Viber 4.2 Finally Released For Linux

[Calinou]

Yay finally! I actually contacted them recently about this and they promised an update very soon. Can't fault their customer service guys.


Brilliant, now try getting a normal person (i.e. not nerds like us) to setup a Jabber client on their phone/tablet/PC and enable OTR on it. Their response will be "yer what?". Believe it or not, user experience is quite important for users and the open-source choices simply don't yet deliver. For sensitive communications, yes I'll choose to use OTR, but for everyday messaging to friends, clients like WhatsApp and Viber are much easier to use and don't piss off regular people.

“Normal” people are allowed to use free/libre software, which provides a different user experience (users controlling the software, instead of software controlling its users). It doesn't imply it's worse.

If I ask my mom about whatsapp, she knows and uses it. My sisters? Sure. Their friends? Without exception. Coworkers? The female ones all use it.

But never did anyone mention 'viber' ...

Oh, don't try to be sexist.

[curaga]

Those who give up liberty for convenience network effects deserve neither. Or something.

[osinclair]

Thanks for the information

As I am an avid user of Viber phone/desktop versions I am very pleased to see this upgrade. I was in fear that the Linux version would become "abandonware"

To all "why not use an obscure solution that few outside Linux have ever heard of" such as Jabber w OTR, Tox.im etc: because my clients, colleagues, friends and family all over the Globe don't and I can not persuade them of this good concept. So if I want to stay in touch it is Whatsapp, viber, skype and so on whether I like it or not

[Alejandro Nova]

More importantly how many backdoors does Viber contain? Or it just sends its traffic via NSA HQs? I guess the latter. Why bother with hidden features, when you can sniff everything?

s/NSA/Mossad/g

[stiiixy]

If I ask my mom about whatsapp, she knows and uses it. My sisters? Sure. Their friends? Without exception. Coworkers? The female ones all use it.

But never did anyone mention 'viber' ...

Congratulations, you and your circle of family and acquaintences are not omnipotent and are happy using your existing software. For the rest of us, we like to share, and keep our options open when something doesn't satisfy. And I'VE hear of viber. Years ago, in fact.

And I'm not using it despite the alround 'niceness' of the user experience.

[energyman]

If I ask my mom about whatsapp, she knows and uses it. My sisters? Sure. Their friends? Without exception. Coworkers? The female ones all use it.

But never did anyone mention 'viber' ...

[steveriley]

what the fuck IS viber? what does viber do?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=viber

does anybody actually use that crap? The last point is almost the most important one. Nobody I know has ever heard that name before.

I use it every day. Most of my friends have it. Hundreds of millions of other people do, too. Nice alternative if you don't want WhatsApp by Facebook.

[energyman]

essential information that is missing from the article:

what the fuck IS viber?

what does viber do?

what makes it different/better than its competition?

and

does anybody actually use that crap?

The last point is almost the most important one. Nobody I know has ever heard that name before.

[pandev92]

But, it has nice stickers! Install the blob anyway to get the stickers!

Seriously:
switch to something with an open standard, like XMPP/Jabber. Use OTR over it whenever both end-points can.

switch? why? nobody use this freaky apps, the majority of people use what's app, viber, line, skype etc, is a waste of time the use of others apps if nobody use it.

[ricequackers]

Yay finally! I actually contacted them recently about this and they promised an update very soon. Can't fault their customer service guys.

But, it has nice stickers! Install the blob anyway to get the stickers!

Seriously:
switch to something with an open standard, like XMPP/Jabber. Use OTR over it whenever both end-points can.

Brilliant, now try getting a normal person (i.e. not nerds like us) to setup a Jabber client on their phone/tablet/PC and enable OTR on it. Their response will be "yer what?". Believe it or not, user experience is quite important for users and the open-source choices simply don't yet deliver. For sensitive communications, yes I'll choose to use OTR, but for everyday messaging to friends, clients like WhatsApp and Viber are much easier to use and don't piss off regular people.