[widforss]

> Signal - while certainly can be setup/hosted by anyone else separate of OpenWhisper - leaves some to be desired in the actual self-implementation details; just not enough tutorials out there.

That is the problem at hand, that Signal _does_not_federate_. You could modify your Signal app to connect to your own server, but then you would not be able to talk to anybody else.

For the record I prefer usability and walled-garden-security instead of federation, even though it hurts to admit as a long time FOSS user.

[sliken]

I think signal made the right decisions raising the bar for encryption while maintaining extreme ease of use. Random Joe can click on it on the app store and chat with anyone in his addressbook that runs signal within a minute or so, with no expertise whatsoever.

However I see no reason why a similar p2p app couldn't manage similar without a central server. Trick is cell phones (at least on WAN) do not accept incoming connection. Additionally apple/android push aren't good for a p2p transport.

However adding supernodes (like the original skype) that could run on raspberry pi's, opensource routers, and similar embedded devices might just bright the gap. After all the cpu, bandwidth, and memory needs for instant messaging are pretty modest, even for many people sharing a raspberry pi.

[rando444]

The idea of supernodes is what got everyone paranoid (with reason) that they were now able to be spied upon.

[temprature]

The Signal server software _does_ federate. It has had federation support since the first commit in the git history. Whisper Systems' server federated with Cyanogen's server for a while. Moxie has said it was a disaster and that is part of why the official Signal server won't federate.

You can, right now, run your own server and get other people to also run their own servers. Fork the Signal app, modify to ask for a server to use, and try and get people to use it instead of (or as well as) Signal itself.