Comm App - Self-Hosted Alternative to Signal, Wire, WhatsApp, Telegram

[humpty]

If this gets packaged and we self-host it, all msgs go through our servers and not AWS or another 3rd party, right?

[robi]

@humptydumpty yes, that is correct.

[micmc]

Wow, that's sounds impressive and useful, however shame on them-seriously-for NOT creating an Linux version in 2025, and moreover while this user base is exploding... Where is this "server" supposed to be hosted exactly, if not on Linux?

Moreover, you see, while crying out for ID "protection", to get to "comm web" we STILL need to somehow be IDentified by either G, A, or M, just among the 3 WORST privacy violators, cause we can only scan a QR code to DOWNLOAD the an APP ON MY PHONE to access the server ??? What a BS, sorry...
... a pretty weird approach imho

[svtx]

Also End-to-End encrption is officially DEAD with the new so-called "AI assistants" that are now running on people's devices. There's just no point in pretending it's not.

[necrevistonnezr]

@svtx said in Comm App - Self-Hosted Alternative to Signal, Wire, WhatsApp, Telegram:

Also End-to-End encrption is officially DEAD with the new so-called "AI assistants" that are now running on people's devices. There's just no point in pretending it's not.

?

[charlesnw]

why not use element/matrix? already packaged for cloudron.

[jdaviescoates]

@charlesnw nice to have options.

But also matrix/ element still just not user friendly enough for non geeky adoption IMHO.

Possibly that'll improve a bit once we finally get MAS in the Cloudron package.

[marcusquinn]

Looks like a sincere attempt at this, but like all these things, they underestimate the need for UX vibes when they are in the highest competition market of competing for attention and commitment to infrastructure.

Best private messaging app I've seen for these sorts of things, so far, is https://status.app/.

I get the vision, but they have a way to go to make this attractive and comparible.

[jdaviescoates]

@marcusquinn said in Comm App - Self-Hosted Alternative to Signal, Wire, WhatsApp, Telegram:

Best private messaging app I've seen for these sorts of things, so far, is https://status.app/ .

That seems to have loads of crypto bloat that I personally wouldn't want in a messaging app.

[marcusquinn]

@jdaviescoates True. Not for all. Although, it's an interesting space and concept to watch.

In the other direction, there's things like this: https://terminaltrove.com/gomuks/

[alexsam]

Interesting architecture! Many signal-like platforms do not combile E2EE messaging and federated community keyservers. Comm is in its early stage, you can actually check out rocket.chat or mirrorfly.com for a more production-ready and self-hosted options.

[marcusquinn]

@alexsam maybe also of interest:

• https://forum.cloudron.io/topic/15724/buzz-private-open-source-slack-teams-discord-alternative-using-encrypted-nostr-relays-and-ai-agents

i packaged the relay so you can self-host:

• https://ca.cloudron.io/app/buzz

the db isn't encrypted, but if you encrypt your relay server and self-host that (not in a data centre) that should be pretty good for privacy and teamwork

[alexsam]

@marcusquinn That's internesting. I like the idea pf putting the relay under your own infrastructure rather than relying on a third-party data centre. It adds another layer of control over data residency and privacy, even though the database itself isn't encrypted. I hope this answer will helps to you!