Anyone know of a FOSS type kids messenger?
cross-posted from: lemmy.today/post/63107763
I'm looking for something like Snikket or Prosody, but kids-oriented. I DON'T want my <10 daughter using Meta Messenger Kids! I'll tell my friends to setup for their kids, too. I'd have no access to anything, so it's secure (mom and dad not snooping per se), but the downside is minimal parental controls. Though, no one to really add either.I'll host or pay for it, IDC. It doesn't seem like there is much out there either.
JusTalk seemed nice when I found out but apparently China owned and so no more secure. I/we need better options!
CMDR_Horn
in reply to unitedwithme • • •ch00f
in reply to CMDR_Horn • • •Onomatopoeia
in reply to CMDR_Horn • • •How would you compare setting up your own Matrix server vs an XMPP server?
I was going to recommend XMPP to OP, and I don't have any experience with setting up Matrix.
Colloidal
in reply to Onomatopoeia • • •CMDR_Horn
in reply to Onomatopoeia • • •Onomatopoeia
in reply to CMDR_Horn • • •Bummer.
Oh well
stratself
in reply to Onomatopoeia • • •Selfhosting both. Continuwuity is more straightforward to set up than ejabberd, mostly because of easier docs, less ports, and less subdomains required. It also comes with most things you need rather than a bunch of toggled-on modules, and I'd say Matrix being HTTP makes it more "conventional" for beginners.
XMPP is significantly more lightweight though, being a message passing protocol rather than state syncing.
Continuwuity
continuwuity.orgSchwim Dandy
in reply to CMDR_Horn • • •I would love to see the success rate of getting the parents of the child's friend to set up a matrix client for their child's one friend that doesn't use anything they do.
Help your child embrace not needing to be constantly in communication with her friends, to (gasp) use the phone .... or accept and monitor the evil empires' offerings but no matter what you do, don't for one second think you'll get a single family to set up a matrix client for "that one kid".
unitedwithme
in reply to CMDR_Horn • • •Blaze
in reply to unitedwithme • • •Semperverus
in reply to CMDR_Horn • • •Possibly linux
in reply to CMDR_Horn • • •CameronDev
in reply to unitedwithme • • •Onomatopoeia
in reply to CameronDev • • •You're not wrong.
One upside - the kids will learn this, and also the value of separate communication channels.
I'd I could get my family to switch to anything other than SMS I'd be happy.
CameronDev
in reply to Onomatopoeia • • •Onomatopoeia
in reply to CameronDev • • •Pika
in reply to CameronDev • • •hexagonwin
in reply to Onomatopoeia • • •Joelk111
in reply to unitedwithme • • •spankysalmon
in reply to Joelk111 • • •Not just for kids. They let politicians and billionaires on there, too!
... /s ... oh GOD I hope /s
unitedwithme
in reply to Joelk111 • • •Just building shadow profiles until they hit 13 to syphon the fuck out of everyone's data!
I found out any pictures you upload to FB of your kids, each get their own profile, frequency they appear on your orioles, etc. They build massive profiles around these kids just to tie it all together later!
Tolookah
in reply to unitedwithme • • •unitedwithme
in reply to Tolookah • • •Yes I have a couple sources. I hate to link a YT video, so I'll use invidious. Both are great informative videos, but I don't want to take up your time.
However, check this link first because it might be speculation without hard evidence, while other evidence points to them doing this exact thing but for adults or people 13+
news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2…
Its at the very end at 10 minutes
redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=…
Also here at 12:25 mark on the video
redirect.invidious.io/watch?v=…
Didn't know about these shadow profiles, that's pretty interesting. Does anybody... | Hacker News
news.ycombinator.comjustme
in reply to Tolookah • • •I'm not in the situation yet, but once i have kids I'll tell my parents that, if i ever see a picture of my kids in any of those bs platforms (fb, Whatsapp..) they'll never get another picture.
parents have the ultimate decision about such things, if somebody else doesn't respect your decision, they need to live with the consequences.
it might sound harsh, but seems to be the only really working strategy. i gave up explaining them stuff over a decade ago.
Tolookah
in reply to justme • • •jaxxed
in reply to Joelk111 • • •It's worse than you think.
When I first looked t you couldn't use it in the EU because it didn't meet child protection laws.
fleem
in reply to unitedwithme • • •snikket! you can host it yourself or let jmp run it for you!
been using it for years after matrix was heavy and hard to maintain
snikket is a docker!
Semperverus
in reply to fleem • • •unitedwithme
in reply to Semperverus • • •Yes! I run Snikket already for my phone app! Cam you run side by side instances? I've never really tried. I'll have to look at how to run a domain that way.
Anyway, I'm trying Matrix (FluffyChat) but being new to Matrix, not sure how to point to my own subdomain for the app to connect.
stratself
in reply to unitedwithme • • •For Matrix, what server software are you hosting and what's your subdomain setup? When logging in, you just enter the domain behind your username (e.g. use
example.comif your username is@user:example.com)Edit: not sure if Snikket supports multiple domains, but its upstream, the Prosody server, does that just fine
rako
in reply to unitedwithme • • •I would go with Deltachat. There is no public directory of anything, so it's impossible to know who is/isn't there or randomly contact anyone. The only ways to start a conversation/follow someone are:
- scan qr codes, so you need physical presence and it's easy to see when there is no consent
- clicking on a random link
It i safe to tell your kids to not click on random links, so it's the safest way for kids to not randomly come into contact of people
unitedwithme
in reply to rako • • •rako
in reply to unitedwithme • • •Blaze
in reply to unitedwithme • • •No_Maines_Land
in reply to unitedwithme • • •As an alternative, around here, home phones (through voip) are making a comeback for kids.
Secure comms, no log, no photos, teaches a bit of etiquette.
Compatibility between self hosted and commercial systems.
abeorch
in reply to unitedwithme • •These kinds of thoughts are good ones. I wish I was more skilled in software development to build solutions for the younger ones in my family.
As a Business Analyst I would ask - What kind of feature would you look for in a messaging app for young people I care about. I guess for me it would include things like:
Ability to:
Control who the can communicate with
See the communications they send and receive
Limit their ability to add new people (or have an approval step that involved me or their parents )
I'm guessing that once you have an idea of the requirements - appropriate clients could be built on any of the technologies we have like XMPP or Matrix.
Selfhosted reshared this.