From the list given, looks like that would be Tox. It's got IPv6 and everything.
https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core
In Redecentralize: Quietly, some geeks are decentralizing the net againirungentoo
toxcore
C2013–2021
irungentoo / toxcore
toxcore
The future of online communications.
37Distinct people
43Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
8.7KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
The future of online communications.
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
- jfreegman/toxic · linked in 2 of the same discussions
- markwinter/antox · linked in 2 of the same discussions
- notsecure/utox · linked in 2 of the same discussions
Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 9:02:44 AM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year43 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2013-07-08 16:51:17 UTC to 2021-10-05 16:39:09 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 11 | 3 | 8 |
| 2014 | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 13 | 2 | 11 |
| 2015 | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 10 | 1 | 9 |
| 2016 | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
With the rise of government surveillance programs, Tox, a FOSS initiative, aims to be an easy to use, all-in-one communication platform that ensures full privacy and secure message delivery.
Website | Wiki | Blog | FAQ | Binaries/Downloads | Clients | Compiling
IRC Channels: #tox@freenode, #tox-dev@freenode
The Complex Stuff:
UDP vs. TCP
Tox must use UDP simply because hole punching with TCP is not as reliable.
However, Tox does use TCP relays as a fallback if it encounters a firewall that prevents UDP hole punching.
Connecting & Communicating
Every peer is represented as a byte string (the public key [Tox ID] of the peer). By using torrent-style DHT, peers can find the IP of other peers by using their Tox ID. Once the IP is obtained, peers can initiate a secure connection with each other. Once the connection is made, peers can exchange messages, send files, start video chats, etc. using encrypted communications.
Current build status:
Q&A:
What are your goals with Tox?
We want Tox to be as simple as possible while remaining as secure as possible.
Why are you doing this? There are already a bunch of free Skype alternatives.
The goal of this project is to create a configuration-free P2P Skype replacement. “Configuration-free” means that the user will simply have to open the program and will be capable of adding people and communicating with them without having to set up an account. There are many so-called Skype replacements, but all of them are either hard to configure for the normal user or suffer from being way too centralized.
TODO:
TODO
Documentation:
Compiling
DHT Protocol
Crypto
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
11 sourcesSounds similar to already existing Open-Source projects, like Tox[1] (which was discussed on HN a couple months ago[2].)
Questions for both projects still remain though: What sort of metadata can be collected from users of these programs? How can that metadata be used? Are there any security vulnerabilities that have been overlooked?
We are still a ways from having truly secure chat as the mainstream communication medium, but I'm glad Bittorent and others are helping move it in the right direction.
[1] https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core
[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6121225
In BitTorrent Chat - Private instant messaging via secure, distributed technologyTox IM's Licensing: A controversial issue that is undermining the project
1 points · Open discussionTox aims to be a secure replacement for Skype.
There's several other similar projects, but they are usually hard to set up and use for an average user.
Tox is FLOS software developed by community, and currently licensed under GPLv3. We are considering changing the license to something more permissive, so it would be possible to put it on the App & Win8 Stores.
Currently, it is in really early stages of development. But we already have basic IM, and nCurses interface. We use NaCl library for encryption and will probably add FFmpeg for video.
We are working on a cross-platform GUI using Qt5. Please note that the screen-shots on the main website are only mockups, and (in my opinion) should have been labeled as such.
Since the website is down, here's some links:
Subreddit: http://www.reddit.com/r/projecttox/
Core code: https://github.com/irun
Read the rest
gentoo/ProjectTox-Core
Qt GUI code: https://github.com/nurupo/ProjectTox-Qt-GUI
Website code: https://github.com/stal888/ProjectTox-Website
IRC Freenode chanel: #InsertProjectNameHere
Unconvinced.
* Lossless UDP? Is there a reason not to do TCP?
* There is no way to know if the public key is genuine, so the system is very sensitive to MITM.
* The key exchange is inadequate. Why not do DH if it's just to have session keys?
* The system is very easy to brute force as the acknowledgement is based on a known plain text. This is very bad.
A quick glance at https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core/blob/master/co...
I found a potential buffer overflow at line 143. If an attacker sends a large file, what happens?
Making crypto software is not just a question of wrapping a crypo lib (in that case NaCl) with a GUI. There are some tricky security issues as how you use the crypto.
In Tox: secure messaging for everyoneFound it on their wiki: https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core/wiki/Crypto
In Tox: secure messaging for everyoneSince you managed to kill the website:
https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core
Tox is a completely decentralized secure messaging service which aims to replace skype.
It it still in heavy development.
So far we have IM working almost perfectly but no completed GUI yet except for a basic ncurses interface used to test the core.
For the detailed info on how everything works see:
https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core/wiki
In Tox: secure messaging for everyoneYou are on Hacker News. Go fix it then or write a better one. Just keep in mind that you must make it open and non-proprietary, or else it will suffer the same fate as Skype. You see the conundrum here?
Maybe help project Tox? https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core/blob/master/do...
In Prism BreakProject Tox: The Crypto IM & Video Conferencing Program
A group of people begun work on a program that is a free alternative to Skype; but with some crypto added. It uses DHT instead of central servers, and we're looking for help.
It's on GitHub: https://github.com/irungentoo/ProjectTox-Core
Help is much needed, and welcome.
8 points · Open discussion4chan's tech board is making a _P2P_ Skype/Ekiga alt and we'd love contributors
4 points · Open discussion