Also, Matrix enables end-to-end encryption by default on clients that support it.
It's one thing not to trust Signal. It's another to recommend alternatives that are far worse.
People have other lives, most often online discussions go way past their due date (I actually like the fact that HN doesn't give you a notification when somebody replies to your comment).
It was a good discussion though, the placebo effect is fascinating.
Let's compare it to F-Droid: He isn't saying that Signal should be distributed via F-Droid by default, just that there should be the option. So the article doesn't seem to say that the defaults are what matter.
If you get the time, please give it a proper whirl. With the recent open-sourcing of their server and proper E2EE by default[2] (but abstracted away from the "regular user"), it's shaping up to be a really solid application. As far as I'm aware they use the same double-ratchet protocol as Signal, but you don't need your cellphone number to register (a big thing for some people - myself included).
1. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16655743
2. https://wire-docs.wire.com/download/Wire+Security+Whitepaper...