GNU Jami: Free Skype Alternative – Free Software Foundation

#‍ Embrace Free Dialog: why GNU Jami is Your Next Essential Tool

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Give Jami a ⁢try ‍next time you call a friend or family member.

We’ve been⁢ recommending⁢ GNU Jami along with⁤ other free communication⁢ tools for some time now. It,like⁤ many other⁣ actively developed free programs,has been⁤ steadily ⁣acquiring both new users and new features. According to a talk we had with a representative from GNU Jami’s ‍parent company,⁤ users have increased dramatically since Skype’s shutdown. Considering how harmful network effects can be,this is a win for the free software movement.## The Power of Freedom in⁣ Communication

Communication tools, like social networks,⁣ are only helpful so long as you can use them to actually *communicate* with ⁣others. Now more than ever, it’s vital to hold our most ‍private conversations on free (as in freedom) software. at the same time, we need to be taking‍ as ⁣many steps as possible to welcome users to free communication platforms, not only by making sure⁣ it runs on⁣ both free and nonfree operating systems, ⁣but by ⁣investing time⁢ and ⁣energy into accessibility ⁤and localization. By way of example, GNU Jami now allows for multi-byte⁢ Unicode usernames, ⁤an important feature for people speaking languages that don’t⁣ utilize the ⁣Latin alphabet.

### Why Privacy Matters in Digital Conversations

It’s great to hear that free tools are growing,but⁤ it’s even more refreshing to⁢ hear a developer say what they *don’t* know about their userbase. In the⁢ case of Jami, data is ⁣only inferred instead of collected. Recording more detailed details about the ⁣network might potentially be helpful to developers, but ⁢it also opens the door to later ⁢misuse, as happened for ⁢example, with Zoom’s usage of ⁤the‍ [Facebook SDK](https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/how-the-government-legally-tracks-your-smartphone-use-with-the-anomaly-six-sdk). Whereas a proprietary software company’s claims about encryption are ‍often impossible to verify,free/libre software is ⁤not kept secret from the public. [free software is a prerequisite for true privacy](https://www.fsf.org/bulletin/2020/spring/privacy-encryption).

## Take the Leap to ⁣Free ⁢and Private⁢ Communication

Try doing a Jami ‍call, or talking with your friends on some other free communication platform like [encrypted XMPP](https://omemo.top/). There’s a good chance it will have most if not ⁣everything you use in the nonfree app — only now with freedom and privacy.

“Jami logo” © 2022 ⁤ [Linux know-how](https://savoirfairelinux.com/en). This image is licensed ⁤under⁤ a ⁤ [Creative Commons Attribution 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) International license.