I keep seeing a bunch of posts about WhatsApp or Signal or (insert messaging app here). Does anyone here use Keybase?

https://keybase.io/

Hmmmmmm, that would be a good Slack alternative. Can you self-host that too?

@finiteAutomaton
I’m not sure if they have a self hosted version of the tool, but they might open it up if enough people ask for a self hosted version.

/me uses keybase

@finiteAutomaton you should take a look at https://www.mattermost.org/

Does keybase still require an uploaded keypair, or can I use my smartcard? You've got to be wary of stuff like this. Signal also abstracts the encryption to unnecessary levels where I dont have ultimate control over it.

Keybase.io/finlaydag33k :)

I rarely use PGP in purpose tho, because nobody else does :c

@tokumei Explain that control part? The algorithm is fully open source so I don't really get what you mean.

And yes, I do NOT use WhatsApp but signal and Keybase all the way!
https://keybase.io/linuxxx

I do... https://keybase.io/phreakyphoenix
Some of my friends are on it too. It's pretty beginner friendly. But if you just want a regular chat app with encryption, I would not recommend it. Signal or even telegram is good in those terms.

@phreakyphoenix Just don't use telegram if you want good encryption :)

@linuxxx Last time I used keybase app, you had to upload a private key to the server to be able to use decrypt or sign, and probably chat though I never used it. Decided that was a hard pass.

With Signal, either I haven't found a way to use a TPM/smartcard or there isn't a way to, meaning the key is ultimately in the hands of the program, not the user.

@tokumei I'm not too technical on that part too badly, @PerfectAsshole help me out here :)

@tokumei @linuxxx it's possible to upload a public key but it's a very convoluted process. You need the private key to be a stub (like usb key) and you have to use the cli to upload it. So unless you have a real reason to use it or just want to do it it's not worth it in most cases

@tokumei @perfectasshole super bump, but yeah you can totally use keybase with a smartcard pgp key (in fact pgp is a lot less needed than it used to be), as well as upload just the public side of the key and not have them do your key management.