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Bye bye BetterSlack

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171–180 of 392 posts

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#171

Post by afandian »

mikeryan wrote: post #144
mattigames wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

False, how a website is rendered on a device I own is not enforceable (legally speaking) by a acceptable use policy or any website policy; otherwise people would just use that to deter ad-blockers browsers extensions instead of all the shady tactics commonly used.

This just starts a death spiral though. Slacks next step is to start detecting the objecting code and banning users from using the web interface that are found using those tools. There are a bunch of folks doing this already for ad blockers.

Try using Slack in a browser on Android. It doesn't work. I find that really objectionable. They don't (last time I asked) distribute an APK. Instead they directed me to a pirate APK site, so I don't believe it's for security.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#172

Post by TeMPOraL »

derefr wrote: post #75
dasmoth wrote: post #11

I wonder how much longer Slack’s web client is going to remain a first class product? Clearly, it was a good way to drive adoption, but seems that at this point they want ever more control.

There are many enterprises that have web-only workflows. Eliminating the web client for Slack would be like eliminating the web client for Google Docs.

Does Google Docs have a non-web client (besides mobile)?

But I agree. And even outside enterprise, their web client is the least bad option if you have to use Slack.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#173

Post by pvg »

stickfigure wrote: post #143
tptacek wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Craigslist sued another company that extended its listings with their own code and, as I recall, won.

I assume you mean this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craigslist_Inc._v._3Taps_Inc . It seems unlikely to apply to a Chrome extension: Craigslist Inc. v. 3Taps Inc., 942 F.Supp.2d 962 (N.D. Cal. 2013) was a Northern District of California Court case in which the court held that sending a cease-and-desist letter and enacting an IP address block is sufficient notice of online trespassing, which a plaintiff can use to c…

What would keep it from applying to an extension? It says sufficient, not necessary and sufficient.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#174

Post by benatkin »

jjeaff wrote: post #153
benatkin wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It might be more than just a EULA. Often to sign up for an API key, you have to go through a bit more explicit agreement to a ToS than there is in a standard funnel. There's also a bit more of an expectation that people will actually read them (and are competent to understand them).

This extension doesn't use the API. It just injects some JavaScript. Just like every adblockers and password manager does.

I know. I think the author might have been interested in the API and signed up separately, though.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#175

Post by joewadcan »

At GitHub, we faced the same issue when ZenHub [1] came out with their chrome extension. While, Slack is well within their rights to _ask_ you not to modify their user experience, it's short sighted of them to do so.

With ZenHub, we worked with them even closer because we saw that our users were happier using GitHub + ZenHub. We made it super clear that UI changes would likely break their app but that would be a risk for them to evaluate. In the end, it worked out well since ZenHub invested alot in their UI and became a long term partner of GitHub's.

From a technical level, I'd also take issue with this. You're customizing the output of their services once it's in the browser at the request of the user. If you're still interacting with Slack through the API and being a good platform partner (i.e. respecting rate limits), then I think you should be allowed to keep on. Disclaimer: I'm running a company on the Slack platform [2]

[1] https://www.zenhub.com/ [2] https://geteventbot.com/

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#176

Post by TeMPOraL »

saagarjha wrote: post #124
fbmac wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

are you thinking about opensource? I don't think it would be opensource

Nope. There are ways to reverse engineer closed source apps and inject code into them.

Also, depending on the platform, if a native application is following the platform guidelines, then quite a lot of things you want to change might be located in data files or "resource" section of the executable.

I haven't been messing much with Windows executables for quite a while, but back in the day, I'd "improve" many programs by just editing their resources.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#177

Post by saagarjha »

TylerE wrote: post #150
saagarjha wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, of course, for the fact that sending a cease and desist in this case wasn't particularly nice.

Well, I mean they are under no obligation to send a C&D. They could have gone right to a Trademark suit.

Which would normally cost them must more money. Cease and desists are an easy way to scare people when you don't have much of a case.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#178

Post by chippy »

Slack desktop app is Electron, right?

This might be a stupid question (it's been downvoted before), but can a user run chrome extensions within Electron apps? Or a debugger?

If not, could a simple website wrapper electron app therefore be much more favourable for a company to run whatever scripts, tracking, and adverts than the same website?

Can the same be said for Progressive Web Apps for mobile?

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#180

Post by briandear »

joewadcan wrote: post #175

At GitHub, we faced the same issue when ZenHub [1] came out with their chrome extension. While, Slack is well within their rights to _ask_ you not to modify their user experience, it's short sighted of them to do so. With ZenHub, we worked with them even closer because we saw that our users were happier using GitHub + ZenHub. We made it super clear that UI changes would likely break their app but that would be a risk…

I used ZenHub for a long time, but being forced to use Chrome was a dealbreaker for me.
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