On the other hand, the chat system that "survives" is probably the best one to use in the long-term. Features, integrations, and a slick UI are great, but with

On the other hand, the chat system that "survives" is probably the best one to use in the long-term. Features, integrations, and a slick UI are great, but without a stable community of maintainers the project if probably not a good candidate for long-term use. An open, federate-able messaging protocol is also a good thing to have! (email, XMPP, Matrix)