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This is a very short-sighted comment. Electron or not, you need a web browser to display content. Unless you want to replicate a browser's layout engine, poorl

This is a very short-sighted comment. Electron or not, you need a web browser to display content. Unless you want to replicate a browser's layout engine, poorly. History and the rich interface are the main appeals of Slack. I guess you could create a QT app or something and embed a web widget inside. Not sure how much that would help.

zakk 9y ago
Since when you need a web browser to display content? Slack could easily use native widgets, without embedding any HTML.
- outworlder 9y ago
  Have you used Slack? The rich interface is one of the main reasons people use it. It's not IRC.
  - Rjevski 9y ago
    I feel like I've made a mistake mentioning IRC - that was just an example to say that a client that receives and sends messages over the network was a solved problem. Rich interface doesn't mean HTML and CSS. Have you seen good iOS apps? Their interface is just as rich and yet it's pure Swift/Objective-C compiled down to native code.
  - zakk 9y ago
    Yes I have, and I have used interfaces which were as rich, or even richer, for decades, without the need of embedding web content. For instance GTK apps in the earlies 2000s were easily displaying content as rich.
    - outworlder 9y ago
      I understand that. But we also have apps like Adium displaying their chat messages using HTML with no issues, just because they want to easily customize the themes. Point is, native or not native, this should not matter for a well optimized code. We are not talking about a AAA game here, it's just a chat app. It should not be burning cycles when inactive.
  - jsjohnst 9y ago
    There are plenty of chat apps with rich interfaces not implemented in HTML. Some of them far better than Slack.
    - outworlder 9y ago
      Can you provide some examples?
      - gaadd33 9y ago
        Messages on OS X?
pinum 9y ago
I might be confused. I thought Slack was a text chat client with extra features. Why does it need a browser engine for layout, instead of using the system's native layout tools like native software has always done?
- outworlder 9y ago
  It is a text chat client. However, it does not display only text. It can also display images and whatever else can be displayed by a web browser, including links and buttons. You can replicate it with native widgets. Heck, you can draw everything yourself if you want. But why bother, if you already have a perfectly good way to display that sort of content? The problem is not "lazy developers using Electron". The problem may actually be lazy developers, but not because of Electron alone.
  - jpttsn 9y ago
    If what you want to display is a subset of what web tech can display, it's lazy to embed a big web engine. To me it's like sending a word doc attachment because you want to use bold type in a mail, and you already know how to use word.
Rjevski 9y ago
Do I actually need to display web content? Unless I need some custom embeds which supply their own HTML and CSS, I don't, and I'm happy to do away with embeds and stuff if this means my client no longer makes my laptop go on fire.

zakk 9y ago

Since when you need a web browser to display content? Slack could easily use native widgets, without embedding any HTML.

outworlder 9y ago
Have you used Slack? The rich interface is one of the main reasons people use it. It's not IRC.
- Rjevski 9y ago
  I feel like I've made a mistake mentioning IRC - that was just an example to say that a client that receives and sends messages over the network was a solved problem. Rich interface doesn't mean HTML and CSS. Have you seen good iOS apps? Their interface is just as rich and yet it's pure Swift/Objective-C compiled down to native code.
- zakk 9y ago
  Yes I have, and I have used interfaces which were as rich, or even richer, for decades, without the need of embedding web content. For instance GTK apps in the earlies 2000s were easily displaying content as rich.
  - outworlder 9y ago
    I understand that. But we also have apps like Adium displaying their chat messages using HTML with no issues, just because they want to easily customize the themes. Point is, native or not native, this should not matter for a well optimized code. We are not talking about a AAA game here, it's just a chat app. It should not be burning cycles when inactive.
- jsjohnst 9y ago
  There are plenty of chat apps with rich interfaces not implemented in HTML. Some of them far better than Slack.
  - outworlder 9y ago
    Can you provide some examples?
    - gaadd33 9y ago
      Messages on OS X?

pinum 9y ago

I might be confused. I thought Slack was a text chat client with extra features. Why does it need a browser engine for layout, instead of using the system's native layout tools like native software has always done?

outworlder 9y ago
It is a text chat client. However, it does not display only text. It can also display images and whatever else can be displayed by a web browser, including links and buttons. You can replicate it with native widgets. Heck, you can draw everything yourself if you want. But why bother, if you already have a perfectly good way to display that sort of content? The problem is not "lazy developers using Electron". The problem may actually be lazy developers, but not because of Electron alone.
- jpttsn 9y ago
  If what you want to display is a subset of what web tech can display, it's lazy to embed a big web engine. To me it's like sending a word doc attachment because you want to use bold type in a mail, and you already know how to use word.

Rjevski 9y ago

Do I actually need to display web content? Unless I need some custom embeds which supply their own HTML and CSS, I don't, and I'm happy to do away with embeds and stuff if this means my client no longer makes my laptop go on fire.