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I don't know why didn't just evolve irc. Feature wise slack doesn't really bring much new. It just has a good interface. If someone made an irc client as easy t

by isaiahg 10y ago

I don't know why didn't just evolve irc. Feature wise slack doesn't really bring much new. It just has a good interface. If someone made an irc client as easy to use as slack then we'd have our answer.

chrisseaton 10y ago
> It just has a good interface But this is such a big deal. You make it sound like a good interface is trivial. It isn't, and it makes a huge difference.
- apocalyptic0n3 10y ago
  It really is. Slack's interface is good enough and easy enough to understand that even the least technical people can pick it up in a few minutes after you show it to them and explain the difference between public and private channels. A week or two of use is enough to master everyday Slack use. Slack may not bring much to the table in terms of new functionality, but it does make it insanely easy for the average person to easily use the system and be involved, which really cannot be overstated when working at a company with a varying level of technical abilities.
- thraway2016 10y ago
  irssi is a significantly better interface than any slack application.
  - Karunamon 10y ago
    Slack's users would disagree.
  - Eldt 10y ago
    The technically illiterate people I know would have a much harder time using irssi than slack
StavrosK 10y ago
Because adding a feature to a standard means you have to get everyone on board. Slack as an IRC client would basically be Slack as it is now, and the server protocol would be an implementation detail.
- kuschku 10y ago
  Except, we got everyone on board. Every major client and server dev, every major bot dev and every major network. Check out ircv3.net
samtho 10y ago
From my understanding, this is what XMPP was suppose to be. Problem is the going to be the same evolving IRC: widespread adoption.
s73ver 10y ago
"Feature wise slack doesn't really bring much new. It just has a good interface." That's a pretty huge feature. Never underestimate how making something more usable increases it's popularity.
- cat199 10y ago
  Really - what is sooo unusable about IRC? Get a good GUI client, enter some parameters into a text bar, click 'ok', then chat. exactly the same process as a web browser.. The real problem is the 'endless summer' of tablet-era people who confuse the 'interweb' with the 'internet'. There used to be much more general community advocacy and understanding of promoting open communications 'baked in' to the internet culture which has been eroded by crass commercialization - this is the real problem that needs to be attacked...
  - chrisseaton 10y ago
    Can you easily share multi-line code, formatted in a proportional font and syntax highlighted, in any IRC client? That's something I want to do almost every hour I'm working.
    - mburns 10y ago
      Some clients will intercept multi-line messages and let you POST the content to a pastebin. That way, supported clients show pretty-printed code and unsupported client just see a URL. Ex: https://blog.irccloud.com/pastebins/ https://blog.irccloud.com/pastebins/
      - s73ver 10y ago
        And how do I know that everyone in the room is using such a client? I know that everyone using Slack will see the message as I intended it to be seen.

by isaiahg 10y ago

chrisseaton 10y ago

> It just has a good interface But this is such a big deal. You make it sound like a good interface is trivial. It isn't, and it makes a huge difference.

apocalyptic0n3 10y ago
It really is. Slack's interface is good enough and easy enough to understand that even the least technical people can pick it up in a few minutes after you show it to them and explain the difference between public and private channels. A week or two of use is enough to master everyday Slack use. Slack may not bring much to the table in terms of new functionality, but it does make it insanely easy for the average person to easily use the system and be involved, which really cannot be overstated when working at a company with a varying level of technical abilities.
thraway2016 10y ago
irssi is a significantly better interface than any slack application.
- Karunamon 10y ago
  Slack's users would disagree.
- Eldt 10y ago
  The technically illiterate people I know would have a much harder time using irssi than slack

StavrosK 10y ago

Because adding a feature to a standard means you have to get everyone on board. Slack as an IRC client would basically be Slack as it is now, and the server protocol would be an implementation detail.

kuschku 10y ago
Except, we got everyone on board. Every major client and server dev, every major bot dev and every major network. Check out ircv3.net

samtho 10y ago

From my understanding, this is what XMPP was suppose to be. Problem is the going to be the same evolving IRC: widespread adoption.

s73ver 10y ago

"Feature wise slack doesn't really bring much new. It just has a good interface." That's a pretty huge feature. Never underestimate how making something more usable increases it's popularity.

cat199 10y ago
Really - what is sooo unusable about IRC? Get a good GUI client, enter some parameters into a text bar, click 'ok', then chat. exactly the same process as a web browser.. The real problem is the 'endless summer' of tablet-era people who confuse the 'interweb' with the 'internet'. There used to be much more general community advocacy and understanding of promoting open communications 'baked in' to the internet culture which has been eroded by crass commercialization - this is the real problem that needs to be attacked...
- chrisseaton 10y ago
  Can you easily share multi-line code, formatted in a proportional font and syntax highlighted, in any IRC client? That's something I want to do almost every hour I'm working.
  - mburns 10y ago
    Some clients will intercept multi-line messages and let you POST the content to a pastebin. That way, supported clients show pretty-printed code and unsupported client just see a URL. Ex: https://blog.irccloud.com/pastebins/ https://blog.irccloud.com/pastebins/
    - s73ver 10y ago
      And how do I know that everyone in the room is using such a client? I know that everyone using Slack will see the message as I intended it to be seen.