I loaded up this title with buzzwords. The basic idea is that IM systems shouldn’t have to only use the Internet. Why not let them be carried across LoRa radios, USB sticks, local Wifi networks, and yes, the Internet? I’ll first discuss how, and then why. How do set it up I’ve talked about most of the pieces here already: Delta Chat, which is an IM app that uses mail servers (SMTP and IMAP) as transport, and OpenPGP encryption for security.