Not a signal alternative, but an alternative signal client, tho
Does this send and receive Signal messages, or is it another network?
It sends and receives Signal messages. They have an early prototype server project, but it hasn’t had any commits in 3 years
Yes, only remove propietaries dependencies.
It’s a more hardened version of the signal app from my understanding. The github goes into more detail about that. There is also a version where you can get push notifications without using google play services. If using signal, I don’t see a reason not to use it through molly instead imo
SimpleX is I different one that’s more privacy focused, it doesn’t use phone numbers for signup. Not sure how the chat features compare
Not fully free. It still uses the centralized signal network
You’re confusing libreness with centralization, I suppose? AFAIK, signal’s serverside is technically FOSS.