6 ms·

I don't understand Grove. Why would you pay so much for hosted IRC with very limited users? $10/m for 5 users seems crazy high to me.

simonw 15y ago
It's business collaboration software. $10/month is absolutely nothing for company paying 5 people's salaries.
bdr 15y ago
Because when you're at a startup, your time is worth more than that.
- saurik 15y ago
  It's just that setting up IRC is so trivial: apt-get install inspircd. I have been running an IRC server (a reasonably public one, even) since 1994, and even at $250/hour (the highest hourly wage I've seen people reasonably claim for technology work) I don't spend $10/month administering it (and remember: that's just for 5 users...).
  - donw 15y ago
    Of course, you need a machine (virtual or otherwise) in the office for that, which will always be online. And you can't just add outside contractors to your chat server if they're not in-office, or connect up yourself if you're on the road. You also don't get searchable history (archives) by default, which is a big win in a lot of situations. I'm an experienced sysadmin and developer, so managing an IRC daemon doesn't scare me, yet I'd pay $10 per month for all of that in a heartbeat.
    - saurik 15y ago
      Ok, if you are a company that doesn't have any machines in the office that are always online, I'll buy it. I was about to wonder "where did you find such a workplace...", but I failed to take into consideration non-technical companies. (That said, again: it isn't $10/month, it is $2/user, and the /user price increases with more users. Even for my relatively tiny company, it would be more than $10/month.)
orenmazor 15y ago
we've been using campfire forever (and I, for one, am super happy to see competition. will definitely be trying this out). we want the functionality of IRC, but we dont want to deal with setup, maintenance, security, etc. its the standard SaaS argument: the base case might seem easy, but the details are going to drive you to the bottle.
rdl 15y ago
Internal to a team, not for large-scale public servers. $10-20/mo to have everyone on your team have IRC without having to manage it, and with features rolled out over time (disconnected mode is nice, and search, and maybe bots) seems totally reasonable.
jfarmer 15y ago
$10/month is expensive only if your time is cheap.
socialist_coder 15y ago
Especially since Skype gives you all of their functionality for free. I'm really wondering what advantage this has over Skype group chats (which is free).
- dasil003 15y ago
  Without even looking at their page: logging, persistence, availability, API hooks. Skype is awesome and is the cornerstone of my team for private communications. But if history is only transferred when parties are connected, and only between people who are explicitly added to each chat, it leaves a giant gaping hole in group communications.
  - socialist_coder 15y ago
    Those problems do come up, yes, but they are never serious nor annoying enough to leave me searching for a better solution.
  - moe 15y ago
    logging, persistence, availability, API hooks. Skype has all that, except the API hooks (which I'd expect pretty low on anyones list). Also not sure what you mean by "availability". Skype is about as available as it gets - Everyone and their dog already has it installed.
    - dasil003 15y ago
      Availability means it's online all the time. A server isn't, people's Skype isn't. Maybe it works for you if you're all in the same office, but I have people in 8 different time zones.
prostoalex 15y ago
It matches HipChat's pricing https://www.hipchat.com/sign_up?src=pricing https://www.hipchat.com/sign_up?src=pricing
smackfu 15y ago
I cannot imagine a viable business that would blink at $10 per month for a productive tool that people use.

simonw 15y ago

It's business collaboration software. $10/month is absolutely nothing for company paying 5 people's salaries.

bdr 15y ago

Because when you're at a startup, your time is worth more than that.

saurik 15y ago
It's just that setting up IRC is so trivial: apt-get install inspircd. I have been running an IRC server (a reasonably public one, even) since 1994, and even at $250/hour (the highest hourly wage I've seen people reasonably claim for technology work) I don't spend $10/month administering it (and remember: that's just for 5 users...).
- donw 15y ago
  Of course, you need a machine (virtual or otherwise) in the office for that, which will always be online. And you can't just add outside contractors to your chat server if they're not in-office, or connect up yourself if you're on the road. You also don't get searchable history (archives) by default, which is a big win in a lot of situations. I'm an experienced sysadmin and developer, so managing an IRC daemon doesn't scare me, yet I'd pay $10 per month for all of that in a heartbeat.
  - saurik 15y ago
    Ok, if you are a company that doesn't have any machines in the office that are always online, I'll buy it. I was about to wonder "where did you find such a workplace...", but I failed to take into consideration non-technical companies. (That said, again: it isn't $10/month, it is $2/user, and the /user price increases with more users. Even for my relatively tiny company, it would be more than $10/month.)

orenmazor 15y ago

we've been using campfire forever (and I, for one, am super happy to see competition. will definitely be trying this out). we want the functionality of IRC, but we dont want to deal with setup, maintenance, security, etc. its the standard SaaS argument: the base case might seem easy, but the details are going to drive you to the bottle.

rdl 15y ago

Internal to a team, not for large-scale public servers. $10-20/mo to have everyone on your team have IRC without having to manage it, and with features rolled out over time (disconnected mode is nice, and search, and maybe bots) seems totally reasonable.

jfarmer 15y ago

$10/month is expensive only if your time is cheap.

socialist_coder 15y ago

Especially since Skype gives you all of their functionality for free. I'm really wondering what advantage this has over Skype group chats (which is free).

dasil003 15y ago
Without even looking at their page: logging, persistence, availability, API hooks. Skype is awesome and is the cornerstone of my team for private communications. But if history is only transferred when parties are connected, and only between people who are explicitly added to each chat, it leaves a giant gaping hole in group communications.
- socialist_coder 15y ago
  Those problems do come up, yes, but they are never serious nor annoying enough to leave me searching for a better solution.
- moe 15y ago
  logging, persistence, availability, API hooks. Skype has all that, except the API hooks (which I'd expect pretty low on anyones list). Also not sure what you mean by "availability". Skype is about as available as it gets - Everyone and their dog already has it installed.
  - dasil003 15y ago
    Availability means it's online all the time. A server isn't, people's Skype isn't. Maybe it works for you if you're all in the same office, but I have people in 8 different time zones.

prostoalex 15y ago

It matches HipChat's pricing https://www.hipchat.com/sign_up?src=pricing https://www.hipchat.com/sign_up?src=pricing

smackfu 15y ago

I cannot imagine a viable business that would blink at $10 per month for a productive tool that people use.