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Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects

drewdevault.com

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Re: Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects

#51

Post by manish_gill »

syaz1 wrote: post #37
userbinator wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's mainly because the learning curve is too big for non-technical/busy people Really? Does using Slack not require opening a client application and logging in, like just about every other realtime messaging platform? I know many "non-technical" people who use IRC.

As opposed to IRC's NickServ, ChanServ, and their variants depending on the server? Expired nick, exposed passwords due to insecure authentication mechanism, no standard client, and so many more I can cite. I love IRC and grew up with it. But don't compare it to Slack for technical knowledge requirement.

I know people who don't understand what a Server is and even they can use IRC. Not saying that it's as simple and convenient as Slack, but making it out to be this huge complex thing is being disingenuous.

Re: Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects

#52

Post by hbosch »

chris_wot wrote: post #34
d0m wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is part of the problem. People don't want "a lot of web-based IRC clients", they want only one and it has to be amazing.

The things slack can do (at least according to this article) that IRC can't are do small it's negligible. If slack is web-based, then what is to stop someone from making a web-based IRC client with all the features and good UX design of slack?

And there is: http://shout-irc.com

IMO Shout is a UI improvement over Slack for the sheer fact that it is 100% customizable.

Re: Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects

#53

Post by ebiester »

chris_wot wrote: post #39
vonklaus wrote: post #33

It is reasonable to raise the point that building FOSS software while using a closed piece of software as a core tool bears consideration. However, I am 25 and largely missed the boat on irc. I decided to start using it ~1 year ago. It is hard to use, but we will look at that in a minute. Often, we assume people have as clear an idea of what we are talking about as we do. That is often not the case. Let's explore IRC…

For buildbots, it's not that hard. See http://docs.buildbot.net/current/tutorial/index.html Instead of using slack, use IRC Cloud.

Does IRC Cloud allow new employees to get the entire history of the channel? I can't see how it would from looking at its page.

Re: Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects

#55

Post by Macha »

syaz1 wrote: post #37
userbinator wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's mainly because the learning curve is too big for non-technical/busy people Really? Does using Slack not require opening a client application and logging in, like just about every other realtime messaging platform? I know many "non-technical" people who use IRC.

As opposed to IRC's NickServ, ChanServ, and their variants depending on the server? Expired nick, exposed passwords due to insecure authentication mechanism, no standard client, and so many more I can cite. I love IRC and grew up with it. But don't compare it to Slack for technical knowledge requirement.

> exposed passwords due to insecure authentication mechanism

Use SSL + SASL auth and it's not any less secure than logging in to most websites.

Re: Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects

#56

Post by chris_wot »

programminggeek wrote: post #43

IRC kind of sucks. The experience is worse. That's why people keep making these different tools - Campfire, HipChat, Slack. It's not just a technical thing. It's an experience thing. IRC is technically fine, just way too nerdy to be main line of business software these days.

So what you are saying is that the client software is not intuitive.

You do know that all that needs to occur is to make a nice client?

Re: Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects

#58

Post by nzoschke »

We use Slack to support the open source development for Convox (open source PaaS). The main benefits are:

Mobile client with push notification

First class photos, files, code snippets

Moderation tools

Same tool for private organization chat

Users that use Slack for the jobs seem to really like Slack for community support

The downsides are:

No invite system. Needs an hack app

Unsupported use case for community chat

Closed system. Exclusionary compared to IRC

So far the productivity gains feel worth it. I can only guess Slack doesn't mind this usage will provide better public chat offering someday.

A few people have given the same feedback about using IRC over Slack, however so it's on my mind.

Would chatting in both work?

Re: Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects

#59

Post by scrollaway »

ebiester wrote: post #53
chris_wot wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For buildbots, it's not that hard. See http://docs.buildbot.net/current/tutorial/index.html Instead of using slack, use IRC Cloud.

Does IRC Cloud allow new employees to get the entire history of the channel? I can't see how it would from looking at its page.

I don't believe so, but you should look into IRCv3. We need to fix this problem at the root.

http://ircv3.net/

Re: Please don't use Slack for FOSS projects

#60

Post by phjesusthatguy3 »

mynegation wrote: post #32

There is a chance to repeat git success story. Remember what happened? 1. Everyone uses cvs or svn. 2. Bitkeeper comes along with a good DVCS, gets adopted by Linux. 3. Linus rants about closedness of BK, reimplements it as git. 4. Git takes life on its own gets wildly popular and makes way for many awesome things such as github and gitlab. Replace svn by irc and bitkeeper with slack. Figure out the rest.

2.5 Tridge starts implementing a Free version of the bitkeeper software so the Linux project doesn't have to rely on closed-source software to build their Free project, and Bitmover revokes the no-cost license given to the Linux project, just like they said they would.
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