←back to thread

It looks like Signal isn't as open source as you thought it was anymore

(www.androidpolice.com)
242 points raybb | 5 comments | 06 Apr 21 18:04 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
Chlorus ◴[06 Apr 21 18:49 UTC] No.26715754[source]▶
Wasn't Apple's iMessage protocol supposed to be an open implementation too? Whatever happened to that?
replies(2): >>26715777 #>>26715826 #
kitsunesoba ◴[06 Apr 21 18:50 UTC] No.26715777[source]▶
That was FaceTime that they intended to open source, and it was supposedly a patent troll that forced them to move FaceTime to a more centralized design (it was originally P2P) which in turn made open sourcing more problematic.
replies(1): >>26715880 #
1. smnrchrds ◴[06 Apr 21 18:58 UTC] No.26715880[source]▶
That was certainly the excuse. But it is trivial for Apple to buy any patent it needs. I believe the real reason is that FaceTime and iMessage hook people to Apple platform and discourage switching to another one.
replies(3): >>26716025 #>>26716113 #>>26716599 #
2. peytn ◴[06 Apr 21 19:09 UTC] No.26716025[source]▶
Wouldn’t that encourage future lawsuits from other patent trolls?
3. viro ◴[06 Apr 21 19:15 UTC] No.26716113[source]▶
> trivial for Apple to buy any patent it needs.

Yea ... umm thats not how reality works. Companies CAN refuse to sell or license a patent at a rate that is not absurd.

4. aeontech ◴[06 Apr 21 19:54 UTC] No.26716599[source]▶
The patent troll in the case got a 440M award… and Apple had to spend a bunch of engineering time throwing out the already-working p2p implementation and rebuilding a centralized version… and you’re suggesting that this was all a mere smoke screen?
replies(1): >>26717190 #
5. smnrchrds ◴[06 Apr 21 20:46 UTC] No.26717190[source]▶
They have 200 billion dollars in cash. They could have bought out the troll if they wanted to.