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Maybe I'm missing the point, but based on their example, what would be the difference between the Slack channel #annual-summit-tuesday-night-catering and the Zu

Maybe I'm missing the point, but based on their example, what would be the difference between the Slack channel #annual-summit-tuesday-night-catering and the Zulip topic #annual-summit - tuesday night catering? I get the point of having topics (less people involved. Kinda like subreddits)... but in Slack I create channels targeted for very specific topics (like the #annual-summit-tuesday-night-catering one) and they work just fine.

letmeinhere 4y ago
Yeah, I think the key distinctions are: - the "topics" are grouped under "streams" that are defined at the organization level. Slack lets every individual set up star groups for channels, but in practice channels are an unorganized mess for all. And, because they have that container, topics are just zero-friction to define. - Streams, not topics, have membership and permissions. I like this because it means that streams can be defined as an _audience_ for a number of topics. Whether that topic is relevant to you at the moment is a different question, but I often want to be able to skim all of my (e.g.) `team-galactus` topics quickly before moving on to stuff about `greater-denver` or whatever. I also don't want to have to invite people to (or exhaustively document) all of the various topics that they might have a connection to.
maccam94 4y ago
Streams are opt-in. Topics are transient and fast to create, and everyone in the stream will automatically see the new topic. You also get per-topic read position tracking, and stream members can mute individual topics if they want. You can also view the entire stream at once (or even all streams!) with the topics interleaved. The sidebar shows the most recent topics in each stream, so inactive topics are eventually hidden from the main UI (though you can still dig them up if you go looking for them).

letmeinhere 4y ago

Yeah, I think the key distinctions are: - the "topics" are grouped under "streams" that are defined at the organization level. Slack lets every individual set up star groups for channels, but in practice channels are an unorganized mess for all. And, because they have that container, topics are just zero-friction to define. - Streams, not topics, have membership and permissions. I like this because it means that streams can be defined as an _audience_ for a number of topics. Whether that topic is relevant to you at the moment is a different question, but I often want to be able to skim all of my (e.g.) `team-galactus` topics quickly before moving on to stuff about `greater-denver` or whatever. I also don't want to have to invite people to (or exhaustively document) all of the various topics that they might have a connection to.

maccam94 4y ago

Streams are opt-in. Topics are transient and fast to create, and everyone in the stream will automatically see the new topic. You also get per-topic read position tracking, and stream members can mute individual topics if they want. You can also view the entire stream at once (or even all streams!) with the topics interleaved. The sidebar shows the most recent topics in each stream, so inactive topics are eventually hidden from the main UI (though you can still dig them up if you go looking for them).