Free, secure universal communication software
Ringing In Change

© Lead Image © scanrail, 123RF.com
In the last few years, secure text, voice, and video transmission have become major areas of free software development. One of the leaders in this field is Ring.
Ring [1] is a GNU communication project started by Savoir-faire Linux [2]. Based in Montreal, Savoir-faire Linux was founded in the late 1990s, when the possibilities of free software were first being widely recognized. "Our bet was that open source software would become a key player of the world's digital economy and that organizations that wouldn't be open source experts would need partners like us," says the Ring team. The bet paid off, and today Savoir-faire employs a multidiscipline team of 150 employees, working with "tools ranging from Red Hat to the Azure cloud" and designing products on every level, from kernel hacking to application and mobile development. In addition to Ring, the company contributes to a wide range of projects, including the Linux kernel, FFmpeg, Debian, Buildroot, and Eclipse.
What makes Ring stand out as a telephony solution is its attention to cutting edge security techniques. Ring as a whole depends on OpenDHT [3], a library developed by Savoir-faire that is similar to the distributed hash table (DHT) used by BitTorrent to find peers sharing a file on a network. Each installation of Ring runs its own DHT node, so users connect peer to peer and control their own accounts and identities; damage to systems from denial of service attacks and natural disaster is therefore contained rather than affecting the entire network.
Ring identifies users via their RSA public key, with control of an account defined by control over a particular private key. Different devices connected to the same account are associated with an x509 certificate chain [4], with each device assigned a new key and certificate pair signed using the main Ring account's private key. The certificate chain is verified each time a device is used to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.