Discussion:
[whispersystems] Signal protocol and its features
Sergiy Makhov
2016-12-13 12:40:56 UTC
Permalink
Hello,
We develop enterpise soultions, and currently looking for nice IM protocol.
We stuck between Matrix and Signal. And I have some questions about Signal
features. So:
- Does Signal supports multiple devices and chat history delivery for them
(is there any restrictions for devices)?
- Can we identify user not via phone number (username/email) I saw issues
about that on GitHub but they were closed long time ago.
- Is there any protocol spec? So we could look what it supports...
- Is there any multi-chats?
- End-to-end encryption provided for all chats and user devices?
- Is there any user contacts list?
- Is Signal extensible, so we would be able to transmit any data with
messages?
- What about server federation/load balancing/clusterization? Are they
available for Signal Server out-of-the-box?
- Is there any roadmap of projects development?

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Sergiy
Raphael Arias
2016-12-13 13:10:09 UTC
Permalink
Hello Sergiy,

Have a look at [0] to answer most of your questions. Documentation is
being updated. At [1] you can also find archives of this mailing list,
that should answer a few others. I will try to answer your questions
that have a quick yes/no answer but some of them don't ;)
Post by Sergiy Makhov
Hello,
We develop enterpise soultions, and currently looking for nice IM
protocol. We stuck between Matrix and Signal. And I have some questions
- Does Signal supports multiple devices and chat history delivery for
them (is there any restrictions for devices)?
Yes it does, in a limited way, and yes, there are restrictions. Iirc,
currently only 1 master and 2 paired devices.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Can we identify user not via phone number (username/email) I saw
issues about that on GitHub but they were closed long time ago.
Not if you use the official servers.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is there any protocol spec? So we could look what it supports...
(see above)
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is there any multi-chats?
Yes
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- End-to-end encryption provided for all chats and user devices?
Yes
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is there any user contacts list?
No. Signal works using the user's phone's contacts. The client uploads
hashed phone numbers but these are not saved on the server.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is Signal extensible, so we would be able to transmit any data with
messages?
I guess, basically yes.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- What about server federation/load balancing/clusterization? Are they
available for Signal Server out-of-the-box?
No.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is there any roadmap of projects development?
I am not sure.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Sergiy
As an aside: Be careful to read through old mail threads or github
issues. If you want to build a custom enterprise solution built on the
Signal protocol, you may probably do so, however, make sure not to
market it using the Signal trademark. And, WhisperSystems probably will
not like the idea of you earning money using their free infrastructure.
Thus, you should probably consider hosting your own servers, depending
on what you plan on doing.

You should also probably ask further questions in the unofficial
community forum [2].

Best regards,
Raphael

[0] https://whispersystems.org/docs/
[1] https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/whispersystems
[2] https://whispersystems.discoursehosting.net
Benedikt Radtke
2016-12-13 19:18:12 UTC
Permalink
My highest slave device id is 7, and the server would not let me
register a new one, so i suppose 1 master and 6 slaves is the limit.

- Benni
Post by Raphael Arias
Hello Sergiy,
Have a look at [0] to answer most of your questions. Documentation is
being updated. At [1] you can also find archives of this mailing list,
that should answer a few others. I will try to answer your questions
that have a quick yes/no answer but some of them don't ;)
Post by Sergiy Makhov
Hello,
We develop enterpise soultions, and currently looking for nice IM
protocol. We stuck between Matrix and Signal. And I have some questions
- Does Signal supports multiple devices and chat history delivery for
them (is there any restrictions for devices)?
Yes it does, in a limited way, and yes, there are restrictions. Iirc,
currently only 1 master and 2 paired devices.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Can we identify user not via phone number (username/email) I saw
issues about that on GitHub but they were closed long time ago.
Not if you use the official servers.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is there any protocol spec? So we could look what it supports...
(see above)
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is there any multi-chats?
Yes
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- End-to-end encryption provided for all chats and user devices?
Yes
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is there any user contacts list?
No. Signal works using the user's phone's contacts. The client uploads
hashed phone numbers but these are not saved on the server.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is Signal extensible, so we would be able to transmit any data with
messages?
I guess, basically yes.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- What about server federation/load balancing/clusterization? Are they
available for Signal Server out-of-the-box?
No.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
- Is there any roadmap of projects development?
I am not sure.
Post by Sergiy Makhov
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely, Sergiy
As an aside: Be careful to read through old mail threads or github
issues. If you want to build a custom enterprise solution built on the
Signal protocol, you may probably do so, however, make sure not to
market it using the Signal trademark. And, WhisperSystems probably will
not like the idea of you earning money using their free infrastructure.
Thus, you should probably consider hosting your own servers, depending
on what you plan on doing.
You should also probably ask further questions in the unofficial
community forum [2].
Best regards,
Raphael
[0] https://whispersystems.org/docs/
[1] https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/whispersystems
[2] https://whispersystems.discoursehosting.net
Loading...