Signal Desktop doesn't come in native flavours due to "time and money constraints":
https://github.com/signalapp/Signal-Desktop/issues/2178#event-1599168072
Uh-huh...
https://www.engadget.com/2018/02/22/signal-messenger-50-million-whatsapp-cofounder/
Right. #InfoSec
Meanwhile Signal Android stopped working on my #Jolla. I can receive messages, I just can't send them. Yay.
There is Whisperfish for #SailfishOS:
https://github.com/aebruno/whisperfish
...but the last release is from April, and it has the very same problem. -_-;
And moxie cannot be bothered to standardize the protocol, because "the ecosystem is moving". FML.
@rysiek Hypothesis: It's about control.
The reason Signal isn't federated, is because Moxie wants to be able to change the protocol at any time. He famously blogged as much.
Rapid client/protocol changes would also become effectively unmanageable if they had multiple binary desktop apps shipped through various channels not directly under their control.
When federation becomes a realistic option, client diversity probably will as well.
@rysiek No disagreement. Just venturing the hypothesis that it's the same underlying reason.
Because everything you just said would apply to federation as well.
@HerraBRE ah yes, I do see your point! Right you are.
@HerraBRE oh, that much is entirely clear to me. Thing is: federation will *never* become a realistic option, because moxie does not want that.
Signal would benefit from having unofficial clients, and one way of doing that would be versioning the protocol and saying: "hey we will support that version for X months". That would at least give client developers a timeframe to shoot for!
As it stands, it "you can't have the cookie and can't eat it either". No native clients, and no help for devs.