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I do not see how that comparison is unfair. Terminal IRC clients, for example, accomplish the same exact functionality as Slack in a curses UI in a vastly faste

I do not see how that comparison is unfair. Terminal IRC clients, for example, accomplish the same exact functionality as Slack in a curses UI in a vastly faster way.

gav 8y ago
But somehow there's all these people that want to use Slack over Irssi.
- KirinDave 8y ago
  Probably because IRC is an outdated protocol with inferior features to Slack and very few good open source options for connecting. For example: * DCC is still unreliable. * There is no audio connection option, which is quite popular in 2018. * Channel history management is ad hoc * Authentication is done in band, in plain text. * "secured" channels rely on this bad authentication, and if they don't (perhaps electing to manage it themselves) network flaws can completely steal your channel. * IRC isn't even particularly open source, many servers and networks have private patches that are not shared publicly. IRC isn't better than slack. I agree with you that it's confusing why people suggest that it ought to be. Also, most IRC networks are controlled by entities even more inscrutable than Slack's executive team and board. I can go look up who runs slack, I cannot actually find good details on who runs any given IRC network. I have no idea what I'm dealing with or how they're using my data. I have no legal recourse if I do discover bad behavior, and I'm forced by the ossified protocol to keep using their insecure authentication mechanisms which make abuse trivial.
  - ethbro 8y ago
    > ... I cannot actually find good details on who runs any given IRC network. I have no idea what I'm dealing with or how they're using my data. I have no legal recourse if I do discover bad behavior... Ah, the good old days of the Internet. You make me so nostalgic.
    - KirinDave 8y ago
      Back when I was a kid this sounded romantic. Now I just know it means that folks spy on me for fun.
      - ethbro 8y ago
        As opposed to the non-anonymous internet?
        KirinDave 8y ago
        Certainly I use a lot more software products by a lot more diverse sources that all have a lot more accountability to the consumer. This, at least, is a positive trend. One of the few good parts of the commerical software movement is more accountability and higher minimum standards for the consumer. I think that shows in trends in modern computer adoption.
0942v8653 8y ago
Wouldn't say that IRC has the same exact functionality as Slack. But the Slack mobile app does, and it runs far better than the desktop version (starts up in 3 seconds on a low-powered device instead of 30 on a much faster machine).
- EdiX 8y ago
  I've read this opinion a few times and at one point (before trying mobile slack) I believed it. Is this true for iPhone users maybe? I've used slack on mobile and I find it worse than the desktop version. It starts slightly faster (10 seconds vs. almost 20) but navigating through channels is bad (and slower) and threads are completely unusable. It also runs my device hot like nothing else. The faster startup speed isn't a big victory for me because it's still a factor of 10 away from what I would consider acceptable. The "best" interface for slack, IMHO, is the web version, provided that you are already using Chrome.

I do not see how that comparison is unfair. Terminal IRC clients, for example, accomplish the same exact functionality as Slack in a curses UI in a vastly faster way.

gav 8y ago

But somehow there's all these people that want to use Slack over Irssi.

KirinDave 8y ago
Probably because IRC is an outdated protocol with inferior features to Slack and very few good open source options for connecting. For example: * DCC is still unreliable. * There is no audio connection option, which is quite popular in 2018. * Channel history management is ad hoc * Authentication is done in band, in plain text. * "secured" channels rely on this bad authentication, and if they don't (perhaps electing to manage it themselves) network flaws can completely steal your channel. * IRC isn't even particularly open source, many servers and networks have private patches that are not shared publicly. IRC isn't better than slack. I agree with you that it's confusing why people suggest that it ought to be. Also, most IRC networks are controlled by entities even more inscrutable than Slack's executive team and board. I can go look up who runs slack, I cannot actually find good details on who runs any given IRC network. I have no idea what I'm dealing with or how they're using my data. I have no legal recourse if I do discover bad behavior, and I'm forced by the ossified protocol to keep using their insecure authentication mechanisms which make abuse trivial.
- ethbro 8y ago
  > ... I cannot actually find good details on who runs any given IRC network. I have no idea what I'm dealing with or how they're using my data. I have no legal recourse if I do discover bad behavior... Ah, the good old days of the Internet. You make me so nostalgic.
  - KirinDave 8y ago
    Back when I was a kid this sounded romantic. Now I just know it means that folks spy on me for fun.
    - ethbro 8y ago
      As opposed to the non-anonymous internet?
      - KirinDave 8y ago
        Certainly I use a lot more software products by a lot more diverse sources that all have a lot more accountability to the consumer. This, at least, is a positive trend. One of the few good parts of the commerical software movement is more accountability and higher minimum standards for the consumer. I think that shows in trends in modern computer adoption.

0942v8653 8y ago

Wouldn't say that IRC has the same exact functionality as Slack. But the Slack mobile app does, and it runs far better than the desktop version (starts up in 3 seconds on a low-powered device instead of 30 on a much faster machine).

EdiX 8y ago
I've read this opinion a few times and at one point (before trying mobile slack) I believed it. Is this true for iPhone users maybe? I've used slack on mobile and I find it worse than the desktop version. It starts slightly faster (10 seconds vs. almost 20) but navigating through channels is bad (and slower) and threads are completely unusable. It also runs my device hot like nothing else. The faster startup speed isn't a big victory for me because it's still a factor of 10 away from what I would consider acceptable. The "best" interface for slack, IMHO, is the web version, provided that you are already using Chrome.