Was it not already available for Arch based systems too? I've had it installed on CachyOS since I first switched to it 6 months ago.
Third parties can take the first party .deb, .rpm, etc and repackage it for other distros
AppImage. The "we want the brownie points for supporting Linux but don't want to actually go to the trouble of supporting Linux" of application packaging methods.
Also how do you update appimages other than manually checking when a new version is released downloading the new file? Is it going to need a Windows style update checker that runs on launch and just opens a URL to the downloads page? At least it can't just register itself as a startup item or service behind your back like on Windows.
I believe gearlever checks for updates? Although it's not preinstalled on any distros Im aware of for some reason.
Bazzite includes it by default, that's how I originally learnt of the project. Still using it on regular old Fedora today.
They still don't even have an F-Droid app
They have a direct APK download though, IIRC, which works fine.
F-Droid is about commitment to freedom, not "we let you download an apk".
Pretty embarrassing. Linux should be a priority for such a software, not an afterthought.
Maybe one day they'll figure out how to support DeGoogled phones as well.
Signal works just fine without Google Play Services. I'm using it currently on my e/OS/ and it spins up its own service for getting push notifications.
Agree on the first one though. The desktop app is an embarassing electron crap.
Does the app work? Sure. But there's no official way to install it outside of the Google store. Nor any way to update it. Can you get notifications? Sure, running their inefficient notification service. They've acknowledged several times that it drains your battery significantly but still refuse to support the open source UnifiedPush service.
they literally have a direct download on the website:
f-droid.
How is an aspiring user supposed to find this page? Why isn't it on the normal downloads page?
Look at the language. They're clearly doing everything they can to dissuade anyone from installing using any private method. Why?
Why not just put it on FDroid? Wouldn't that be the "safest and easiest" method?
They just really don't seem to want anyone using DeGoogled devices and that is weird and concerning.
Bro stop crying already. At most its just an extra repository
You sound like someone I definitely want to engage with.
They're clearly doing everything they can to dissuade anyone from installing using any private method. Why?
No auto-updates and most regular users probably don't know how to validate the hash.
If they put it on f-droid they'd automatically get auto updates as well.
Well yes, but also because their app is proproetary. As in, it bundles proprietary dependencies, in particular for google push system and there was a proprietary dependency for audio processing, too.
More things can be said, e.g. that Molly actually "fixes" these problems... But I think it's fair to mention what I wrote above.
Molly isn't on F-Droid either for that matter, but it seems more trustworthy than Signal, I get it off Accrescent
Uhh you can get it on FDroid, you just have to enable the Guardian Project Archive repo. Last update was 13 days ago at the time of this post.
The Guardian Project is not Signal. It is not an official source.
Technically F-Droid would not be an official source either, since F-Droid maintainers package the apps themselves (the requirement for publishing there is that they can reproduce the build on their own infrastructure). I get the sentiment though, would also like to have it on there
Fair point
So, what is the solution you would expect from them?
They provide per direct download on their main homepage, on an f-droid repo and obviously in the Google play store
What would you want?
what is the solution you would expect from them?
...I just said that? I expect them to make their software freely and readily available first-party in a repository and not hidden away on some obscure page on their website with no updates.
Of course there is: Obtanium. You add the repo address, and that's it.
Sure, there are many ways to get it working. None of them are explicitly supported or shared anywhere by the team. That's the problem.
It’s the Electron of app stores.
Although I had Trisquel, which is based on Ubuntu, I am glad that people using other distros like Fedora can now have Signal. By the way, for deGoogled phones, you can use Molly-FOSS, too. It's a fork of Signal and interoperable with it.