> "vim vs emacs" is a holy war; the fact that Signal is more secure than Telegram is not, when there is a consensus among experts about the question. IMHO, calling it such is misleading.
A holy war is determined by its propensity to raise "debates of attrition" in which both sides are so unyielding they may as well be (and sometimes are) ideological. Whether or not one side has a legitimate claim to superiority over the other is entirely orthogonal; such a debate is "holy" in nature because even if that superiority existed and was demonstrated, it would not be accepted. You cannot use reasoned expertise to decompose ideological adherence.
With respect to your other point:
> The problem is precisely that this article does not mention Telegram even though it is in direct competition with Signal. If I didn't know better, I would assume from the article (and the paper) that Telegram is not subject to this vulnerability, and is probably "still" secure (if I thought it was before). Moxie addresses the issue, so this is not whataboutism; he just hints at what the article should have mentioned, that experts have been recommending Signal (and, after it, WhatsApp) over Telegram for ages, and that even though this recommendation could now take a hit, it probably won't budge with a vulnerability that small.
I would have accepted this explanation, which is far more nuanced in presentation than the one we're discussing. You added all the context that would have safely negotiated those waters; but as stated, the comment does not achieve this purpose, in my opinion.
A holy war is determined by its propensity to raise "debates of attrition" in which both sides are so unyielding they may as well be (and sometimes are) ideological. Whether or not one side has a legitimate claim to superiority over the other is entirely orthogonal; such a debate is "holy" in nature because even if that superiority existed and was demonstrated, it would not be accepted. You cannot use reasoned expertise to decompose ideological adherence.
With respect to your other point:
> The problem is precisely that this article does not mention Telegram even though it is in direct competition with Signal. If I didn't know better, I would assume from the article (and the paper) that Telegram is not subject to this vulnerability, and is probably "still" secure (if I thought it was before). Moxie addresses the issue, so this is not whataboutism; he just hints at what the article should have mentioned, that experts have been recommending Signal (and, after it, WhatsApp) over Telegram for ages, and that even though this recommendation could now take a hit, it probably won't budge with a vulnerability that small.
I would have accepted this explanation, which is far more nuanced in presentation than the one we're discussing. You added all the context that would have safely negotiated those waters; but as stated, the comment does not achieve this purpose, in my opinion.