> Slack, et al, are based on synchronous communication, which discriminate against those who do not or can not take part of the conversation in real time. For e

> Slack, et al, are based on synchronous communication, which discriminate against those who do not or can not take part of the conversation in real time. For example, real time chat discriminates against those who aren’t in the same time zone–you can’t participate fully in an open source project if all the discussion happens while you’re asleep. Even if you are in the same time zone, real time chat assumes a privilege that you have the spare time–or an employer who doesn’t mind you being constantly distracted–to be virtually present in a chat room. Online chat clients are resource hogs, and presume the availability of a fast computer and ample, always on, internet connection, again raising the bar for participation. It's quite amusing that the author takes his (valid) argument about the problems of closed, synchronous communication straight to the language of privilege, discrimination, and oppression.