FAQ
Contents
The basics
Where can I find the white paper for BitMessage?
The pdf can be found Here
Installation and configuration
How do I install BitMessage?
A great write up for setting up and using BitMessage can be found Here. Currently BitMessage is Windows only. Other platform support is still under development.
Why is My Connection Indicator Yellow?
BitMessage will work normally with a yellow indicator. If your indicator is yellow, you can have up to 8 connections and you are not acting as a relay node for the network. To make your indicator green and act as a relaying node for the BitMessage network, please forward TCP port 8444 (default).
You can click on the indicator for more information about each color.
How do I setup BitMessage to work with Tor?
To get bitMessage to use Tor as a proxy follow these steps. If you are using Tor Browser Bundle please skip to the next section.
- Navigate to Settings > Network Settings and select SOCKS5 from the Type: drop down under the Proxy server / Tor section.
- Next to 'Server hostname:' enter 'localhost' and next to 'Port:' enter '9050'.
- Select ok.
- Restart BitMessage.
If you are using Tor Browser Bundle, follow the steps above but use port '9150' instead.
Usage
How many connections should I have?
As long as you have at least one connection, you can communicate with the network. If your connection indicator is yellow, you can have a maximum of 8 connections.
How does BitMessage work?
Protocols
For more information about the innards of BitMessage, visit the Protocol Specification page Here.
Proof of Work
The Proof of Work page can be found Here.
How does BitMessage compare?
Here is a table comparing BitMessage to other common messaging services.
Trustless | P2P | Open Source | Requires Proof of Work | Hide Sender? | Hide Receiver? | Mobile Version | Application or Web Based | Text Only Messages | Attachments | Acknowledge delivery | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bitmessage | Yes | Yes | MIT | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Application | Small only | Yes | |
Standard Email | No | Depends | No | No | No | Yes | Both | No | Yes | No | |
Email + GPG | Yes | No | Depends | No | No | No | Yes | Application | Yes | No | No |
OTR | Yes | No | GPL V2.1 | No | No | No | Yes | Application | Yes | No | |
TorChat | Yes | Yes | GPL | No | Yes | Yes | No | Application | Yes | Yes | |
Skype | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Application | No | Yes | |
Scayl | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Alpha | Application | No | Very Large | |
I2P Bote | Yes | Yes | GPL V3 | No | Yes | No | No | Application | Yes | Yes | Yes |
CryptoCat | No | No | GPL | No | No | No | Yes | Both | Yes | No | |
IRC | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Both | Yes | No | ||
SMS | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Application | No | Yes | No | |
RetroShare | |||||||||||
Freenet + Frost | Yes | Yes | GPL | No | Yes | Yes | No | Application | Yes | Yes | |
Freenet + FMS | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Application | Yes | No | ||
Freenet + Freemail 0.2 | No | Yes | GPL | No | No | No | No | Application | No | Yes | No |
Freenet + FLIP | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Application | Yes | No |