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A bunch of friends and I have a video call (skype) all together every few months. This time I suggested to add some #libre flavour to the call. #wire seemed a good middle ground: good/simple interface (close enough to skype), E2E encryption, available on all major platforms.
Sadly we found out there is no support for group video calls with >4 people (not even the pro version). Not well advertised on the website imo.
Back on skype, until next call :(
Maybe you have suggestions for alternatives...
1) we are all in different countries so this is challenging (skype is doing OKish, but at least we can see/hear each other)
2) simplicity... not all of them are tech savvy (for example #jami might feel weird)
3) true #libre software would be a plus (seems like #wire is #opensource but not real #foss)
4) group video call encryption would also be a plus (afaik #riotim does not provide this)
@dyamon jitzi.org?
@ohyran I've heard of this before. Do you have any experience with that? (also seems like there is a riot bridge to jitsi)
@dyamon used a few times in work and it worked ok
@ohyran @dyamon Jitsi, like most #WebRTC stacks, leans heavily on the client-side computers. The #VideoBridge helps share the load of the streaming video to some degree, but it's not really practical on older computers, and I'm not sure how well it handles mobiles. If you've all got reasonably recent 64-bit hardware (I'd say less than 5 years old), it could work for you. I don't think it supports any encryption, but you could self-host to reduce your visibility compared to the hosted service.
@ohyran @dyamon
BTW I've been curating a list of #FreeCode software relevant to voice/ video #chat and conference calls, contributions welcome!
https://www.coactivate.org/projects/disintermedia/core-us
@strypey @ohyran i don't seem to be able to fully understand what #jitsi #videobridge is.
I still need to try #jitsimeet, but thanks for the tip on the hardware side 
(and on the website they say it's fully encrypted communication) There is also a #riot extension to use jitsi but I'm not sure what are the advantages to use that instead of plain riot.
Also I'll definitely give the list a look!
@dyamon
> i don't seem to be able to fully understand what #jitsi #videobridge is.
Here's how I understand it. A #WebRTC server performs the initial introductions between peers who want to chat, then gets out of the way and lets them chat peer-to-peer. But if it's a video chat, between 3 or more peers, that's a lot of video streams being sent by each peer to all the others. So #VideoBridge relays the video stream sent by each peer to all the other peers.
(Feel free to correct me on this!)
@strypey
This actually makes sense! Thanks for the explaination!
@dyamon de nada :)
@dyamon I just installed jami for a test spin; I guess I count as tech savy, but where do you see the problems others might have with it? Wasn't really complicated (android and gtk-client); skype felt more complicated back in the day I had to use it. But my perspective is surely limited, and if I have to teach it to freidns and familiy, I very much like to broaden my view.
@tomterl still, Jami is an interesting project and one of the few that present itself as a communication (and not collaboration) platform!
@dyamon thanks for your input! I'll have a trial period with a few people, see if it's usable day to day
@tomterl let me know how it goes :)
@dyamon hello Federico, this post appears on my timeline in this April 2020 (when latest Ubuntu 20.04 almost coming out). What is your final choice of this question?