>With Matrix you can use F-Droid build of the client. And you don't really need to trust the server too much, right? Maybe it's not enough for Snowden, but it's better.
And why should I trust F-Droid's build of Matrix over Signal's build of Signal?
Please understand, I agree with your point. Mine was orthogonal: If you are under threat from motivated and/or state-level actors, using someone else's servers (or clients, for that matter) is a bad idea.
And that includes Matrix. I run my own Matrix server and the users of that server can interact (especially via voice/video) without any fear of being intercepted -- even by me.
What's more, I can't decrypt the conversations folks have in Matrix "rooms" that don't include me without a long process of brute-forcing.
No one is coming to my house to confiscate my server. That scenario is much more likely with a public/commercial service hosted at a data center/cloud provider.
So yes, Matrix is likely more secure than Signal if, and only if you build and install your servers and clients from source with a compiler/linker you built yourself using a trusted tool chain on hardware whose components you've personally confirmed to be free of compromise[0].
And why should I trust F-Droid's build of Matrix over Signal's build of Signal?
Please understand, I agree with your point. Mine was orthogonal: If you are under threat from motivated and/or state-level actors, using someone else's servers (or clients, for that matter) is a bad idea.
And that includes Matrix. I run my own Matrix server and the users of that server can interact (especially via voice/video) without any fear of being intercepted -- even by me.
What's more, I can't decrypt the conversations folks have in Matrix "rooms" that don't include me without a long process of brute-forcing.
No one is coming to my house to confiscate my server. That scenario is much more likely with a public/commercial service hosted at a data center/cloud provider.
So yes, Matrix is likely more secure than Signal if, and only if you build and install your servers and clients from source with a compiler/linker you built yourself using a trusted tool chain on hardware whose components you've personally confirmed to be free of compromise[0].
[0] https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~ganger/712.fall02/papers/p761-tho...