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It's amazing to me that people still don't understand the importance of user experience (and low friction setup processes). Do you remember having to hand writ

It's amazing to me that people still don't understand the importance of user experience (and low friction setup processes). Do you remember having to hand write your Xorg.conf files to setup a Linux desktop back in the day? Wasn't that a colossal waste of time? Aren't you glad that's not a thing anymore? Sure, I could try to set up an IRC server and the relevant bots and scripts to attempt to emulate what Slack provides natively, and then look for mobile apps that will connect to IRC and send me push notifications on relevant activity, or I could just use Slack.

briandear 11y ago
Exactly it. I don't have time to manage an IRC server. I don't have time to help people figure out IRC when they first join the team. I also don't want to waste time on something that adds zero value to the products we're building. I use Slack for the same reason I own a dishwasher. I could hand wash dishes and it might even be slightly better, but then I'm spending time washing dishes rather than using the time for higher value activities. This rubbish about people worrying about Slack having access to your internal communications is just that -- rubbish. It's paranoid nonsense. The last thing anyone at Slack wants to do is read through 80 million lines of emojis and notifications and some private conversation about adding a counter cache to the Products table.
- icebraining 11y ago
  Slack itself probably doesn't care. What about the company that aquires them? What about the companies that will buy that data from them? And obviously one doesn't actually "read" the conversations, we're not in the 80s anymore, we have software to identify the juicy bits.
  - victorhooi 11y ago
    Do you encrypt your email? Do all of your recipients? Slack is sold as a replacement for email, in many cases - so I fail to see how it's any worse than sending unencrypted emails all over the interwebs. And this tin-foil hat conspiracy insanity about how you shouldn't use external services like Gmail, or Slack because "Oh noes, they have our data" is just that - insanity. Sure, if you're paranoid, you're free not to use those services. But let's be honest, most of aren't working at Lockheed Martin, or the NSA. Our personal lives are inane and boring, and the majority of our work discussions are probably, outside of the context of our work groups, inanely boring as well. Nobody cares (which is fine). On the list of things to worry about, from meteorite strikes to global warming, I'd put, my chat provider trawling through my personal chats fairly low on the list.

briandear 11y ago

Exactly it. I don't have time to manage an IRC server. I don't have time to help people figure out IRC when they first join the team. I also don't want to waste time on something that adds zero value to the products we're building. I use Slack for the same reason I own a dishwasher. I could hand wash dishes and it might even be slightly better, but then I'm spending time washing dishes rather than using the time for higher value activities. This rubbish about people worrying about Slack having access to your internal communications is just that -- rubbish. It's paranoid nonsense. The last thing anyone at Slack wants to do is read through 80 million lines of emojis and notifications and some private conversation about adding a counter cache to the Products table.

icebraining 11y ago
Slack itself probably doesn't care. What about the company that aquires them? What about the companies that will buy that data from them? And obviously one doesn't actually "read" the conversations, we're not in the 80s anymore, we have software to identify the juicy bits.
- victorhooi 11y ago
  Do you encrypt your email? Do all of your recipients? Slack is sold as a replacement for email, in many cases - so I fail to see how it's any worse than sending unencrypted emails all over the interwebs. And this tin-foil hat conspiracy insanity about how you shouldn't use external services like Gmail, or Slack because "Oh noes, they have our data" is just that - insanity. Sure, if you're paranoid, you're free not to use those services. But let's be honest, most of aren't working at Lockheed Martin, or the NSA. Our personal lives are inane and boring, and the majority of our work discussions are probably, outside of the context of our work groups, inanely boring as well. Nobody cares (which is fine). On the list of things to worry about, from meteorite strikes to global warming, I'd put, my chat provider trawling through my personal chats fairly low on the list.