• qpsLCV5@lemmy.ml
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    1 month ago

    if it’s free, you’re the product.

    signal seems really good right now, with open source clients, but they already show that they’d like to keep the ecosystem locked down by not allowing 3rd party clients. at some point they will need a way to pay for their datacenters, and even if they claim the foundation or whatever is doing well, i can see the pestering for donations getting much worse in the future.

    that said, threema is far from optimal too, im still waiting for matrix servers to become solid options. last time i wanted to set up synapse, tge only captcha they supported was fucking Google captcha :|

    • The Hobbyist@lemmy.zip
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      1 month ago

      it’s generally true, but Signal is asking for and depends on donations because they have no other revenue source (unlike google which does not ask for donations because indeed they monatize you, the “product”).

    • unskilled5117@feddit.org
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      1 month ago

      Your arguments don’t really make sense in the context of you asking for Threema instead, even if you acknowledge that it isn’t optimal.

      [Signal] already showed that they’d like to keep the ecosystem locked down by not allowing 3rd party clients

      Neither does Threema, it is a closed eco system? And in fact there is Molly, a hardened Signal fork for Android

      At some point they will need a way to pay for their datacenters, […] i can see the pestering for donations getting much worse in the future.

      Threema is a paid app though. So you consider an app asking for donations worse than a paid one? I agree though that their financials aren’t the best, since they seem to be living off a loan, but thats even more an argument to donate.

      • stationary_melon@lemmy.ml
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        1 month ago

        I mean, those are valid concerns. Most messaging apps require a server to be running at all times. If there is only one centralized server, costs will start to pile up, so they’ll need a way to make money; either by asking for donations, making a paid tier or by selling your data.

        • EngineerGaming@feddit.nl
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          1 month ago

          True! That’s why I much prefer federated protocols so that the cost (and data!) does not pile up in one specific place. You can end up paying for it - in form of your VPS bill or the cost of the hosting hardware.