The best Open Source alternatives to Skype, Teams, Zoom

Since Skype was acquired by Microsoft in October 2011, video chat services have increasingly evolved, and especially during the pandemic they have been used countless times to meet the needs of companies, workers, but also schools with distance learning and unfortunately by non-professional studies of condominium administrators who use companies like Zoom, also making the condominiums pay for the license for use.

However, using proprietary tools has a huge price in terms of privacy and data collection, in addition to the face of workers in endless work calls, school sessions with the use of non-open source but proprietary tools, have put and put millions of students (including minors) at risk, think for example of Google Classroom used imprudently and massively by school principals only because the indications of the Ministry of Education suggested it as a suitable tool for distance learning, regardless of the rights of students, teachers but also of those who were filmed at home by the camera of tablets, smartphones and PCs.

As in every field, however, there are safer and more privacy-respectful alternatives . Below is a list of applications that we can use in the workplace, school and private spheres.

Jitsu Meet

The first service I would like to talk about is Jitsi Meet , an application that can be used either via the web by creating a virtual meeting and sending it via email or other means, or it is possible to install the application directly on your mobile phone and/or PC and manage it locally by creating meetings and then synchronizing them with your calendar.

Jitsi features include:

• End-to-end encryption
• Possibility to configure access passwords for calls
• Editing documents using Etherpad
• Desktop Sharing
• Ability to change the background

Using jitsi is really very simple and intuitive and is an excellent substitute for more famous software in addition to the fact that it does not collect data on users.

Jami

Another app of Canadian origins is Jami compatible with Windows, Linux, Apple iOS, Android and Android TV. This software was also developed by the open source community and has no restrictions, respects privacy, is anonymous and autonomous as it does not use third-party servers to connect the nodes (unlike jitsi, it must be said). To use it, however, you need to install the application that we have seen is compatible with all the major devices on the market.

Among the interesting features that you can also read in the image above:

• Instant Messaging
• Group Chat
• Audio and video calls
• Audio and video recording
• Desktop Sharing
• Operation with Sip protocol
• Uses End To End x.509 encryption

Again, its functions replace what other private software like Zoom or Skype or Teams do.

Kmeet

Yes I know Kmeet is a service managed by Infomaniak which is a company that provides services in the Swiss Cloud, however both the source code and the app are free/open source and as with Jitsi meet the traffic passes through their servers so even if we encrypt the calls and enter the access password we cannot be completely sure about the privacy of our communications.

However, it is good to remember that Google does not encrypt anything like Microsoft or Zoom and we give our data in exchange for free use of the apps. (As always, if someone gives you something for free, it means that the good one is you)

Kmeet features include:

• Encryption on Infomaniak servers
• Password protection
• Screen and file sharing
• Video calls and chats
• Ability to draw on the screen (Google Classroom style)

Infomaniak is a cloud provider that provides some free Google-style services but encrypted

MiroTalk

An application developed by Miroslav Pejic that can also be self-hosted has no limit on the number of conferences and no time limits. It is a p2p service with low video latency and can also be used via a web interface.

Among the features of this service we find:

• Screen Sharing
• Meeting Recording
• Chat Room
• File Sharing
• Interactive Whiteboard
• ChatGpt (for those who want to risk using it)
• End-to-End Encryption

This latest app is also Privacy Focused and perfectly replaces the other commercial ones.

In Conclusion

Each app described is Free/Open Source and allows you to make video conferences and work in groups but without giving up privacy, especially for apps like Jami and MiroTalk that do not save data or use third-party servers I do not understand why they have never been taken into consideration by both companies and institutions given the nature of the data processed.

As usual, the short-sightedness, ignorance and feeding of certain subjects who should protect private and public interests leads to the drainage of data and money towards companies that profit and become increasingly powerful and unchallenged, becoming a threat to citizens who in a bovine way I would say, use them trusting and not asking themselves any questions about their safety.