Jami - An Open Source, Peer-to-Peer, Audio, Video, Conferencing, Chat, and Screen Sharing System.

Jami caught my attention as I was looking for a tool that I could use to call someone and get a push notification sent to them that a call is coming in (like Facetime, Teams, Slack, etc). Jitsi Meet doesn't really do that. The only other thing I've found that's open source, that does this so far is Nextcloud talk, but then you have to run Nextcloud to get it to work. So this seems like a nice middle-ground tool where no server is required.
=== Links ===
(No Show Notes on This one).
Jami Homepage
jami.net
Jami Downloads
jami.net/download/
Support my Channel and ongoing efforts through Patreon:
www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=23...
=== Timestamps ===
00:00 Beginning
00:09 Introduction to Jami
03:26 Thank you to my patrons over at Patreon
04:05 Supporting Jami / Open Source
07:22 Downloading Jami
08:20 Installing Jami on Ubuntu / Debian based Linux
09:55 Running Jami for the First Time
11:15 Backing Up Your Jami Account
11:52 The Jami Interface and Settings
16:30 Calling / Video with Jami
18:20 Chat in Jami
18:42 Is Jami the Answer?
19:40 Donating in Video to Jami
=== Contact ===
Twitter: @mickintx
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Support my Channel and ongoing efforts through Patreon:
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What does the money go to?
To Pay for Digital Ocean droplets, donations to open source projects I feature, any hardware I may need to purchase for future episodes (which I will then give to a subscriber in a drawing or contest).
=== Attributions ===
Intro and Outro music provided by www.bensound.com

[@JeanLucGARNIER]

"If you run a tool on a regular basis, you might have to pay [...]" is a great reminder that all the tools you display in your videos and we love on our desktops or servers are meticulously crafted by passionate developers who also need to eat, drink and entertain! 😉 I personnaly have paid for ALL the "free" tools I'm using on a daily basis (including some Linux distros). That's a few bucks for us and a payroll for them! One again thanks for the great quality of your videos! 👏

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

My pleasure, and 100% agree. If we don't support the open source community, it will eventually cease to exist.

[@jandrews377]

That’s a really great attitude. Inspired me to audit the open source software I depend on and make a contribution 👍

[@ShadVonHass]

I definitely was going to comment this if someone else hadn't. Just a soft push every now and then could snowball into supporting

[@y.vinitsky6452]

What developers have to eat? I thought we all live off of coffee 🤔

[@AndyJHiscock]

Great video. I've been using Jami for a while. It has really come along in performance and reliability over the past year and is now a very usable messaging system.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Great to hear it's working so well for you. I think it's a really nice product.

[@ino9138]

this channel is so good, god damn. I will support as soon as I have more money

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I truly appreciate it, and am so glad you enjoy the content.

[@rguifa]

Great video as always. It's good to be back watching your videos after my heart attack.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I'm extremely glad you are back as well. Sorry to hear about your heart problems, and hope they are getting solved.

[@JRis44]

Thanks for this buddy. Needed an app like this. So helpful when people have review videos.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@raunak51299]

Wow! I gave it a try and it turned out to be awesome.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Great to hear!

[@briianhebert]

Thanks for the video! I have been using Jitsi and like it a lot but I think Jami might be fun to try.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@sagarsriva]

great video also you are a gentleman!

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I appreciate that!

[@user-op6dj4rx9y]

Awesome , thanks

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

You bet!

[@guid0glaser206]

Very, very cool 😎 i will check it out with a connection from Germany to Thailand 🤔🤔

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Awesome! Let me know how it goes.

[@thiemokellner1893]

Thanks for your video and expanding on donating. I try to teach my children that there is nothing that is free. If I do not pay its full price for it with money, someone else pays for the remainder somehow. It might be with their (spare) time, be it with lower salary, be it nature with more destruction to it aka we all in the end.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Indeed, if you want something to stick around, you have to support it.

[@jimmienichols4895]

Great video thank you. I'm impressed with Jami too. I was looking for a secure text / video chat for cell and desktop. Jitsi is another good one. I set up my own server so I know it's secure but everyone is stuck on FB or normal texting via phone. I keep warning people to set up secure channels now because it will soon be too late...

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Indeed. It's hard to explain to folks why it's so important. Glad you like this one, it's a really great project!

[@kushaagraprashar6015]

hey does jami need internet to work

[@AcidiFy574]

Pine64 will be making RISC-V based hardwares now, HELL YEEEEEAAH

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Nice!

[@vvk.r]

I discovered Jami recently and one thing I"m struggling to understand or find out is, where is my data stored in my android device? Since it's P2P, the data must be within my device and I can't find a folder named "Jami" or something that has my sent/downloaded files, pics, etc. Can someone please help me out with this? Thanks!

[@quadcom]

If it validates your username availability it has to be contacting a server of some kind. So this is still somewhat dependant on an external service to operate.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I believe they use a Turn server in order to route the traffic initially, but it's a P2P after that.

[@barkingbandicoot]

Kool! I am going to have to check this out again, but if notifications are flaky then it will be a no-go as I am looking for something to replace Signal for the family. It's a pity Banji, the KDE client did not take off. It would be good to have a native app for Kubuntu.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Maybe I'll come across something good in a future video if this doesn't work out for you.

[@ericlotze7724]

A Group I Work With (OSE) Is Looking for a “Discord Killer” (or “Slack” killer for that matter too). How does this compare to options like Matrix (i think that was the name, i can check)?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

This creates a peer to peer connection for any type of calls, chat, video call, conference, etc. So it is really a different way of working. There is no centralized server or group of servers to run. Each person just installs the app and adds the others as contacts.

[@azeram6335]

Try "Revolt", its a project that copy the Discord interface and work well, still in early but sound that have a big future.

[@gg-gn3re]

this doesn't compete at all with matrix, which is federated full communications protocol, nothing competes with it. I started putting my matrix ID and email on my business cards, a person actually msged me with that a year ago so companies are starting to use it. Matrix's spec is for full decentralization eventually. So all clients will also be servers with dendrite and when that is done.

[@mhavock]

Good video! It seems like jitsi or nextcloud's talk. What do you think of those? I like that you donated also.😀

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I appreciate it, and I use Jitsi with my Linux Users Group, and it's amazingly good. I've used NextCloud Talk, and it was good, but something like Jami allows you to have those features without having to run NextCloud if you only want video / audio / chat.

[@learngain2659]

Hi, there, can people take screenshots of messages from it?

[@siwiecministro1994]

I have a problem with TURN server stuff. How does it work? If one could just open a port on one's router by connecting to TURN server and then somebody else (than TURN server) could connect back on this port - wouldn't it be a security risk? And if so it would probably be disabled by the router by default. Also I was kind of disappointed with speeds and reliability of sending files, which kind of precludes it being true P2P. P2P shouldn't care if it is 1 MB or 1 GB of transfer. Or am I missing something?

[@RyanPrather33]

Curious if there are higher bandwidth requirements than say Zoom or Teams because of the p2p nature?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

If you do a group that's larger than 8 or so people, the bandwidth does have an effect when it's p2p. I'd say below that, no difference, and potentially better.

[@theurs2]

did you try to install linux on nfs server and boot computers via network with shared nfs root partition? it is awesome :) no need to administrate every single pc, you install or setup something on any pc and its affect all others too

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Haven't tried that, but sounds interesting.

[@dtardis]

I need to do some research. How does this not need a server of some kind? Or did I miss hear something? How does it deal with NATed networks?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I believe they run a turn server somewhere to make the initial connection, then it's p2p from that point on.

[@gmailmann]

I guess without an relay server it will not work between seperated networks or from outside of the home network(Internet)?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

They use TURN servers to initially connect you, then it's Peer to Peer.

[@DavidHerron]

This looks very interesting. I'm curious if the "account" is created on Jami's server? UPDATE: The FAQ says the account is solely on the device where it was created. Which makes me more intrigued, but also confused as to how others will know how to connect with you.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

If you look, you'll see a long random looking ID that is also created, and I believe that is your "real" Jami ID. They use that unique number, and TURN servers to connect you initially, then do P2P as I understand it. Love that you're looking into it, and asking questions.

[@Darkk6969]

@@AwesomeOpenSource Makes sense. They probably use a broker server to keep track the IDs along with their known public IPs so they can connect to each other. I would imagine those IDs are only kept if they're active.

[@markw.8455]

Do friends or co-workers need to download and configure Jami?

[@chrisarmstrong2721]

Great video, would you be open to doing an update on this please

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Let me see what I can do.

[@cut-a-lyst]

Its not working for me on two android devices Tried sending contact request from both the accounts, able to see the other user online but no new entry in requests section for either side.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Sorry you're having a hard time. Definitely report it at their github page. I don't use Android, so no idea why it might not be working.

[@pepperalcordo]

same here!

[@cut-a-lyst]

@@AwesomeOpenSource Thanks but its not your fault. It eventually worked of its own but then all messages were not delivered, some simply vanished. So, atleast its not practically usable for android.

[@_zaaphiel]

Does this require an Internet connection to work? Could you make calls without an Internet connection?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Yes, you need an internet connecton still.

[@markw.8455]

Do friends need to download and configure Jami? What's the highest resolution you can get with 1 image? Thanks.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Yes, friends all need the application. Not understanding the image question.

[@markw.8455]

@AwesomeOpenSource If you want just a presenter on screen for part of the time, what would be the largest resolution for their 1 image? Thank you.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Ohhhh. You mean the individual person's video? Or the screen they are sharing?

[@markw.8455]

@@AwesomeOpenSource Just the presenter on the screen.

[@encapsulatio]

Is there any open source webinar service out there?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Let me see what I can find. I presume you want something more like GoToWebinar with similar controls.

[@encapsulatio]

@@AwesomeOpenSource Yes, very much so. It would be amazing if something like that existed.

[@wrt54gs7]

Does this work offline (local network only)?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

No, it uses a Turn server to initiate the conversation, then goes Peer to peer.

[@nunosilva2128]

Is there any chat software like Jami that runs on Linux server but has windows clients? Asking for a friend :P (At first, I was all hyped up about this video, but then I realized that accounting is outside organization :( ) - anyways, kudos for all your videos and this youtube channel

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

There is no "server" for Jami... so no need for that part. Just install the client, and you can use it from any machine to any machine. If, however, you want something that will run on Linux and has a Windows client, RocketChat server runs on linux, LXC, docker, and there are electron clients you can install on desktop, as well as mobile clients for iOS and Android.

[@NitroNilz]

There are clients for Windows (and MacOS, Android (also for TV), iOS…

[@ancour]

Can we build same own brand as open source

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

If you fork the project, you can likely re-brand and rebuild it yourself, yes, but it's not built to be white-labeled that I'm aware of.

[@watchbro3319]

Can this be self hosted on docker

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Mmmmmm. Don't know. It's really just an installed application. I suppose it could be, but not sure how well it would work. There's really no server involved with it.

[@guusbaggen5569]

I also am curious how it compares with matrix

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

The difference is with Jami, you aren't signing up for a server. You just setup your account, and then people connect directly to you, not to a server that then has to be federated to other servers.

[@guusbaggen5569]

Thx. Cool!! Will look into it.

[@voltovful]

Its look like skype alternative, right?

[@userwest626]

decentralized

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Indeed, it's an alternative to Skype, Hangouts, etc. The difference is that Jami uses no centralized server, but instead creates a direct peer to peer connection between you and others.

[@AndreKochDre]

How is this different to Signal Messenger? I believe Signal also has a direct encrypted connection between devices. The only difference I see is Signal Messenger links your SIM (phone number) to your account (which resides on your device), whereas Jami identifies you by the username you select (which I believe is held in a database on a server somewhere). Correct me if I'm wrong.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I believe you are identified by a long hash in Jami actually, they added the username aspect a few years later to make it easier for people. The phone number thing is okay, but what happens when you change numbers (as many, many people do - a lot)? Beyond that, I'm not sure if Signal is the same, but I'll check into it.

[@AcidiFy574]

Check out Session which is a fork of Signal by the Oxen project (AKA Loki project)

[@NitroNilz]

Signal is strictly centralized.

[@gguestdub3518]

and server self hosted??

[@imoldovan]

It sounds like you don't need a server.

[@dmackle3849]

@@imoldovan I’m uncertain how that can be.

[@theurs2]

@@dmackle3849 its peer to peer. the only server is aimed to help create direct connections, ie TURN or STUN server. you can host it yourself

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

That's correct, you don't need a server. There is no server. It's a peer to peer connection.

[@MobiusSeckOne]

@@AwesomeOpenSource From what I saw, you can make a "RendezVous" point where you make the app as a server mode so peoples that have the RDVPoint as a contact can freely enter. So it's almost a server. But I don't know if you can make channels or stuff like that.

[@flyeralan]

Waaaitaminute.... If this is not using any central server or relay how the hell it knows that the username or accname is in use or not? Real p2p services uses keychains or pgp for authorisation(like retroshare, that also works on lan also) therefore no name index in those... so. how is this then? There is a central db or not?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

There is a turn server that just routes you to the right place, that then sets up the P2P I believe.

[@flyeralan]

@@AwesomeOpenSource Okay then turn... since this is opensource you can even use your own(like coturn on deb.) then :) That is what i wanted to know, thx.

[@netcip]

It is not working. Maybe in some years, but for now is just ...

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I had no issues getting it to run, not sure why you're having issues. Did you set it up on 2 devices, or it won't install on a single device, or what?

[@dmackle3849]

@@AwesomeOpenSource I’m confused on 2 technical points; - I don’t understand the account creation UUID constraint: I can see the problem with communicating where participants have name clashes but without a server how is this actually maintained? - And how is inbound connection initiated/ effecting call alerting? Won’t the receiver need to have open ports on their routers for some kind of NAT? How is Jami connecting the peers without an intermediary both clients can reach out to?

[@theurs2]

@@AwesomeOpenSource I don't receive invitations. linux, windows, android/ with and without european private vpn service

[@MobiusSeckOne]

@@dmackle3849 Their sourcecode is kinda weird to find, but it's blockchain base so you find other users with their UUID with that. Their server is called jami-namesaver and for what they said is based on the ETH blockchain. Technically, you could run it but that's only for the registration. They also have some "stuff" that work as a tracker like a distributed encrypted datastore with a main node that you can run. There is like a bunch of different APIs you have to run to make the whole thing work in a self-hosted environment and it look quite complex. But "TECHNICALLY", someone could make a bunch of Dockerfiles for each part of the system and package all of this in a nice Docker-Compose file. Again, it's what I understand from their repos and their wiki, it's definitely an impressive piece of software and the backend is quite complex for my understanding.

[@dmackle3849]

@@MobiusSeckOne thanks for that detailed reply. I can follow your initiative and look in to achieving a greater understanding of how they are overcoming those networking constraints.

[@zyroxiot9417]

and about jitsi meet ?

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

These do different things. Jitsi is a meeting software, and doesn't push a ring tone to your device if someone calls you. So a little different use case.

[@mesutdemirci7933]

edumeet insall video please..

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Let me check it out.

[@sigitasn]

Looking for Discord replacement, but this app not mature yet for that.

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

No, for Discourd replacements, I suggest RocketChat, Mattermost, or maybe Matrix server.

[@s0nt3k]

This guy clearly has no idea what he is talking about because Jami has been Jami sense I discovered it back in 2018

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Nope, 100% certain it started as Ring. Don't recall the year, but it was definitely called Ring. I'm pretty sure it had been called something else in between as well.

[@zayhalo3964]

I've patented this since 2020... with live captions, transcriptions, audio conferencing, and language translations

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

I know they've been around since at least 2016, so not sure your timing on the patent is valid, but I'm no lawyer. Best of luck to you however. Also, they may not have the same patent laws in their country vs. yours. Again, not a lawyer.

[@zayhalo3964]

They are infringing on my patent

[@AwesomeOpenSource]

Sounds like an issue to take up somewhere other than here.