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Our Week Without Slack

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Re: Our Week Without Slack

#11

I disagree with the article. Slack is invaluable for my needs as a software engineer. However, none of the people mentioned in the article are software engineers. Different jobs require different levels and forms of collaboration. Maybe collaboration between journalists can and should take a different form than Slack. That doesn't seem very surprising to me.

Can you please explain how do you use Slack for development in your team?

For devs, it is just too much noise to have any reasonable conversation: maybe because writing emails ensures that writer/sender thinks more about what to write in email. Or because we try to check email only twice a day (so that we are focusing on actual development).

We tried using for checkins and build statuses but web page seems a better way.

Just way too distracting.. but maybe we are missing the use case.

Re: Our Week Without Slack

#12
post #6

> I felt a little bit like I was a freelancer again, which I think was kind of the point ... a lot of us are writers who ended up weighing in on every single little thing in Slack because it felt like that was our job when really it probably isn't. Over analysis leads to paralyzation, which isn't necessarily a Slack problem. Sounds more like they are blaming the messenger rather than themselves, which is exceedingly…

They're just saying Slack creates an environment that makes it easy to be unproductive. So they made the right decision to not use it rather than force themselves to use up their "discipline energy" and use it properly.

It's like going on a diet and deciding not to have any junk food in the house rather than have it around and force yourself to be disciplined.

An entirely valid (and correct) approach.

Re: Our Week Without Slack

#13
post #3

From the article: I don't miss it at all, at least not in terms of doing my job well. I miss the memes and the ~banter~. On the other hand, from their picture, it appears that all their people are in the same room. They don't really need an online system for this.

They did mention remote workers. I imagine the need to communicate to everyone in the room and the remoties.

Re: Our Week Without Slack

#14
post #11

I disagree with the article. Slack is invaluable for my needs as a software engineer. However, none of the people mentioned in the article are software engineers. Different jobs require different levels and forms of collaboration. Maybe collaboration between journalists can and should take a different form than Slack. That doesn't seem very surprising to me.

Can you please explain how do you use Slack for development in your team? For devs, it is just too much noise to have any reasonable conversation: maybe because writing emails ensures that writer/sender thinks more about what to write in email. Or because we try to check email only twice a day (so that we are focusing on actual development). We tried using for checkins and build statuses but web page seems a better w…

> For devs, it is just too much noise to have any reasonable conversation: maybe because writing emails ensures that writer/sender thinks more about what to write in email. Or because we try to check email only twice a day (so that we are focusing on actual development).

Nailed it.

Re: Our Week Without Slack

#15
post #2

As someone having an IRC client open while working since around 15 years this is so mindboggling. (Well, everything regarding the buzz about Slack and how it's a replacement for email, no it's the best thing since sliced bread, no wait, it's horrible.. etc.pp) Why yes, of course you need to restrain yourself from chatting all day. And learn to ignore people or tell them you're not able to talk to them right now - but…

Since IRC was available for the last 15 years and only a handful of people used it like you, we should conclude that about the same number would do the same with Slack, all the others are just people who shouldn't be using Slack at all.

Re: Our Week Without Slack

#16
post #15
post #2

As someone having an IRC client open while working since around 15 years this is so mindboggling. (Well, everything regarding the buzz about Slack and how it's a replacement for email, no it's the best thing since sliced bread, no wait, it's horrible.. etc.pp) Why yes, of course you need to restrain yourself from chatting all day. And learn to ignore people or tell them you're not able to talk to them right now - but…

Since IRC was available for the last 15 years and only a handful of people used it like you, we should conclude that about the same number would do the same with Slack, all the others are just people who shouldn't be using Slack at all.

IRC dates back to 1989. I myself first compiled a client on a HP-UX 9 system and connected in 1993. IRC was relatively big because it preceded the web; it was one of the few cool, interactive things you could do over the network. That and some early networked games. MUDs, shooters like Hunt (1986), XPilots (1992?)

Re: Our Week Without Slack

#17
post #2

As someone having an IRC client open while working since around 15 years this is so mindboggling. (Well, everything regarding the buzz about Slack and how it's a replacement for email, no it's the best thing since sliced bread, no wait, it's horrible.. etc.pp) Why yes, of course you need to restrain yourself from chatting all day. And learn to ignore people or tell them you're not able to talk to them right now - but…

IRC is often mentioned in regards to slack, but I find Instant Messenger(s) a bit closer in spirit. Did everyone stop using those too, in favor of facebook and slack, etc?

Re: Our Week Without Slack

#18
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since IRC was available for the last 15 years and only a handful of people used it like you, we should conclude that about the same number would do the same with Slack, all the others are just people who shouldn't be using Slack at all.

IRC dates back to 1989. I myself first compiled a client on a HP-UX 9 system and connected in 1993. IRC was relatively big because it preceded the web; it was one of the few cool, interactive things you could do over the network. That and some early networked games. MUDs, shooters like Hunt (1986), XPilots (1992?)

[deleted]

Re: Our Week Without Slack

#19

I disagree with the article. Slack is invaluable for my needs as a software engineer. However, none of the people mentioned in the article are software engineers. Different jobs require different levels and forms of collaboration. Maybe collaboration between journalists can and should take a different form than Slack. That doesn't seem very surprising to me.

THIS

Re: Our Week Without Slack

#20
post #2

As someone having an IRC client open while working since around 15 years this is so mindboggling. (Well, everything regarding the buzz about Slack and how it's a replacement for email, no it's the best thing since sliced bread, no wait, it's horrible.. etc.pp) Why yes, of course you need to restrain yourself from chatting all day. And learn to ignore people or tell them you're not able to talk to them right now - but…

IRC is often mentioned in regards to slack, but I find Instant Messenger(s) a bit closer in spirit. Did everyone stop using those too, in favor of facebook and slack, etc?

Same here. We started using Slack because it was the only thing that could break the use of ad hoc AIM and Google Chat accounts.

I do think that the Slack homes for user groups and open source projects (the ones set up with auto-invite on Heroku) are direct replacements for "join us on Freenode" invitations.

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