So, we're making the move from Slack to Discord?

@d3z I like discord, I just don't think it's a good slack replacement. The featuresets are different enough that i don't think it makes for a good general purpose space for community discussion.

@paddy what do we look at instead? Mattermost? Rocket?

@d3z not tried either tbh, hear good things about mattermost though. I'm a little confused as to the desire to move though. Is it because of slack's bungling of the export restrictions stuff?

@paddy I assume so it's the current backlash against slack.

@d3z I can definitely see how the draconian approach they've taken to implementing the export restrictions stuff is shitty, but i'm not sure i'm convinced it's worth ditching slack because of it. Every company i've ever worked at has had to implement US export restrictions in _some_ way, so i'm a little sympathetic to them having to do _something_.

@paddy but, to ban people who have apparent _links_ to countries is a crappy way to do things. I've read stories of people being banned whose link appears to be nothing more than their ethnicity. If that's the case, that's more than a little shitty.

@d3z I've seen those reports too, but i'm not sure I believe them tbh. If slack are found to be racially/ethnically profiling then I assume they'll have larger (regulatory?) problems to answer than the threat of a few people leaving the platform.

My current assumption is that there's something else going on here. Maybe i'm being naive though.

@paddy I just need to make sure I'm not being too credulous.

@d3z @paddy as for Discord vs Slack... I’m probably seeing something that isn’t there, but I feel like there’s a generational divide between them. Discord seems like the platform of choice for a younger group.

@mo @paddy maybe. I've nothing useful to say whatever platform is decided on.

@nivrig @mo @paddy I was going to suggest running our own IRC server.

@d3z @mo @paddy That’s back to hosting though. And I reckon people would miss the memes and gifs, and Rebecca videos on IRC. I’d just stay on Slack because it’ll all blow over most likely.

@nivrig @d3z @paddy I think it has mostly blown over already.

Self-hosting isn’t the worst in the world though. A self-hosted Slack clone would be really nice.

Follow

@mo @d3z @paddy Just thinking of who pays for the host. I’ve set up Mattermost before and it’s easy enough. Some of our teams use Rocket Chat self hosted too and seem happy.

@nivrig @d3z @paddy I’m not opposed to paying for stuff myself, or taking donations. All depends on how people use it - if it’s just a dumping ground for their own private communities, then I’m not advocating that individuals or donations pay for that.

That said, I’m not sure people would move from Slack. Many companies are using Slack these days and it’s very handy to have NI Tech stuff in the same window as the work stuff. (Though for some, I guess it’s a downside).

@nivrig @d3z @paddy wonder if the Fediverse can support a Slack style of chat.

Channels could be based around hashtags, threads based on replies. With the right client you can marshal regular Mastodon-style messages into something more akin to Slack, and with restrictions on federation (eg no incoming follows supported) you can have the effect of a private server.

Sign in to participate in the conversation
NI Tech

The social network of the future: No ads, no corporate surveillance, ethical design, and decentralization! Own your data with Mastodon!