28 votes

Slack is acquiring (and discontinuing) HipChat and Stride from Atlassian

23 comments

  1. Deimos
    Link
    Some more info from some of the involved companies/people: https://slackhq.com/atlassian-and-slack-partnership https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/new-atlassian-slack-partnership...
    6 votes
  2. [7]
    Neverland
    (edited )
    Link
    Wow. Well good thing my tiny team already moved over to Stride! Edit: unless I really do have ADD, I swear the title did not have Stride in it originally :/

    Wow. Well good thing my tiny team already moved over to Stride!

    Edit: unless I really do have ADD, I swear the title did not have Stride in it originally :/

    5 votes
    1. [6]
      Deimos
      Link Parent
      Stride is shutting down as well:

      Stride is shutting down as well:

      As part of this partnership, Atlassian has made an equity investment in Slack, and Slack has acquired the IP for Stride and Hipchat Cloud, both of which we will discontinue.

      10 votes
      1. [5]
        Neverland
        Link Parent
        Jesus. Wtf. I didn’t read the the linked text as I’m on 2G data temporarily, and everything but amp, Tildes, and HN is nearly unusable.

        Jesus. Wtf. I didn’t read the the linked text as I’m on 2G data temporarily, and everything but amp, Tildes, and HN is nearly unusable.

        9 votes
        1. [4]
          BoredomAddict
          Link Parent
          If that's not a testament to the lightweight, "boring" design of the site then I don't know what is.

          Tildes is usable on 2G data

          If that's not a testament to the lightweight, "boring" design of the site then I don't know what is.

          27 votes
          1. [3]
            Neverland
            Link Parent
            Yeah, it’s really cool. I was going to dm Deimos with a thank you for that, but I’m glad it came up organically. Just FYI, I am on 2G because my internet is down and I am in the EU on free...

            Yeah, it’s really cool. I was going to dm Deimos with a thank you for that, but I’m glad it came up organically.

            Just FYI, I am on 2G because my internet is down and I am in the EU on free T-mobile (US Plan) data. Gotta love free data in the EU, even at 2G.

            10 votes
            1. [2]
              Deimos
              Link Parent
              Haha, I'm glad to hear it's working okay. The latency is probably a bit bad since there's only the single server in Canada, but it's good to know that it's usable. It's really a shame that so much...

              Haha, I'm glad to hear it's working okay. The latency is probably a bit bad since there's only the single server in Canada, but it's good to know that it's usable. It's really a shame that so much of the internet isn't even functional on slow connections any more (and that nobody seems to care).

              15 votes
              1. Neverland
                Link Parent
                Yeah, being on 2G really made me see the upside of Google’s AMP program. I have talked some crap about it in the past, but to Google’s credit, they are taking on this exact issue.

                Yeah, being on 2G really made me see the upside of Google’s AMP program. I have talked some crap about it in the past, but to Google’s credit, they are taking on this exact issue.

                4 votes
  3. [13]
    Celeo
    Link
    Can anyone who's used either of HipChat/Stride and also Slack weigh in on the pros and cons of them? Though we use several Atlassian products at work, communications is done through Slack, so I've...

    Can anyone who's used either of HipChat/Stride and also Slack weigh in on the pros and cons of them?

    Though we use several Atlassian products at work, communications is done through Slack, so I've never used any other chat program for work communication (other than Jabber, maybe twice).

    4 votes
    1. [6]
      clerical_terrors
      Link Parent
      Slack is basically just really souped up IRC as far as user experience is concerned. PROS It has nice auto-embeds for images and such it has code blocks and an in-built paste function. It has...

      Slack is basically just really souped up IRC as far as user experience is concerned.

      PROS

      • It has nice auto-embeds for images and such
      • it has code blocks and an in-built paste function.
      • It has webhooks and support for app integration with things like google drive or Trello.
      • it uses a centralized chat log, so your chat history is synced across devices and you can see it without using a bouncer or bot.

      CONS

      • Permanent chat history and advanced features like screen sharing are locked behind pay-per-user subscription plans
      • Can't actually delete any accounts, only deactivate them
      • Electron = Om nom nom, RAM is delicious

      I used it for quite some time for Reddit moderation and a few disparate groups. After it while it was displaced by Discord for actual community chatting.

      12 votes
      1. Celeo
        Link Parent
        Yup, agreed on all points. All the gaming groups I'm a part of very quickly left Slack for Discord.

        Yup, agreed on all points. All the gaming groups I'm a part of very quickly left Slack for Discord.

      2. [5]
        Comment deleted by author
        Link Parent
        1. [4]
          clerical_terrors
          Link Parent
          Yeah Slack has both IRC and XMPP ports available, but self hosting is a non-starter.

          Yeah Slack has both IRC and XMPP ports available, but self hosting is a non-starter.

          3 votes
          1. [2]
            Comment deleted by author
            Link Parent
            1. clerical_terrors
              Link Parent
              RIP creesch and a bunch of other Reddit mods who refused to leave the comfort or their IRC setups.

              RIP creesch and a bunch of other Reddit mods who refused to leave the comfort or their IRC setups.

              2 votes
          2. [2]
            nonesuchluck
            Link Parent
            Riot.im / Matrix seems like a good option for self-hosted chat. 100% Free Software stack.

            Riot.im / Matrix seems like a good option for self-hosted chat. 100% Free Software stack.

            2 votes
    2. BoredomAddict
      Link Parent
      I used HipChat at my last job, I didn't have any real complaints about it but it didn't really have any features that amazed me either. It worked well for the company (~80 employees) but I don't...

      I used HipChat at my last job, I didn't have any real complaints about it but it didn't really have any features that amazed me either. It worked well for the company (~80 employees) but I don't have any experience with Slack to compare it with.

      2 votes
    3. [3]
      EstenGrove
      Link Parent
      I’ve used both, although Slack less so. HipChat I use as primary means of chat for our teams cuz it provides Great slash commands which allow us to store knowledge base snippets and quick to be...

      I’ve used both, although Slack less so. HipChat I use as primary means of chat for our teams cuz it provides Great slash commands which allow us to store knowledge base snippets and quick to be loaded quickly by using “#” for our team, which has improved workflow greatly. That said Slack has similar functionality. They both support custom bots, shared channels but I believe slack offered more in the way of workspace applications. All that said, Slack I think will be welcomed at my company but it’s more a matter of the migration for our users which will be a shitshow probably lol

      2 votes
      1. [2]
        Celeo
        Link Parent
        Thanks for sharing! Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how well they do the migrations; if it is a shitshow, that'll be adding insult to injury for many people.

        Thanks for sharing!

        Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how well they do the migrations; if it is a shitshow, that'll be adding insult to injury for many people.

        1 vote
        1. EstenGrove
          Link Parent
          Agreed. Unfortunately, I know my companies users and I can definitively say it’ll be a shit show to a degree internally. But, I just hope for a as seamless a transition as possible but workflow...

          Agreed. Unfortunately, I know my companies users and I can definitively say it’ll be a shit show to a degree internally. But, I just hope for a as seamless a transition as possible but workflow will likely turn glacial for a while, as we’ve become a bit reliant on our chats . Haha

    4. [2]
      what
      Link Parent
      To be honest, at this point I think they’re all similar enough to the point where it doesn’t really matter, unless you’re looking for a very specific feature. I actually quite liked Stride when I...

      To be honest, at this point I think they’re all similar enough to the point where it doesn’t really matter, unless you’re looking for a very specific feature.

      I actually quite liked Stride when I used it, although it was a bit too barebones, it was clear they pushed it a bit too early (even integration with some other Atlassian products wasn’t fully complete). To their defense, they were definitely adding new stuff in fairly quickly.

      My two favorite chat clients are:

      RocketChat all-around, because it’s open-source, and while the UI isn’t always perfect, it’s good enough, and it’s got every feature you could ever want.

      I think Zulip is the most exciting chat client right now. It’s open-source, and what’s special about it is that it takes threads (like in Slack, HipChat, etc) to the next level. Everything is a thread, and it’s refreshing compared to Slack's kind of second-class implementation. The biggest problem I see is that there’s a slightly higher learning curve, but it could be worth it for larger teams.

      That was a slight tangent, but hopefully there’s something in there.

      1 vote
      1. Celeo
        Link Parent
        Thanks for the comparison!

        Thanks for the comparison!

        1 vote
  4. [2]
    The_Blackthorn
    Link
    I use MS Teams at work and have no problems with it. I honestly kinda prefer it to Slack, especially where threading is concerned, but Slack does seem more polished in superficial ways. I can't...

    I use MS Teams at work and have no problems with it. I honestly kinda prefer it to Slack, especially where threading is concerned, but Slack does seem more polished in superficial ways.

    I can't imagine companies with local HipChat deployments are going to be happy - that was its big advantage over Slack (and it's integration into Atlassian products)

    3 votes
    1. Neverland
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      We use Stride now, as we already pay for it through Atlassian Cloud, and it obviously has great integration with Jira. We will be trying Teams next as we already pay for it via Office365. You may...

      We use Stride now, as we already pay for it through Atlassian Cloud, and it obviously has great integration with Jira. We will be trying Teams next as we already pay for it via Office365.

      You may have noticed "we already pay for it" mentioned twice above.. I wonder how many other groups will make the same call and choose to try to avoid Slack due to the fact they do not already pay for it. I am not sure this was the most genius move on Slack and Atlassian's part. Jira really pisses me off sometimes as well. I'm ready for an alternative.

      Why Jira pisses me off: I can't trust the antiquated UI with my data entry. It uses a popup for creating new tasks, and the popup does not save drafts in case of the many ways you can lose your data. Today, for no reason, after typing hundreds of characters the popup just disappears and I see a message that "we have lost contact with the server." Why would the popup close for that reason? Also, I did not actually lose connection to the internet. I usually use something like Word, or any other app that saves drafts to make big write ups, so I will not lose my data. It's 2018, save drafts. I am getting tired of Atlassian.

      Edit: I’m old, when I say popup I mean modal

      2 votes