Another idea has occurred to me: as SMS traffic is never blocked, you could build a server application that dispenses random DHT bootstrap addresses via SMS. Then Jami could use the internal SMS API of the mobile OS to import a DHT peer list automatically if the normal method fails.
Above all else we must have secure texting that works reliably in every country and does not require telephone numbers for registration. We can always leverage what is permissible, popular or indispensible. But everything must be easy, automatic, and user-friendly or we will never convince a majority of the population to use that instead of WeChat / WhatsApp / Telegram / Signal, et cetera.
The concept of manual DHT node list importing is ultimately fatalistic because the general public will never bother with this. Jami should address the network performance & file distribution problems first, otherwise people will not even want to use it. When you reach the point where manual intervention by the user becomes necessary, it represents an engineering & logistical failure. We can do better than that:
WeChat is useless outside of china because it does not accept western phone numbers for account registration (and often blocks foreign accounts after some time has passed.) And WhatsApp / Telegram / Signal traffic is blocked. Thus commerce and family relations are obstructed. The P2P messaging app which overcomes these obstructions has the greatest chance of succeeding in the global marketplace.
We must also adopt standard protocols for decentralized information infrastructure, or the technology will not become popular and the global DHT will not grow. The first step in that process is to identify which protocols are most efficient, robust and resilient – so test reports from other applications and users on adversarial networks should be welcomed here. Jami could also support multiple transport protocols as modular plug-ins… (in fact it may have to do so in order to remain relevant and useful when confronted by transport interference on one side and superior P2P protocols on the other.)
Messaging apps that use the ‘HolePunch’ protocol can update the app automatically through the P2P network, (which solves the Jami file distribution problem.)
" Holepunch is a fully encrypted protocol that is designed to unlock global communications, empower freedom of speech and combat censorship around the world. "