from a Google search already but thank you anyway.
I’m wasn’t implying that you shouldn’t host it yourself at all. Just maybe use a VPS for hosting it yourself.
Getting buy in on the family & friends aspect is being able to match or exceed the popular free services. If there’s a perception that it’s not reliable then it’s highly unlikely they’ll keep using it. So the last thing you want is to have something happen to your internet connection, NAS, etc. At the end of the day it’s the pesky perception equals reality thing that dooms things like this and tanks the spouse approval factor.
You’re absolutely right about the perception. You make a good point. I’m not sure OP got that you’re not trying to talk them out of self hosting, but rather bring up the importance of reliability regardless of their setup. Thanks!
This isn't meant to be used in case of emergency (not mission critical). I just want something to replace Google Hangouts, primary for my wife and myself.
That being said, I feel comfortable with the security and stability of my backend and I'm already hosting publicly accessible projects for myself and others. I don't need you to try to talk me out of it.
@stown@sedd.it take a look at #Snikket
Is a semplified Prosody-like server you can install with docker.
And OMEMO is a very good enryption protocol, same as Signal.
Thank you! I appreciate the tip. Install instructions already look much clearer.
I realize that end2end encryption with XMPP doesn’t seem as strong as something like Matrix
This isn't true.
