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Bye bye BetterSlack

g3rv4.com

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Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#351

Post by dotancohen »

wpietri wrote: post #234
g3rv4 wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not being a good platform partner basically because they make it impossible for me to be one. I’d love to avoid reverse engineering their minified code and use well documented APIs. Unfortunately, that’s not possible nor planned (as they told me on a tweet I linked on the post).

I really feel both sides of this. On the one hand, I like customizing things, and I love to see users getting involved in platforms they love. On the other, I see how responsibly providing APIs is a big long-term burden that can prevent internal innovation. I was talking a while back with some Mozilla people about the move from their legacy API [1] to WebExtensions [2]. It was a giant pain, but their old API exposed…

That is because an API should express high-level concepts, not low-level implementation.

Just as the new WebExtensions API does. And as any hypothetical Slack API should.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#352

Post by dal »

This is why you should not use Slack. Open protocols with open servers/clients is what we need such as IRC, Matrix or XMPP. Slack removed the IRC gateway just so they can stop people from using the service as they see fit and instead force on the users what they think it should be.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#353

Post by benjamincharity »

avip wrote: post #310
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…

Worth mentioning that github ended killing ZenHub, by introducing github projects, which is essentially copycat of the only useful feature ZenHub had.

As a daily user of ZenHub for over a year, I would strongly disagree that GitHub projects offers the same feature set. A Kanban view, yes.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#354

Post by ajambrovic »

I totally agree you should conform to their request - remove the extension from the store(s?) and remove Slack from the name.

That said, if you can keep the code on GitHub, then everyone can download the zip and load the unpacked extension - you could even go one up and create a (shell?) script with a cron job that checks the diff e.g. once per day and updates the unpacked extension. With our without the script, there's a slight overhead for the end user, but as long as benefits outweigh the overhead, people will use it and everyone will be happy (or at least, not be able to do anything about it :D )

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#355

Post by 2sk21 »

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…

Really happy to hear that ZenHub has an official relationship with GitHub. We use the combo in my company and think that they work remarkably well together

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#356

Post by lillesvin »

danmg wrote: post #2

Slack has really jumped the shark. Between this and their cutting off their IRC gateway, I don't really see the point of using it. You can't be openly hostile to people who create "hacks" like this if you're claiming to be a communication medium for "hackers."

Not to mention that while Slack still has a web interface, they can't really expect to control what extensions are installed in the user's browser and how they render/modify the data the website is sending them. That'd be like Reddit or Google sending uBlock Origin a C&D because it can block ads on their sites. Or SalesForce C&D'ing whoever did an extension that implemented XKCD's force/horse replacement (https://xkcd.com/1418/).

Slack can shut off their web interface and rely on their own apps if they want to control that stuff.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#357

Post by lillesvin »

throwawaymath wrote: post #193
craigsmansion wrote: post #59

"we prefer that you do not include the word “Slack” in your product’s name." From the people who had no problems naming their product identical to the colloquial name of the oldest maintained GNU/Linux distribution, thereby confusing the hell out of actual technical people for the longest time with press releases. Also, Bob Dobbs called... (Edit: you can take away my upticks, but you will never take away my slack. "H…

I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you're in the extreme minority if you honestly confused Slack the chat client for Slackware the Linux distribution. That's...a leap. Frankly the origin of Slack's name has nothing to do with Slackware Linux (or Linux in general) so I'm having difficulty following your grievance here.

I hadn't heard about Slack until I started in my current job (4 years ago) and when they told me that Slack was among their commonly used tools I immediately thought they were talking about Slackware and said I was surprised anyone was still using it. Came off as a total "bleeding edge" snob/hipster until we figured out what was happening.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#358

Post by ealhad »

binomialxenon wrote: post #265
afandian wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sites like APKMirror aren't pirate sites, as they only host APKs that are free of charge. Also, if you're using Android without Play Services but still want to download Play Store apps, you can use the "Yalp Store" app from F-Droid.

Yalp Store is a great app! Incidentally, it violates the Play Store ToS (this is even written in their FAQ[0])

[0] https://github.com/yeriomin/YalpStore#faq

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#359

Post by ckastner »

realusername wrote: post #349
ckastner wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolutely false. Regardless of where you are, the majority of the agreements you enter into are not only not signed, they are not even explicit (but rather implied). Case in point: practically everytime you buy something and pay with cash, you have entered into a purchase agreement without having signed anything.

These are not terms of use but laws.

"Terms of Use" are part of the agreement between you and a service provider with regards to the service being provided. That's a civil law contract like any other.

Re: Bye bye BetterSlack

#360

Post by maple3142 »

overcast wrote: post #97
shawn wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The heart of their complaint was not the name. It was the fact that the extension injects code into their site.

So, even more nefarious, and in violation of their terms?

If you are using IE to browsing slack, and IE couldn't correctly render it. It is illegal?
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