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1. It's FOSS (itsfoss@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 13-Aug-2023 01:30:30 JST It's FOSS

   Skiff is a very privacy-friendly alternative to the big tech offerings.

   https://news.itsfoss.com/skiff-mail-review/

   • It's FOSS (itsfoss@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 13-Aug-2023 20:40:26 JST It's FOSS

     in reply to

     • Viktor Nagornyy
     • Dan Brown

     @danb @viktor We are aware of the licensing issue. Hence, the disclaimer.

     I'd be more careful about the source code availability and license. Hence, we have updated the notice as well.

     Furthermore, if you notice, the GitHub issue is in a better state of discussion where they want to consider moving to a different license.

     Hopefully, that improves it!

     -Ankush

   • Dan Brown (danb@fosstodon.org)'s status on Sunday, 13-Aug-2023 20:40:31 JST Dan Brown

     in reply to

     • Viktor Nagornyy

     @viktor @itsfoss

     Additionally, most of the code they do provide is not open source either: https://github.com/skiff-org/skiff-apps/issues/94

     This has been voiced to @itsfoss but they don't seem to care:
     https://itsfoss.community/t/avoid-skiff-com-falsely-advertising-as-open-source/10968

   • Viktor Nagornyy (viktor@me.dm)'s status on Sunday, 13-Aug-2023 20:40:32 JST Viktor Nagornyy

     in reply to

     @itsfoss "Skiff developers claim it to be open source, and their source code is available on GitHub. However, as some readers noticed, the licensing might not be entirely open-source compatible."

     Actually, Skiff claims only Mail is open source on their website: "Skiff Mail is open-source, uses open-source cryptography, and undergoes external security audits."

     On Reddit, Skiff confirmed they don't open source their backend:
     https://www.reddit.com/r/Skiff/comments/10yn8a5/are_all_parts_of_skiff_opensource/j811jki/

   • It's FOSS (itsfoss@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 14-Aug-2023 12:54:22 JST It's FOSS

     in reply to

     • Viktor Nagornyy
     • Dan Brown

     @danb @viktor

     I'm uncertain if you noticed the updated disclaimer, but it does mention that not all aspects of the product are open-source, some of it.

     The subtitle has been updated as well – it takes time to reflect the URL preview when people re-share it.

     And, as for the term "open-source" being used, should that be dropped when talking about Proton Mail as well?

     In both the cases, the back-end is closed, and both have audit reports.

     Hope that makes sense!

   • Dan Brown (danb@fosstodon.org)'s status on Monday, 14-Aug-2023 12:54:23 JST Dan Brown

     in reply to

     • Viktor Nagornyy

     @itsfoss @viktor Thanks. Although the disclaimer is far far below the fold, and after labelling Skiff as open source 4 times, including within the title and subtitle which is being re-shared across the web so further pushing this misrepresentation of open source.

   • Viktor Nagornyy (viktor@me.dm)'s status on Monday, 14-Aug-2023 19:08:11 JST Viktor Nagornyy

     in reply to

     • Dan Brown

     @itsfoss @danb ProtonMail backend is not open source. Various apps and tools are open source, such as mobile apps. When licensing is mixed, you have to be specific about what is open source and what is not.

     ProtonMail is partially open source. That's more accurate.

   • It's FOSS (itsfoss@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 14-Aug-2023 19:08:11 JST It's FOSS

     in reply to

     • Viktor Nagornyy
     • Dan Brown

     @viktor @danb Technically, that makes sense.

     I just wanted to convey that, everyone does make use of "open-source" when describing proton mail.

     So, I just think that going forward, it would be best if we would add disclaimers for license + being partially open-source for everything that's in question.

     That's the best we can do. Hopefully, that will make a difference in clarifying things better in our future coverages.

     Cheers!