We build software that assumes nothing about you.
Barium Labs, LLC is an independent Texas software studio. We make Barium, and help others own their infrastructure instead of renting it.
Most software wants something from you.
Attention, data, or a subscription that is easier to start than to leave — because it answers to someone other than you.
We started Barium Labs to build the other kind. Barium is an encrypted messenger that connects to a server you choose, keeps its keys on your device, and sends us nothing. Not because we promise not to look, but because there is nothing to look at.
Four rules we actually hold ourselves to.
Say what it costs
Every design decision has a downside, and hiding it makes the rest untrustworthy. We write both down.
Nobody should have to wonder whether they are the first to hit it.
Built is not verified
“Works” means tested against a real server, not that it compiles. We label the two differently.
A confident wrong status costs more than an honest unfinished one.
Explain the why, not the what
The code says what it does. Documentation records the decision, the rejected alternative, and the failure it prevents.
If this paragraph were deleted, would someone re-introduce the bug?
Write down the open questions
Unresolved things get recorded with what is known so far, so they read as open and get answered.
The running checklist is a document, not a feeling.
The details, plainly.
Working on something similar?
Building on Matrix, running a homeserver, or stuck on an Apple platform problem? We would like to hear about it.