Avoca

I dropped both Signal and Simplex, and tried 'most', secure messenger in favour of the federated #chatmail messenger Delta Chat.
I, like @npub1u7j…6ut7, will not suggest you 'move' all your contacts to it, nor will I claim it to be the 'best'.
What I will say though is, after many year's investigating options in the Secure Messenger category, I really like pretty well everything about it and, more importantly, have managed to get the important people in my life to also adopt it.
And, to me, after decentralisation, this was the Holy Grail...
https://delta.chat/en/

2025-09-18 17:40:32 UTC

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While I applaud your sentiment, in reality, we are well passed the time to actually stop Trump et. al.
During his last Presidential campaign he asked people to vote for him and then reassured them that it would be "the last time you'll have to".
Why that didn't scare the crap out the US voters is beyond me. Or maybe they thought he would give up all that power and money, willingly, after 4 more years.
The US is headed for another Civil War of some kind, no doubt about it. The military are already 'on the streets', which is against the Constitution. Trump is well and truly in command.
Once his term is finished, the Democrats will lock him up for ever... or they could.
75% of Rupert Murdoch's children just sold most of Civil Society up the Swanee for US$4.5B.
Now, under those circumstances, try and get Trump out of Office!
Kimmel etc. are just a modern day version of the band on the Titanic really.
Therefore, can I suggest EFF and similar organisation's spend more time on educating people on how to disengage with the heavily censored and centrally controlled Clearnet and move to Federated Decentralised options, NOW.
Having said that, more power to you all, I wish you well, but I see little point in "flogging" an already, "dead horse".

2025-09-18 10:49:41 UTC

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Done...
Went very smoothly, no problems.
Note: I upgraded from 6.19 to 7.0 totally within TAILS OS. Persistent Storage was fine after upgrade as long as you follow the Upgrade tutuorial/instructions.
Very happy folks, cheers.

2025-08-13 19:44:39 UTC

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My family still use Facebook and all the other 'toxic' rubbish I've warned them about.
But, they finally relented and we adopted Delta Chat as our family group chat service, largely for my benefit.
Now they love it so much they are converting their friends to using it as well.
Sooo, simple, quick and functional, the security advantages are a bonus for them.

2025-08-12 19:38:26 UTC

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Yeah, I'm from a 'Five Eyes' partner State, so I watch your government with increasing trepidation. It's a worry.
Not sure about the legal responsibilities of ISP's but I use an offshore DNS resolver and 5G internet rather than fixed.
Anything 'touchy' and its public wifi with TAILS OS and TOR.
You are correct though, scary times ahead.

2025-08-12 08:16:04 UTC

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No, none of the other apps are installable on TAILS OS. Some can be used over TOR, but not from within TAILS. Its a Chatmail bonus.
Quantum Resistant Encryption sounds wonderful, but you only need it if your messages are stored at some point by a central server. Delta Chat messages are not. Ergo, post-quantum decryption is moot in this case. Besides, I have two post-quantum proof email clients that I subscribe to if I need them, one of them on a TAILS OS USB stick paid for, anonymously, with Monero. I mean, how far do you want to go...
Plus, I will be dead before Quantum Computers are scalable enough to be bothered with my stuff.
Again, sounds great, but a sensible approach to the subject is needed at the moment, IMHO.
Too me, the most critical things about my messaging app. were. 1. Is it FOSS/Decentralised. 2. Can I use it on my laptop, desktop, multiple phone's(1x iOS, 1x GrapheneOS and 1x LineageOS), and my tablet, at the same time, fully synchronised, and will my pig-ignorant family use it. Delta Chat ticked all the boxes, and was the only one.
I'm not being critical of your choices, I'm just wondering if you have considered other things than the headlines.

2025-08-12 07:48:34 UTC

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I'm interested in why you would recommend Simplex over Delta Chat and don't mention Session at all in your summary.
Having tried all the messaging options you mentioned, and then some, my conclusion was Simplex was too restrictive when it came to multi-platform, multi-OS, app integration.
With Delta Chat you can have any number of instances of the app on multiple devices, completely synchronised.
There is zero KYC, as in, no phone numbers, no email addresses, in fact no identifying data at all.
No metadata is collected or stored. The system is totally decentralised, FOSS, incredibly easy to self-host a server/relay. Extremely efficient and has a very good UX and UI.
I found Simplex, et al, horribly difficult to setup and very limited in multi-platform usability.
You also forgot to mention that Delta chat is fully functional when installed on TAILS OS when configured using SOCKS5. To my knowledge this alone makes Delta Chat unique amongst the competition.
I even prefer to use Session over Simplex, et al as my secondary service. Even that has a better UI, UX and multi-device/platform app. than Simplex.
Finally, I have one piece of advice for people using Signal. Stop it!
One day it will turn around and bite you, as it did to me.

2025-07-16 01:17:57 UTC

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Simple upgrade. Seems to be working fine.
Anything you want tested on Linux Mint?

2025-06-06 20:29:52 UTC

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I'm using Lunux Mint which is currently still stuck in X11.
Any use to your development?

2025-05-22 19:44:29 UTC

How can I convince my 2015 15" MacBook Pro that OFF means OFF.
Regardless of how I shut the thing down, either power switch or menu driven, within a short period of time it boots up on its own.
This is not doing my paranoia any good at all!
As far as I know, I have tweaked the Linux Mint power settings correctly.
I suspect its an Apple UEFI(?) setting or a Linux .ini(?) file setting.
Any help greatly appreciated, because, at this stage, come October, I'm jumping ship to a non-Apple, Windows 11 incompatible, device that's going to be selling cheap.
Thanks.
#linuxmint #linux #apple

2025-05-07 09:32:51 UTC

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A Quokka is a small rat type critter, native to Rottnest Island off the coast of West Australia.
Me and my mates used to play Quokka Soccer on New Year's Eve after getting a skin full at the Rottnest pub(or did we).
Where does a picture of a Puffin come into it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quokka
#peta

2025-04-27 02:24:01 UTC

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Ok, point taken. This was my upgrade sequence.
1. Follow the link you provided on your request for 1.58.0 testers.
2. Download the https://download.delta.chat/desktop/v1.57.0/deltachat-desktop_1.57.0_arm64.deb file for my laptop.
3. Close Delta Chat Desktop on my laptop.
4. Install file via Package Manager.
5. Reboot my laptop.
6. Open Delta Chat.
Here is the current About screen on my laptop.
https://files.gladtech.social/media_attachments/files/114/407/545/519/848/213/original/632a58c1aea62411.png

2025-04-26 17:26:38 UTC

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https://support.delta.chat/t/help-testing-the-upcoming-v1-58-x-release/3737
From the link you provided! Its the only download available on that page as far as I can see. I found the instructions quite confusing actually. ...~test 1.57.0 for release 1.58.0 with a 1.59.0 core...
"Please checkout & test the new Desktop Prerelease 1.57.0 before we publish the final release 1.58.0"

2025-04-26 08:30:56 UTC

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Ok, so I have installed the requested v1.157.3 Delta Core which is running on Delta Desktop v1.56.0.
Is this config. what you are requesting I test? (Linux Mint 22.1).

2025-04-19 10:51:49 UTC

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I am really keen to establish a Delta Chat/chatmail server in Australia but, as an aged pensioner, the A$70.00/mth for a hosted VPS is a little too prohibitive.
But, I'm working towards it...

2025-03-06 02:44:12 UTC

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Ok, I get that.
What I don't get is where the 400MB figure comes from.
I haven't seen any mention of storage limits in the Delta Chat documentation.
I'm curious about where this information is.
Cheers though.
#delta

2025-03-05 12:48:58 UTC

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Absolutely, I have it on three Android phones and a 15" MacBook Pro running Linux Mint myself. All devices are synchronised using one profile.
My phones are running GrapheneOS, LineageOS and Google Android respectively. I have a single SIM I swap between them as my needs or desires change.
All seamless and so, so easy.

2025-03-05 06:45:23 UTC

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I would suggest, of the companies you listed, LinkedIn is the worst for data privacy and would be the first app to go from my system.
Do you really, really, NEED it?

2025-03-04 23:22:10 UTC

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I recently changed phones. While trying to transfer Signal from one device to the other, there was an error and my Signal account was instantly locked for 7 days.
I contacted Signal support and was informed it was a security function and there was nothing they could do. I contacted them again to plead my case and never heard from them again.
I am sick of being at the bottom of the food chain with these companies and want more flexibility as far as interoperability goes.
Delta Chat gives me this in spades.

2025-03-03 08:49:59 UTC

#deltachat
Finally convinced my non-techy family member's to move from Signal to Delta Chat messenger.
Setup was a piece of cake and we now have 4 x iOS devices, 3 x MacOS laptops, 2 x Windows laptops, 3 x Android devices, including 1 x GrapheneOS and 1 x LineageOS,, and two Linux Mint computers connected seamlessly as one Family Chat group.
Not one single byte of personal information required nor a single SIM card needed between us, though of course we all have them.
The security benefits and other bonuses provided by Delta are great but the key here was a de-centralised messenger that allows easy setup for family groups across multiple platforms.
Well, that's it! I am completely open source finally. No Google account. No Apple ID. No Microsoft, Meta, etc accounts.
The only organisation's who have my real email address are my bank, my government and my education providers.

2025-01-19 03:05:03 UTC

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This is three years old and, from my personal experience, not a representation of the current project management.

2025-01-17 22:48:20 UTC

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Nup, no access toANY UI functionality whilst App is "connecting", in my case at least.
Doesn't matter how many or how complete your profiles are if you can't get to them.

2025-01-17 22:42:02 UTC

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Possibly, but the Delta UI, at least on the desktop, is only accessible once the App completes its 'connection' process. Mine was/is just seems unable to complete this task, try as it may.
As I said, endless loop.

2025-01-17 22:26:02 UTC

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Noted, but surely data deletion is the primary thing most people expect as SOB with a 'secure' messager.

2025-01-17 22:10:39 UTC

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I shouldn't have to hunt for sub directories. 'Uninstall' and 'remove' mean "everything". Surely your installation process keeps a log of file locations that it can 'backtrack' when deleting.
As I said, tenticles.
And, besides, the profile removal options you suggest are only available once the App has "Connected", which mine wasn't, hence its deletion. Endless loop of dispair.

2025-01-17 21:36:31 UTC

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I have been trying to delete Delta Chat from Linux Mint 22.1 for 3 hours.
Neither the "Uninstall" GUI function nor the "sudo apt remove delta" approach work completely.
Either way, when I re-install it, either via Flatpak or CLI, I'm still stuck with my original ID's(for testing purposes) and a endless, unsuccessful, attempt at "connecting".
It kinda reminds me of trying to remove the Office365 tentacles on a PC.
So, how do you want to do this, publicly or behind closed doors?

2025-01-16 02:04:40 UTC

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Hi, I'm taking-up your offer for the "holler" if you have questions. Thanks.
I have just purchased a spanking new Pixel 8a for the second time(long story).
My previous Pixel 8a was running GrapheneOS very happily, but I found the constant updates a little frustrating, and to be quite honest, the OS exceeded my threat level needs.
I then moved to LineageOS on a Samsung Galaxy S9 which I really like but, alas, the devs stopped maintaing it in December.
So, I'm thinking maybe CalyxOS would be a nice middle-of-the-road option for my new device.
I would be interested in any thoughts you, or anyone else reading this, have on the issue.
Cheers.
#CalyxOS

2024-12-01 22:28:45 UTC

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This was my logic for years. But with the iPhone 15 Pro Max the camel's back was finally broken, so to speak.
So sick of Apple's intrusion into my daily life I sold ALL my Apple devices, phone, watch, laptop, and earpods in protest. Signed out of my Apple ID and moved to Linux, GrapheneOS/LineageOS and an analogue watch and have zero regrets, zero.
To me, as far as 'evil empire's' go, Apple is now top of the heap.

2024-11-22 07:30:26 UTC

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All my Linux experience has been on Mac's.
Currently running Linux Mint 22 on a 2015 i7 MacBook Pro 15", 16GB DRAM and Ubuntu 24.01(?) with QEMU/KVM on a 2010 Mac Pro 5,1, 2x Intel Xeon 6 core CPUs with 48GB ECC DRAM.
No problems.

2024-10-16 19:50:42 UTC

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Firstly, I have been a SimpleX user for about a year. I actively participate in Privacy App discussions on Matrix using both Fractal 8 and Element. I also have several other privacy apps, both mobile and desktop.
Having said that and after reading the Wired article and the ISD report, I think your(SimpleX's) response was uncalled for and misguided.
I think the Wired article was a reasonable appraisal of the opportunity a service like SimpleX provided to groups like neo-nazi's or terrorist's as a rally point.
I also think, given the ISD report was focused on neo-nazi's use of encrypted messaging apps(no mention of SimpleX in particular), it was reasonable that Wired didn't expand to include freedom of speech for journalist's etc.
Finally, I think the response to Wired by your(Simplex's) own developer was a sufficient rebuttal to any concern the broader community should have.
“We never designed groups to be usable for more than 50 users and we’ve been really surprised to see them growing to the current sizes despite limited usability and performance. We do not think it is technically possible to create a social network of a meaningful size in the SimpleX network.”(Poberezkin, Wired, 2024).
#SimpleX

2024-09-15 18:15:55 UTC

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Nor I.
Which is why sudo exists in the first place.
But it would be wise not to get system security mixed-up with data security.

2024-09-15 18:09:27 UTC

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So, it was secure.
1. A password is a password, two character's or not.
2. Why enter the admin p/w when you are already admin?
3-5. Stands to reason.
Please don't get me wrong. Is LM the most secure software out there? Hell no.
But, Security Bug? Mmmm... dunno.
In all honesty I think Sudo/user accounts are there to protect us from us rather than bad guy's.

2024-09-15 17:50:24 UTC

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Is this actually a Security Bug?
As far as I know, it is only 'highly recommended' to use a password/second user(other than Root) in the first place rather than an absolute requirement.
I think all you have done is restore your install of Linux to it's original state. The fact you needed the password to login means it's secure from boot.
Interesting though. I'll be keen to see the vox pop feedback on this.
#Linux #LinuxMint

2024-08-16 18:52:52 UTC

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Mmmm, its not the reading that I have a problem with, it's the link source.
And, I'm a Flatpak user with a genuine interest in the issue, so I was responding to the call to discuss it.

2024-08-16 18:42:52 UTC

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I'm not sure what your concerns are and I'm not clicking on a linkedin.com article to find out.
Can you elaborate on your question with some specific issues?
#linux

2024-08-14 06:32:09 UTC

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"... Looking forward to see if #DeltaChat works... "
So... ???😍
Did it? I'm also curious.
Thanks.

2024-08-08 06:51:49 UTC

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I look forward to the Android port. Works much better than Element on Linux and Verification is quick and easy.
Very happy.