Open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp raise funds on Kickstarter | TechCrunch
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Sup hasn't been released yet, so that's probably why you haven't heard of it. Dan says beta testing launches early 2025.
Is it really just one guy writing three different platforms?
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RCS could be also an option. Now mostly backed by google but it can be unplugged whenever we want
afaik not really, only cell phone companies can apply to join the rcs federation and all of them just outsourced it to google and apple so it under control of just 2 companies.
so no, rcs is not an open standard.
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WhatsApp? Just use signal already!
Not on FDroid. Not open source
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What can replace Facebook?
And how can anyone convince all their friends, family, and random people the follow, to jump platform?
Friendica
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Not on FDroid. Not open source
But it is open source. And there's a fork of Signal available on F-Droid called Molly.
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Is it really just one guy writing three different platforms?
There's hundreds of other contributers, but he started them all and did the bulk of the work. The plan is to have more regular developers if they get enough donations.
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The developer behind Pixelfed, Loops, and Sup, open source alternatives to Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp, respectively, is now raising funds on Kickstarter to fuel the apps’ further development.
The trio is part of the growing open social web, also known as the fediverse, powered by the same ActivityPub protocol used by X alternative Mastodon. The latter saw increased signups and use after the company formerly known as Twitter sold to Elon Musk in October 2022 and during the X exodus that followed the U.S. presidential election.
In the months and years following that sale, open source and decentralized apps like Mastodon and Bluesky (which uses the newer AT Protocol), have continued to grow their user bases, as people sought alternatives to centralized social media apps controlled by billionaires like Musk and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.
Edit: Link to the kickstarter
I'm all for fediverse.
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There's hundreds of other contributers, but he started them all and did the bulk of the work. The plan is to have more regular developers if they get enough donations.
Ah ok that makes sense. In my head this guy was maintaining four codebases which did seem impossible
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But it is open source. And there's a fork of Signal available on F-Droid called Molly.
It is not open source. That's why its not allowed on fdroid. It has parts that are open source, like most apps. But the app itself is closed source and a risk
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Signal? Just use matrix already!
Simplex is a much closer alternative
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afaik not really, only cell phone companies can apply to join the rcs federation and all of them just outsourced it to google and apple so it under control of just 2 companies.
so no, rcs is not an open standard.
The number of cell phone companies is so high nowadays that it could be compared to the number of fediverse instances.
They would just need a prepackaged docker to set it all up and they would just do it.
No need for eternal history of messages and media, they could manage it a la WhatsApp. -
It is not open source. That's why its not allowed on fdroid. It has parts that are open source, like most apps. But the app itself is closed source and a risk
The only part that isn't open source is their spam filter.
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The only part that isn't open source is their spam filter.
Nope. Google deps
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I'm really excited for it. I might actually be able to get my family off Whatsapp because of fuckerberg, but I can't get them to move twice. I'm debating pushing signal now, or waiting it out for sup
I don't know how sup will be, but signal is a mature product, run by a nonprofit, with functional apps etc. I moved my group of friends and my family years ago and it has all the essential features. People want stuff that just works, especially for talking and communicating daily. I doubt sup will be the same level of maturity while also offering the same security and privacy features as signal does, at least for years to come.
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System shared this topic on
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I'm not going to use a proprietary protocol to chat through Google's (Jibe) servers running proprietary software. Even if the messages are e2ee, Google can still collect metadata. Google never provides anything for free and collection of data is kinda their thing.
Also, Google will kill RCS sooner or later.
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Friendica
Isn't Hubzilla the next one they made?
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The number of cell phone companies is so high nowadays that it could be compared to the number of fediverse instances.
They would just need a prepackaged docker to set it all up and they would just do it.
No need for eternal history of messages and media, they could manage it a la WhatsApp.still more work then just letting google handle it for them, so wont happen
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The number of cell phone companies is so high nowadays that it could be compared to the number of fediverse instances.
They would just need a prepackaged docker to set it all up and they would just do it.
No need for eternal history of messages and media, they could manage it a la WhatsApp.I worked for years in one of the biggest in telecom companies in Europe. They supported RCS for about 2 years, before they stopped. I tried to restart the project, but there was no interest. It is viewed as a waste of money since customers already use Google Messages, iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Snapchat and WhatsApp.
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WhatsApp? Just use signal already!
Centralized. Not good. Conversations is on fdroid and is decentralized, federated, and uses a mature and battle tested protocol. If I wanted something new, I would prefer Matrix over Signal.
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Centralized. Not good. Conversations is on fdroid and is decentralized, federated, and uses a mature and battle tested protocol. If I wanted something new, I would prefer Matrix over Signal.
People act like we need an alternative to Whatsapp but XMPP/Jabber exists and is much older.
