A new release of the decentralized communication platform Jami has been introduced, distributed under the code name "VilΓ‘gfa". The project is aimed at creating a communication system that works in P2P mode and allows organizing both communication of large groups and making individual calls with a high level of confidentiality and security. Jami, formerly known as Ring and SFLphone, is part of the GNU Projects and distributed under the GPLv3 license. Binary builds are prepared for GNU/Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE, RHEL, etc.), Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Android TV.
Unlike traditional communication clients, Jami is able to transmit messages without recourse to external servers through the organization of a direct connection between users using end-to-end encryption (End-to-end, keys are present only on the client side) and authentication based on X.509 certificates. In addition to secure messaging, the program allows you to make voice and video calls, create teleconferences, share files, share files and screen content. For video conferencing on a server with an Intel Core i7-7700K 4.20 GHz CPU, 32 GB of RAM and a 100 Mbit/s network connection, the best quality is achieved when connecting no more than 25 participants. Each participant in a video conference requires a bandwidth of approximately 2 Mbit/s.
Initially, the project developed as a softphone based on the SIP protocol, but has long gone beyond this in favor of the P2P model, while maintaining compatibility with SIP and the ability to make calls using this protocol. The program supports various codecs (G711u, G711a, GSM, Speex, Opus, G.722) and protocols (ICE, SIP, TLS), provides reliable encryption of video, voice and messages. Of the service functions, call forwarding and holding, call recording, call history with search, automatic volume control, integration with GNOME and KDE address books can be noted.
To identify a user, Jami uses a decentralized global account authentication mechanism based on the implementation of an address book in the form of a blockchain (using the developments of the Ethereum project). One user ID (RingID) can be used simultaneously on multiple devices and allows you to contact the user regardless of which device is active, without the need to maintain different IDs on the smartphone and PC. The address book responsible for translation of names in the RingID is stored on a group of nodes supported by different members, including running your own node to maintain a local copy of the global address book (Jami also implements a separate internal address book maintained by the client).
To address users in Jami, the OpenDHT protocol (distributed hash table) is used, which does not require the use of centralized registries with information about users. The basis of Jami is the jami-daemon background process, which is responsible for processing connections, organizing communications, working with video and sound. Interaction with jami-daemon is organized using the LibRingClient library, which serves as the basis for building client software and provides all the typical functionality that is not tied to the user interface and platforms. On top of LibRingClient, client applications are created directly, which makes it quite easy to create and maintain various interfaces. The main client for PC is written using the Qt library, clients based on GTK and Electron are being developed additionally.
Main innovations:
- The development of the swarm group communications system (Swarms) continued, allowing the creation of fully distributed P2P chats, the communication history of which is jointly stored on all user devices in a synchronized form. While the previous swarm only allowed two members, the new swarm release now allows small group chats of up to 8 people (there are plans to increase the allowed number of members in future releases and add support for public chats).
A new button has been added to create group chats and the ability to configure chat options has been provided.
After creating a group chat, you can add new members to it and remove existing ones. There are three categories of participants: invited (added to the group, but not yet connected to the chat), connected and administrator. Each member can send invitations to other people, but only the administrator can remove from the group (for now there can only be one administrator, but in future releases there will be a flexible system of access rights and the ability to appoint several administrators).
- Added a new panel with information about the chat, such as the list of participants, the list of sent documents and settings.
- Added several types of indicators about reading a message and typing.
- The ability to send files to a chat is provided, while chat participants can receive a file even if the sender is not online.
- Added interface for searching messages in chats.
- Added support for setting reactions using emoji characters.
- Added an option to display information about the current location.
- Experimental support for a group chat that accompanies a video conference has been added to the Desktop client.
Source: opennet.ru