On the occasion of SimpleX and Session getting cryptocoin-donations/funding ... we won't hide that most delta contributors are pretty skeptical of cryptocoin-circles. Exhibit 1: #Webxdc apps - mini apps that anyone can whip up -- and the declared motto still on the https://webxdc.org web page since inception mid 2022:
No logins, no coins, no platforms ...
and this year, January 23rd, we added "no billionaires" to the growing list of things deserving a "no" :)
No pressure to maximize monetization of usage (for every million of VC funding you need to find ~100+ Million in value later).
No prioritization of growing fast with PR campaigns that promise the moon and stumble on the ground
No billionaire who ultimately profits
Instead, we seek public funding and private contributions for #chatmail#deltachat and #webxdc developments.
Thanks to everyone who is helping and already test-driving things :)
home page picture of https://testrun.org
text title "Testrun.org" with the sub title "experimenting with the future of Email"
the picture is a collage and shows the head of a dinosaur with an open mouth and many teeth trying to swallow a Zeppelin that seems to be flying directly into the mouth. Next to the dinosaur head is a classic "@" email symbol.
the middle part is blue, and has overlay graphics of a moon-like planet and some old computers in the back
the bottom part contains a picture of a sysadmin ca. 1975 in front of computer screens that show green letters on a black screen. There also are separately three cryptic letter chains that seem to translate to "Communications", "Command" and "Sigma". Another "@" sign is left of the computer screens.
While classic cleartext email providers, also Thunderbird with its Thundermail efforts, are aiming to be a more trustworthy alternative to Gmail/calendar/drive etc ...
#deltachat and #chatmail efforts go all-in on end-to-end encryption and metadata minimization, with decentralized transport relays playing much lesser roles than #Signal's Amazon/Microsoft/Google servers. At the same time, #webxdc apps provide unprecedented extensibility, eg checkout the great TOTP app https://webxdc.org/apps/#rtn-totp
The fact that DC didn't invent a new protocol for #InstantMessaging and just used the protocol which was already there, and also that how far has it gone, is mind blowing.
At first when I was chatting with
@treefit, I already was developing a Matrix client(#chooj) for #KaiOS and it was the only decentralized IM which I was using and investing resources into. I was skeptical but then I thought it would be a good idea to invest into DeltaChat, as well as Matrix. His argument, of course, wasn't good. He was arguing that we need multiple options in the case one of decentralized IMs fail. However this convinced me to give DC a try.
But now, I see that DC has very unique advantages no other messenger has. Their moto is "playing the long term" game. Unlike Matrix which suddenly exploded, DC moves very slowly. As an advantage, DC is much more consistent, hassle free, has less bugs(in my experience) and has better UI/UX than many Matrix clients. But it has got several disadvantages. Matrix has tons more features which DC hasn't got or has added them just recently such as editing messages and reactions. And it is not yet suitable for public groups, like the ones we've got in the Matrix network.
Overall, if you want secure chat with friends or family or other people you trust, DeltaChat is a very good option and the experience is very good. And I haven't seen something like #webxdc in any other IM. However if you want something like #Discord guilds for a community, Matrix is the way to go.
BTW, DC currently lacks funding, thanks to what #Trump did with #OpenTechnologyFund(#OTF). If you can help in anyway, financial or otherwise, it will be extra valuable at this point.