Re: Vendor neutral, platform neutral, where do we go?
Signal is possibly the best option?
https://signal.org/
The real difficulty, however, is in encouraging other people to switch from Skype or WhatsApp to any other service.
The Signal developers include someone with a good track record in security (Moxie Marlinspike), the EFF regards it as the most trustworthy and with well thought through security technology, and it now also has the financial backing of one of the original WhatsApp developers who really didn't like what Facebook was planning to do with WhatsApp after it acquired it.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2018/09/26/exclusive-whatsapp-cofounder-brian-acton-gives-the-inside-story-on-deletefacebook-and-why-he-left-850-million-behind/
Downsides: Signal requires your phone number as your user id, and the desktop program is yet another Electron app.
Threema seems also to be worth a look, but, unfortunately it uses incomprehensible Compuserve-style ids as user ids, which is perhaps even less user-friendly as an id than a phone number.
https://threema.ch/
Biting the hand that feeds IT
