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That's not what they said. A significant fraction (probably the majority) of Slack's functionality is server-side, not client-side. Even if the client were to b

That's not what they said. A significant fraction (probably the majority) of Slack's functionality is server-side, not client-side. Even if the client were to be rewritten from scratch, you would not need to replicate 100% of Slack. But you also don't need to re-implement the entire client. You need to do a significant architectural change for performance improvements, not a complete overhaul. Reasonable people can disagree about whether or not that's feasible for five engineers already familiar with the codebase to do within a few months. Your incredulity at the idea is unwarranted.

phailhaus 8y ago
No, it's pretty warranted. The 100% I was referring to _was_ just for the clientside. To rewrite that natively (since today it's in js on Electron) is not going to take a couple of months with five engineers.
- mercer 8y ago
  I don't think it's entirely out of the realm of possibility that could be done, and a couple of months with five engineers was a conservative estimate. $375.000 for twice the devs or twice the number of months is still a shockingly low price to pay. Hell, throw a few million at it and I can't see why Slack can't be implemented natively on at least iOS, MacOS and Android (especially if parts can still fallback on webviews).
  - TheCoelacanth 8y ago
    It is entirely out of the realm of possibility. There is absolutely no way in hell that even ten engineers for a couple of months could replicate all of Slack's functionality. Even ten times that much would be a stretch. They could maybe make a decent chat app prototype in that amount of time. If they are very talented, they might even be able to make a decent chat app MVP that would get some actual users, but there is absolutely no way that they could replicate all of Slack's functionality.
    - throwawaymath 8y ago
      To be clear, we're not talking about replicating all of Slack's functionality. Performance improvements aside from a complete move away from Electron can be considered.
- fipple 8y ago
  Does improving performance require a rewrite? Is this the best you can get from Electron?
  - phailhaus 8y ago
    He proposed rewriting Slack natively. Natively implies not javascript. Since Slack is entirely in javascript, a native implementation is by definition a rewrite.
- russdpale 8y ago
  With a 7b valuation, I'm pretty sure they can hire some talented people, don't you? I agree it will take longer, but Slack owes it to their customers to hire people and put out a better product.
  - phailhaus 8y ago
    > I'm pretty sure they can hire some talented people, don't you? Even the most talented construction workers could not build the Empire State Building in a week. It's a little silly to think that these people are like magicians. Have you looked at Slack's competitors? Slack is arguably the best chat app out there, especially with their UX and the quality of their integrations. It's so presumptious to then tut-tut them suggesting that they "owe their customers better". They're doing very well!
    - russdpale 8y ago
      I honestly think slack is a terrible product. IRC is better in every way if you take a few moments and institute logging. Just because they are doing well doesn't mean they are doing well to their customers. It is insanely overpriced, imo.
      - _Tev 8y ago
        And a lot of people honestly think that IRC is terrible platform. And that slack is not "insanely overpriced". Guess which opinion is more popular. Now think again about this "doing well to their customers"
chrisco255 8y ago
On the contrary, Slack's clients are thick, complex applications and they are non-trivial.

phailhaus 8y ago

No, it's pretty warranted. The 100% I was referring to _was_ just for the clientside. To rewrite that natively (since today it's in js on Electron) is not going to take a couple of months with five engineers.

mercer 8y ago
I don't think it's entirely out of the realm of possibility that could be done, and a couple of months with five engineers was a conservative estimate. $375.000 for twice the devs or twice the number of months is still a shockingly low price to pay. Hell, throw a few million at it and I can't see why Slack can't be implemented natively on at least iOS, MacOS and Android (especially if parts can still fallback on webviews).
- TheCoelacanth 8y ago
  It is entirely out of the realm of possibility. There is absolutely no way in hell that even ten engineers for a couple of months could replicate all of Slack's functionality. Even ten times that much would be a stretch. They could maybe make a decent chat app prototype in that amount of time. If they are very talented, they might even be able to make a decent chat app MVP that would get some actual users, but there is absolutely no way that they could replicate all of Slack's functionality.
  - throwawaymath 8y ago
    To be clear, we're not talking about replicating all of Slack's functionality. Performance improvements aside from a complete move away from Electron can be considered.
fipple 8y ago
Does improving performance require a rewrite? Is this the best you can get from Electron?
- phailhaus 8y ago
  He proposed rewriting Slack natively. Natively implies not javascript. Since Slack is entirely in javascript, a native implementation is by definition a rewrite.
russdpale 8y ago
With a 7b valuation, I'm pretty sure they can hire some talented people, don't you? I agree it will take longer, but Slack owes it to their customers to hire people and put out a better product.
- phailhaus 8y ago
  > I'm pretty sure they can hire some talented people, don't you? Even the most talented construction workers could not build the Empire State Building in a week. It's a little silly to think that these people are like magicians. Have you looked at Slack's competitors? Slack is arguably the best chat app out there, especially with their UX and the quality of their integrations. It's so presumptious to then tut-tut them suggesting that they "owe their customers better". They're doing very well!
  - russdpale 8y ago
    I honestly think slack is a terrible product. IRC is better in every way if you take a few moments and institute logging. Just because they are doing well doesn't mean they are doing well to their customers. It is insanely overpriced, imo.
    - _Tev 8y ago
      And a lot of people honestly think that IRC is terrible platform. And that slack is not "insanely overpriced". Guess which opinion is more popular. Now think again about this "doing well to their customers"

chrisco255 8y ago

On the contrary, Slack's clients are thick, complex applications and they are non-trivial.