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Because the worst abusers of Electron can afford to have dedicated teams for platforms. Do you think Slack can't hire enough developers to build native platfor

Because the worst abusers of Electron can afford to have dedicated teams for platforms. Do you think Slack can't hire enough developers to build native platforms for Mac/Windows/Linux? Spotify? Discord? I get it for small dev teams to build a cross platform app - but at a certain size, I don't understand why they can't go build native apps that aren't garbage.

plopz 5y ago
Didn't spotify used to have a native platform application?
- smachiz 5y ago
  Yes. Same with 1Password.
bluetidepro 5y ago
Correct, but I'm also not saying that isn't true? They aren't mutually exclusive. Electron can still be good/useful for many people, and companies like Spotify/Discord/Slack can still get criticized for not hiring devs to make dedicated teams to build native apps. Just because some companies are choosing the technology in ways people don't like, doesn't make the technology itself bad. I hardly ever see anyone phrase it that way, though. It's only "ELECTRON BAD", not "SLACK IS BAD FOR USING ELECTRON."
- smachiz 5y ago
  It's a crutch so big companies can cheap out and ship subpar, lowest common denominator software that is bloated and slow. It is good for small teams to be able to rapidly build cross platform apps that are good for MVP. Slack is bad for using electron.
finiteseries 5y ago
I absolutely believe Slack can’t hire enough developers to build native platforms for Mac/Windows/Linux without hilariously extensive & expensive retraining. Have you tried to hire developers with eg AppKit experience in the past 5 years? I have, twice. Neither were small companies. Both routes went electron because 95% of the native Mac developer pool works in Cupertino or China, and it’s a kiddy pool at that.
- smachiz 5y ago
  :shrug:
asoneth 5y ago
They're a business so the question is not whether they technically have the cash available to do a thing, the question is whether doing that thing will yield the best return on investment compared to all the other things they could do. Specifically, if Slack created new development teams to build native clients for Mac and Windows, would that effort eventually yield enough additional revenue to be worthwhile? (Mind you, I don't know the answer to that question because I don't know Slack's financials, just pointing out that it's the real question governing whether they should use Electron.)

plopz 5y ago

Didn't spotify used to have a native platform application?

smachiz 5y ago
Yes. Same with 1Password.

bluetidepro 5y ago

Correct, but I'm also not saying that isn't true? They aren't mutually exclusive. Electron can still be good/useful for many people, and companies like Spotify/Discord/Slack can still get criticized for not hiring devs to make dedicated teams to build native apps. Just because some companies are choosing the technology in ways people don't like, doesn't make the technology itself bad. I hardly ever see anyone phrase it that way, though. It's only "ELECTRON BAD", not "SLACK IS BAD FOR USING ELECTRON."

smachiz 5y ago
It's a crutch so big companies can cheap out and ship subpar, lowest common denominator software that is bloated and slow. It is good for small teams to be able to rapidly build cross platform apps that are good for MVP. Slack is bad for using electron.

finiteseries 5y ago

I absolutely believe Slack can’t hire enough developers to build native platforms for Mac/Windows/Linux without hilariously extensive & expensive retraining. Have you tried to hire developers with eg AppKit experience in the past 5 years? I have, twice. Neither were small companies. Both routes went electron because 95% of the native Mac developer pool works in Cupertino or China, and it’s a kiddy pool at that.

smachiz 5y ago
:shrug:

asoneth 5y ago

They're a business so the question is not whether they technically have the cash available to do a thing, the question is whether doing that thing will yield the best return on investment compared to all the other things they could do. Specifically, if Slack created new development teams to build native clients for Mac and Windows, would that effort eventually yield enough additional revenue to be worthwhile? (Mind you, I don't know the answer to that question because I don't know Slack's financials, just pointing out that it's the real question governing whether they should use Electron.)