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Comment by layer8 | Hacker News Reader

Sending an email will connect to Apple’s SMTP server and make use of Apple’s resources that way. (I happen to run my own mail server that does exactly that.) Yes, receiving iMessage messages presumably works differently from receiving email, in that it’s probably pull rather than push, but that doesn’t change the basic argument.

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It’s not just that: for email providers, they’re responsible for storing messages that their customer has received. Your server you pay to maintain holds your messages.

On iMessage, all messages are stored on Apple’s servers (at least in-transit), even those that would be destined between two Android users communicating via iMessage.

At least with email it’s a bit easier to filter out spam, but iMessage is also E2E encrypted so automatic spam detection is much harder.

The fundamental difference is that iCloud email is based on a 41 year old plain-text open protocol which was designed to be federated and lacks any real security or E2EE built-in.

It seems that you agree that resource usage isn’t the issue. Which was the point of the analogy.

Agree, but it is a closed service. Hacking for shit-n-giggles is fine. Doing it for security research and bug bounties is also fine. Offering another service (and planning to charge, no less!) that uses that closed service without concent isn't, irresepective of motive or ethics. Ethically, whether you advocate FOSS or not, it is wrong. I'm no Stallman fan, but I admire his ethics here; if it's closed, he won't entertain using a service.

But why do you run your own mail server if you can just use Apple's?

Same reason I don't use Gmail: I don't want all of my emails on a big tech company's servers. I pay for Fastmail.

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