Lavabit Upgrade ?

B4its2L8 · 17 Mar 2012, 03:30 AM

I was out "window shopping" at some email providers and happened upon Lavabit (which I haven't used in years and no longer have an account). I noticed the news blurb at the right regarding an upcoming major upgrade.

I don't suppose any Lavabit users here know anything more about it than what it says there... Perhaps someone contacted the owner directly for further information....

petergh · 17 Mar 2012, 03:56 AM

I sent them a message just now. I'll share what I learn (if anything) here.

kijinbear · 17 Mar 2012, 05:59 AM

They've been promising upgrades for YEARS now...

At least their contact form is back.

inbx · 17 Mar 2012, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B4its2L8

I was out "window shopping" at some email providers and happened upon Lavabit (which I haven't used in years and no longer have an account). I noticed the news blurb at the right regarding an upcoming major upgrade.

I don't suppose any Lavabit users here know anything more about it than what it says there... Perhaps someone contacted the owner directly for further information....

I'm not sure if I would count on anything happening.
This statement about their Webmail from Feb 2008 still hasn't happened.

Quote:

Remember, this system is just a temporary solution while we continue to work on our own system. Our custom system, when it launches, will be faster and more robust, as it will access the backend data directly. We just wanted to offer our user's web access until then, since they've been asking for it.

http://www.emaildiscussions.com/show...88&postcount=5

Tsunami · 17 Mar 2012, 08:50 AM

Used them for a short while. That was in the days when I signed up for lots of services to toy around (which I no longer do because you lose a proper overall view when you're not being selective in which services to try). I found the interface a bit unhandy but it was solid. For a while... After a while it became less reliable and I decided to abandon it. I read on EMD a lot of comments that indicate it's not the most stable service overall and hasn't improved a lot.

They may be up to a drastic improvement now, but I'd say there's probably more reliable providers out there (unless a massive influx of positive comments come in testifying that things really changed for the better this time)

David · 17 Mar 2012, 09:12 AM

Lavabit was one of my favourites for a year or two (a few years ago now) I only stopped using them because of their lack of support, and the bad vibes I was getting, from posts here about them.

It is one of the few accounts that I miss, and I will gladly reconsider, if updates do happen, and if support improves, in a timely fashion.

B4its2L8 · 17 Mar 2012, 08:10 PM

Thanks for all the feedback !

I, too, had an account with them a while ago. They were my first non-ISP-based email service way back when they were only Nerdshack/Mailshack. I closed the account when I, too, was getting "bad vibes." But having seen the January announcement of major upgrades, I was hoping the vibes were changing for the better. I guess I'll wait it out and see (without holding my breath, of course

).

drew · 19 Mar 2012, 06:00 AM

I am a pessimist. Can it not be his way if getting sponsor money.
Is that not what the text imply on the site? I read it that way.

I do trust his good intent to give a good service but he most likely
made a mistake of judgment not realizing how popular it would get
and that servers and bandwidth and all the personal time one need
to put in such a service.

It got overwhelming so the only way out would be to ask
that some rich people sponsor his service. I am a pessimist.
Such will not surface any time soon. Very few are that altruistic

B4its2L8 · 21 Mar 2012, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by petergh

I sent them a message just now. I'll share what I learn (if anything) here.

Hmm... 5 days and no response from Lavabit to petergh's question ? Not very reassuring.

petergh · 26 Mar 2012, 04:19 AM

Received a response from Lavabit this afternoon:

Quote:

Sorry for the long delay in replying to you.

The upgrade will touch just about every aspect of our service: new
re-writes of the various daemons, better scalability, etc.

Is there a specific topic you were curious about?

B4its2L8 · 26 Mar 2012, 04:48 AM

Thanks for relaying that information, petergh ! (FWIW, I have nothing specific that I want to ask them in reply to their question. Maybe someone else does.)

Berenburger · 26 Mar 2012, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B4its2L8

Thanks for relaying that information, petergh ! (FWIW, I have nothing specific that I want to ask them in reply to their question. Maybe someone else does.)

Timetable?

kijinbear · 26 Mar 2012, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Berenburger

Timetable?

Not even "large" companies like FM can provide definite timetables for major overhauls. So I wouldn't hold it against Lavabit if they're unable to provide a timetable. Last time I checked, Lavabit seemed to be side project run by a couple of IT consultants who have better paying jobs to do. If they get a big contract, Lavabit will be put on the back burner in an instant. Then it's another couple of years before they can get back to their ambitious "new re-writes of the various daemons".

That service has such a great potential, and yet nobody seems able to commit to it full-time even for a few weeks. Forget about reinventing mail servers, just a working webmail with an address book would go a long way toward making Lavabit usable for many of us.

petergh · 26 Mar 2012, 04:10 PM

Received the following from Lavabit today:

Quote:

I'll talk with the administrator, Ladar, to see what details he'd be
able to provide.

While Lavabit is financially stable and profitable, our resources are
finite (we're a pretty small organization all around). Getting the
upgrade out faster would require hiring more developers and would cut
into our operations budget (and that's unacceptable to both us and our
users).

We'd rather take our time and do it right rather than rush and get
something wrong.

drew · 26 Mar 2012, 04:25 PM

Quote:

While Lavabit is financially stable and profitable

That sounds at least promising. So sitting still in the boat
and planning ahead to not go shipwreck they may end up
on the shore of Utopia of good email service. Takes time

I felt worried them so finance in bad shape they would lost it?
But this is reassuring they will not suddenly disappear then.

So should I use them with confidence then or should I wait?

17 Mar 2012, 03:30 AM	#1
B4its2L8 Master of the @ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Hiding under my bed Posts: 1,465	Lavabit Upgrade ? I was out "window shopping" at some email providers and happened upon Lavabit (which I haven't used in years and no longer have an account). I noticed the news blurb at the right regarding an upcoming major upgrade. I don't suppose any Lavabit users here know anything more about it than what it says there... Perhaps someone contacted the owner directly for further information....

17 Mar 2012, 03:56 AM	#2
petergh Master of the @ Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 1,302	I sent them a message just now. I'll share what I learn (if anything) here.

17 Mar 2012, 05:59 AM	#3
kijinbear Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: ~$ Posts: 652	They've been promising upgrades for YEARS now... At least their contact form is back.

17 Mar 2012, 08:50 AM	#5
Tsunami The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown Posts: 2,341	Used them for a short while. That was in the days when I signed up for lots of services to toy around (which I no longer do because you lose a proper overall view when you're not being selective in which services to try). I found the interface a bit unhandy but it was solid. For a while... After a while it became less reliable and I decided to abandon it. I read on EMD a lot of comments that indicate it's not the most stable service overall and hasn't improved a lot. They may be up to a drastic improvement now, but I'd say there's probably more reliable providers out there (unless a massive influx of positive comments come in testifying that things really changed for the better this time)

17 Mar 2012, 09:12 AM	#6
David Ultimate Contributor Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Canada. Posts: 10,355	Lavabit was one of my favourites for a year or two (a few years ago now) I only stopped using them because of their lack of support, and the bad vibes I was getting, from posts here about them. It is one of the few accounts that I miss, and I will gladly reconsider, if updates do happen, and if support improves, in a timely fashion.

17 Mar 2012, 08:10 PM	#7
B4its2L8 Master of the @ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Hiding under my bed Posts: 1,465	Thanks for all the feedback ! I, too, had an account with them a while ago. They were my first non-ISP-based email service way back when they were only Nerdshack/Mailshack. I closed the account when I, too, was getting "bad vibes." But having seen the January announcement of major upgrades, I was hoping the vibes were changing for the better. I guess I'll wait it out and see (without holding my breath, of course ).

19 Mar 2012, 06:00 AM	#8
drew The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 2,626	I am a pessimist. Can it not be his way if getting sponsor money. Is that not what the text imply on the site? I read it that way. I do trust his good intent to give a good service but he most likely made a mistake of judgment not realizing how popular it would get and that servers and bandwidth and all the personal time one need to put in such a service. It got overwhelming so the only way out would be to ask that some rich people sponsor his service. I am a pessimist. Such will not surface any time soon. Very few are that altruistic

26 Mar 2012, 04:48 AM	#11
B4its2L8 Master of the @ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Hiding under my bed Posts: 1,465	Thanks for relaying that information, petergh ! (FWIW, I have nothing specific that I want to ask them in reply to their question. Maybe someone else does.)