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> many of my questions about open source projects have moved to GitHub and Discord Exact same experience here. Plus, being able to talk to maintainers directly

> many of my questions about open source projects have moved to GitHub and Discord Exact same experience here. Plus, being able to talk to maintainers directly has been great!

klabb3 2y ago
No doubt that discord has struck a good balance. Much better than GitHub imo. Both for maintainers to get a soft understanding of their users, and equally beneficial for users who can interact casually without being shamed for filing an issue the wrong way. There’s some weird blind spot with techies who are unable to see the appeal. UX matters in a “the medium is the message”-kind of way. Also, GitHub is only marginally more open than discord. It’s indexable at the moment, yes, but would not surprise me at all if MS is gonna make an offensive move to protect “their” (read our) data from AI competitors.
- verdverm 2y ago
  Chat is an important medium, especially as new generations of developers enter the field (they are more chat native). It certainly offers a more comfortable, or appropriate place, to ask beginner questions, or have quick back-n-forths, than GitHub issues/discussions offers. I've always wondered why GH didn't incorporate chat, seems like a big missed opportunity.
  - BlueTemplar 2y ago
    "New generations" being "younger than 45" ?
  - joshdavham 2y ago
    > I've always wondered why GH didn't incorporate chat I've been wondering the same thing recently. It's really inefficient for me to communicate with my fellow maintainers through Github discussions, issues and pull request conversations so my go-to has been private discord conversations. This is actually kind of inefficent since most open source repos will always have a bigger community on github vs on discord (not to mention that it's a hassle when some maintainers are Chinese and don't have access to Discord...)
kertoip_1 2y ago
Both of those platforms are making answers harder to find. For me, a person used to getting the correct answer in Stackoverflow right away, scrolling through endless GitHub discussions is a nightmare. Aren't we just moving backwards?
- verdverm 2y ago
  SO lost it's appeal, can't say exactly why, but it often has outdated content. I cannot say I get the correct answer there right away. Each platform fills different role, GitHub is project specific and access to maintainers, who do not monitor SO. Discord is chat, with maintainers and community. SO misses the connection to the people building and using the software, it's more like the Quora of software nowadays. That Discord and GitHub have terrible search is not detracting from their other benefits

> many of my questions about open source projects have moved to GitHub and Discord Exact same experience here. Plus, being able to talk to maintainers directly has been great!

klabb3 2y ago

No doubt that discord has struck a good balance. Much better than GitHub imo. Both for maintainers to get a soft understanding of their users, and equally beneficial for users who can interact casually without being shamed for filing an issue the wrong way. There’s some weird blind spot with techies who are unable to see the appeal. UX matters in a “the medium is the message”-kind of way. Also, GitHub is only marginally more open than discord. It’s indexable at the moment, yes, but would not surprise me at all if MS is gonna make an offensive move to protect “their” (read our) data from AI competitors.

verdverm 2y ago
Chat is an important medium, especially as new generations of developers enter the field (they are more chat native). It certainly offers a more comfortable, or appropriate place, to ask beginner questions, or have quick back-n-forths, than GitHub issues/discussions offers. I've always wondered why GH didn't incorporate chat, seems like a big missed opportunity.
- BlueTemplar 2y ago
  "New generations" being "younger than 45" ?
- joshdavham 2y ago
  > I've always wondered why GH didn't incorporate chat I've been wondering the same thing recently. It's really inefficient for me to communicate with my fellow maintainers through Github discussions, issues and pull request conversations so my go-to has been private discord conversations. This is actually kind of inefficent since most open source repos will always have a bigger community on github vs on discord (not to mention that it's a hassle when some maintainers are Chinese and don't have access to Discord...)

kertoip_1 2y ago

Both of those platforms are making answers harder to find. For me, a person used to getting the correct answer in Stackoverflow right away, scrolling through endless GitHub discussions is a nightmare. Aren't we just moving backwards?

verdverm 2y ago
SO lost it's appeal, can't say exactly why, but it often has outdated content. I cannot say I get the correct answer there right away. Each platform fills different role, GitHub is project specific and access to maintainers, who do not monitor SO. Discord is chat, with maintainers and community. SO misses the connection to the people building and using the software, it's more like the Quora of software nowadays. That Discord and GitHub have terrible search is not detracting from their other benefits