From d57c3494dc79dfa5d46bdca530b821c030f72572 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Ekaitz Zarraga Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2023 19:58:27 +0100 Subject: Add protonmail --- content/protonmail.md | 139 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 139 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/protonmail.md (limited to 'content') diff --git a/content/protonmail.md b/content/protonmail.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3813c5c --- /dev/null +++ b/content/protonmail.md @@ -0,0 +1,139 @@ +Title: Bye Protonmail +Date: 2023-11-21 +Category: +Tags: +Slug: bye-protonmail +Lang: en +Summary: + I left Protonmail. Here is why. I still like them to some degree though. + + +The other day in the fediverse a friend of mine asked me about Protonmail. +I explained a little bit my feelings and Protonmail jumped in, making me +finally explain further. I think the conversation is interesting enough to +share here[^deleted]. + +[^deleted]: My posts in Mastodon are also automatically deleted so if you try + to read it later in there you might not find it. I'm copying it here as a + reference. + +
+ +
+ Ekaitz Zárraga 👹 +

I really like @protonmail but they are always getting in the way +with their non-standard things and their bridge which is FULL of dependencies +and it's impossible to package for some systems.

+ +

They are pushing me away from them too hard...

+ +

I won't be surprised if finally push me away from their service in the mid +term... after many years of trusting them for my business and personal email... +It's a real shame.

+
+ +
+ Proton Mail + +

@ekaitz_zarraga Can you let us know what kind of dependencies you're +referring to?

+
+ + +
+ Ekaitz Zárraga 👹 + +

@protonmail the Proton bridge has many dependencies:
+ +https://github.com/ProtonMail/proton-bridge/blob/master/go.mod

+ +

Packaging all of them for a distribution is a huge effort. I don't think you +are really aware of the level of work it requires. Also, you have a .deb and a +.rpm package, which are precompiled... forcing your users to trust those.

+ +

My distro and my work are focused on reproducible builds and +bootstrappability... some serious concerns you don't take in account.

+
+ +
+ Ekaitz Zárraga 👹 + +

@protonmail Also, don't get me wrong. I love protonmail and its +ideas but I think you are too focused on "normal" users and breaking other +people's setups without giving much in exchange. I feel like a second class +user in protonmail, as my distro doesn't support .deb or .rpm packages... and I +need to use plain text email pretty often (which you don't really support in +the web either).

+
+ +
+ Ekaitz Zárraga 👹 + +

@protonmail I love protonmail, and I'd love to fix these issues, I +would even make a reproducible bridge for you if you ask me to. But I don't +have the energy to do it by myself. It's simply not possible to package.

+ +

So, here we are. As much as I'd like to continue to work with you and support +you, I don't feel I can do it anymore

+
+
+ + + +Not long later I simply moved my email out of protonmail, to a different +platform. An Europe based email provider that provides an interaction based on +standards. Standards I can use with **any** setup, in **any** machine. + +I wouldn't care to have a non-standard solution if the Protonmail Bridge +application worked, but they only provide `.deb` and `.rpm` packages. I can't +package the app, because it has too many dependencies to be done in an +acceptable amount of time. + +Also, the Web client is getting more and more complex. My anti-tracking plugins +(like jShelter) tell me they are fingerprinting me when I reach the login +screen. Why? Who knows. I contacted them and told them about this and, of +course, I didn't talk with a technical person, because you are not supposed to +do that, so I don't think my words reached anyone that could understand them, +or consider them. + +Maybe it's me who changed. I don't need the default PGP configuration anymore +because I can configure it myself, I realized I am more in the need of being +able to easily `git send-email` than using a beautiful Web UI that tracks me or +uses modern JS features. I use a weird distro now, which shouldn't be a problem +but it happens to be, and I realized having too many dependencies in the code +is often a problem in several dimensions. + +So, something that happens too often in my life happened again: being a +technical user has been punished again in favour of the concept of *dumb +users*. The funny thing of all this is I don't think *dumb users* exist. We +should discuss that another time. + +They are a company, they want to grow, so they must try to sell for the +*baseline* user. The minimal amount of knowledge a person can have. Selling a +product for "expert" users is lost money, there are not that many "experts" in +this world after all. So it's easier to add layers and layers of complexity to +your software in order to provide a *dumb proof* interface, instead of +educating your userbase, or letting the educated ones to customize their stuff. +Don't get me wrong, it makes perfect sense, and Protonmail's mission is to +provide default encryption to the largest proportion of email users possible so +the decision fits their mission[^good]. + +The default encryption and the "easy" PGP key setup Protonmail offers is really +cool for users that don't require more level of customization. I still like the +goals of the company but I could've used a simpler way to customize my +experience: maybe a simpler bridge? Maybe something else.. I don't know. + +In the end, they pushed me away from their service. + +So long, Protonmail. It's been a good time together. + +[^good]: Regardless of anything I said here, they are making many people + encrypt their email, one way or another, and I'll continue to do so. That + is valuable. -- cgit v1.2.3