> polished IRC client tied to a proprietary service to me This is precisely the point. Most companies just needed something that worked. It doesn't really matt

> polished IRC client tied to a proprietary service to me This is precisely the point. Most companies just needed something that worked. It doesn't really matter if it's proprietary, if it gets the work done. Paying a little money to slack is much more convenient that getting you entire company to setup and use IRC. Out side the HN bubble, people choose convenience over open and free.