Editing 2365: Messaging Systems

Though relatively ancient by modern standards, {{w|SMS}} is supported by almost every mobile device (unless you're using a [https://forward.com/news/157544/packing-stadium-for-anti-internet-message/ kosher mobile phone] or still on a {{w|DynaTAC}}) that has a phone number attached, which means if you want to send a message to someone, but aren't sure if you have a messaging protocol in common, you can be sure at least they have SMS.

The title text proposes an alternative, absurd mingling of technologies in the vein of [[1636: XKCD Stack]]. IRC is Internet Relay Chat, a similarly antiquated messaging service that may also never die, as suggested in [[1782: Team Chat]]. DOSBox is an emulator that recreates the operating environment of {{w|MS-DOS}}.

* {{w|Google Hangouts}} is a messaging service that can be accessed through the online Gmail client, as a separate web page and a standalone app for the phone. Theoretically, that means everybody has access to it, modern usage patterns mean that most people do not use the attached web client and don't bother downloading the app. It allows users to upload significantly degraded images, links, and other media along with text with a copy-paste.

* {{w|Discord (software)|Discord}} is an instant messaging and groups platform, initially designed for the gaming community, now being used by everyone.

* A {{w|Personal message|DM}} (direct message) is a private message between two or more users. The term DM originated from {{w|Twitter}}, but can be used for other "direct" messages from other social media or social messaging platforms.

 

 

*{{w|Signal (software)|Signal}} is an encrypted messaging service, popular among protesters and hackers who wish to remain anonymous. Signal allows for highly secure messaging and for messages to be deleted after a period of time.

 

*{{w|iMessage}} is the instant messaging service for Apple devices. iMessage features end-to-end encryption; however, it only works between Apple devices, so users of Android devices are not able to receive or send messages through iMessage.

 

*{{w|WhatsApp}} is a messaging service owned by Facebook. It has is popular in multiple countries, namely Latin America and India.

{{w|End-to-end encryption}} is another messaging system where only the communicating users can read the messages posted. In principle, it prevents potential eavesdroppers – including {{w|telecom provider}}s, {{w|internet provider}}s, and even the provider of the communication service – from being able to access the {{w|cryptographic key}}s needed to decrypt the conversation.

*{{w|Pretty Good Privacy|PGP}} (short of "Pretty Good Privacy") is an encryption protocol for privacy and authentication developed in 1991. PGP can be used for signing, encrypting, and decrypting data. It is used to ensure the validity of the nature of the sender of the message (ie. to make sure you got the email from the sender and not from someone else pretending to be someone else with malicious intent). PGP was also featured in [[1181: PGP]].

*{{w|Skype}} is a video conferencing service owned by Microsoft released in 2003; thus Randall does not consider Skype "modern". He is unsure if Skype is end-to-end encrypted or not. Skype used to be E2E encrypted, but that was changed and now {{w|Sype security|it does not have E2E encryption}}.

'''Jabber + TLS'''

*{{w|Jabber.org}} (based on {{w|XMPP}}) is a communications protocol based on XML that was developed in 1999. The Jabber protocol could be used with {{w|Transport Layer Security}} (TLS) to have a secure communications service.

*{{w|SMS}} (short of Short Message Service) is a text-messaging service formally defined in the {{w|GSM}} standard in 1985 and first used in 1992. It limits messages to 160 characters, text-only. SMS has been extended by {{w|Multimedia Messaging Service|MMS}} (first used in 2002), which allows for "multimedia", including short videos, images and audio. MMS is also supported by most modern phones, but does not have any security features and is less powerful and less reliable than other messaging apps, making it less modern.

:PGP Email, Various Obscure Projects, Skype I think, Jabber + TLS