Not necessary to go to that much trouble. Most web hosts can organise a Jitsi instance. The server isn’t on the customer’s premises, but they maintain control. For example, Jitsi is offered as an option here:
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Open source options:
and a video of the experience (going the rounds in Canberra, I’m told):
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I think the only major thing they missed was kids screaming in the background.
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Another reason to be careful when using Zoom.
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We live in an age where there are disproportionate responses to minor infractions. Jon Ronson wrote a book about this in 2015, and I suggest this is another example. Yes, the lecturer (or was he a tutor - the story seems confused?) should have received a stern lecture about appropriate behaviours and the importance of being and being seen to be above reproach. No, he should not have been dismissed.
The university’s student newspaper clarifies his (former) position with the University; he was a lecturer, not a professor. It also makes clear that many students thought the university over-reacted. (It is not entirely clear to me from the university’s pronouncements whether the professor was dismissed, or ‘reassigned’.)
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The one question which hasn’t been raised, does one really need video when conferencing?
In my last job we would do conferencing at least once a week with internal and external stakeholders. This was done with voice only and it worked very well. We used local conferencing platform, but often external parties/contractors used the Telstra dial in conference call system when they organised the meeting.
Internal meetings with remote sites and offices could he done using video, but it didn’t really add much to the meeting…with possibly the only exception was during training where training documents/pictures/videos could be displayed at each meeting location for viewing. When the video platform didn’t work due to technical reasons, documents or their links were emailed and viewed independently.
I did prefer voice as I didn’t really need to see what one looked like or was wearing on a particular day.
Video is a wish rather than a need, and many of the problems with security appear to relate to video issues. What is wrong with just voice conferencing…as it not only works well, but it uses less data and bandwidth.
Food for thought.
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That’s one way to fix your security problems …
Zoom buys Keybase — its first acquisition — as part of 90-day plan to fix security flaws
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/07/zoom-buys-keybase-in-first-deal-as-part-of-plan-to-fix-security.html
I have just been looking at Duo for my travel computer and Android phone. It is encrypted and free. Is anyone using it?
No…we use Line, but it is one of a minority which have end to end encryption which if it is as reported, a big positive. Many other apps have encryption from end to server, which means the data is not overly secure and couod be monitored.
One of the disadvantages is that it currently doesn’t have messaging…which means one needs to install another app if one also wants this function.
While it has more limited functionality than others, it does have a ‘neat’ feature called knock knock where one can see who the caller is briefly on video before answering (a bit like a door peep hole before opening a door). While this may be neat, but like other som other apps, only callers invited to be friends/contacts within the app can call you, so this feature may be more of a novelty rather than essential.
Another downside with Duo is you can only call those with Duo installed and in your contacts list. Some alternative apps allow cheap or free voice calls to mobile and landlines within the same app. This feature is especially useful when travelling as one can make mobile/landline calls anywhere in the world very cheaply through wifi…rather than using expensive international roaming or buying a local SIM.
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… or ensure potential security fixes ‘have your oversight’ …
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Skype has added an encrpted option.
“Skype private conversations uses the industry standard Signal Protocol, allowing you to have end-to-end encrypted Skype audio calls, send text messages, image, audio, and video files. The content of these conversations is hidden in the chat list notifications to keep the information you share private. Private conversations are only available in the latest version of Skype for Windows, Mac, Linux, Web, Windows 10 (version 14), iOS and Android (6.0+).”
It has to be selected and an invitation sent to activate.
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It is worth noting that it does not encrypt calls to landline or mobiles (PSTN) through Skype’s call out services. In the case of group calls involving two users on Skype-to-Skype and one user on PSTN, then the PSTN part is not encrypted, but the Skype-to-Skype portion is.
Voice messages are encrypted when they’re delivered to you. However, after you have listened to a voice message, it is transferred from Skype servers to your local machine, where it is stored as an unencrypted file.
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I’ve been meeting regularly with a group of friends through Zoom.
I’m not registered but the leader emails an invitation and the meeting ID to me.
A few days ago a password was also required for the first time.
They might be getting more security conscious 
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Reports they are madly trying to catch up with some of the other platforms which have better security. One must hope that ‘soon’ they will be better than that in the past and the fixes fix the issues which have existed.
Rushing to fix may mean that it open other avenues for exploitation…as one door shuts but another opens without thorough beta testing.
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If anyone is using Zoom and hasn’t updated as of today on Win 7 or older versions of Windows they should be very careful. There is currently a security flaw that could allow a remote user to take control of the computer. Zoom’s team have released a patch to address the issue and as Win 7 is no longer supported by MS they, Microsoft, won’t be offering any help. About 1 in 5 Windows users are still on the no longer supported Win 7 OS system. You if a Win 7 or older version of Windows user of Zoom need to be on Version 5.1.3 to avoid the issue.
The patch from Zoom is a manual download and it can be found here https://zoom.us/support/download
From the 0patch Team that advised Zoom of the issue:
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That is pretty impressive. Having bugs is a given; time to fix makes the difference between trustworthy and ‘spend your money elsewhere’.
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I noticed a new icon on the toolbar of our PC and laptop after the latest Windows 10 updates.
It is Meet Now and is a link to Skype and it may be useful for some persoms.
https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA34926/what-is-meet-now-and-how-do-i-use-it-in-skype
Sounds unlawful to me. 
If you don’t like it: https://www.howtogeek.com/704215/how-to-hide-or-disable-meet-now-in-windows-10/
If you do like it: https://www.howtogeek.com/704271/what-is-meet-now-on-windows-10-and-how-do-you-use-it/
Given that Apple has opened up FaceTime to allow non-apple users to conference with Apple users, could we have a revised score in the recent review?
