I don't really agree with this sentiment, because the author is not really comparing software very thoroughly and completely ignoring the fact that the reason Slack and the likes are finding...
I don't really agree with this sentiment, because the author is not really comparing software very thoroughly and completely ignoring the fact that the reason Slack and the likes are finding widespread adoption because they offer a simpler discussion platform to the tech illiterate. No one knows how to use NeoMutt. Everyone knows how to use Outlook, or Slack. Email is not very secure and it is not immune to being tracked at all. While true, Slack is tracking what you do, there are platforms like Slack that don't (see Matrix or XMPP) that people can use without understanding the CLI.
Email ultimately puts security into the hands of the user, which we now know, just isn't going to work to make communications on the internet actually secure. And you aren't going to evade tracking by sending plain test messages through the internet.
Another thing is that services like Slack don't require someone to immediately answer you, unlike the author states. You can just message someone or ask a question, and someone will get back to you when they can.
The author just seems to be defending his own choice of communication and damning everyone else because they're all noobs that need to have a GUI on a shit operating system like Windows (gasp) and aren't using ancient cool formats like email.
Also, email handles images way better than Slack does. When someone sends me an image via email, my client shows it at the largest reasonable size (full size if it's small, scaled down to fit the...
Also, email handles images way better than Slack does. When someone sends me an image via email, my client shows it at the largest reasonable size (full size if it's small, scaled down to fit the window if it's large and allows me to quickly see the full-size image by just clicking on it and pressing space). Whereas in Slack, I get a small image that I almost never can read, need to click on it, which opens a new tab that gives me the option to click again to view at full size. It's ridiculous.
Without a qualifier of what sort of discussion we are talking about this is, to put it bluntly, pure nonsense. If we are talking about a one on one relation then email is indeed a very suitable...
Without a qualifier of what sort of discussion we are talking about this is, to put it bluntly, pure nonsense. If we are talking about a one on one relation then email is indeed a very suitable platform and possibly even the best platform out there as it is highly software agnostic and can be accessed and used from basically most devices people use.
As soon as you move away from that one on one relation email simply doesn't do. At best it poorly emulates an old fashioned forum when everyone in the mail hits reply all and everyone replies neatly in order, but that is often not the case. At that point you need to start working with mailing lists, etc.
Frankly this author is effectively saying that the rest of the world is wrong because they are comfortable with how email for their use cases. The same argument often used in the past for IRC when slack became popular and later discord as well. IRC will filling a certain role isn't really easy to use or to understand for people coming new into it. Something I have resisted for the longest time myself (I still sit on IRC in a few holdover channels though) but have come to accept.
To me it seems the author is conflating their reservations about tracking with general usability.
I can understand the author's position, but only in the context of his very specific niche: "legacy" open source software projects. I say "legacy" to indicate that these are mature, with active...
I can understand the author's position, but only in the context of his very specific niche: "legacy" open source software projects.
I say "legacy" to indicate that these are mature, with active developers who joined long ago.
And in this communities, not only are all members technically competent, but are very used to communicating via these channels. The fact that Slack has a slick UI, has message history without having to setup a relay server, and great integration with github/lab/bitbucket, jira, G-suite, etc. and of course comes with all this on one install doesn't matter.
But if I was starting an OSS project today, I'd use Slack (or maybe Matrix but purely because of cost), still use Email (I really think the author is a bit loco there; slack doesn't replace email, it doesn't intend to), use github/lab for PRs, patches, etc.
And the question really for the author is: how much new blood are you getting, and is that a problem? The existing members can no doubt do fine with what they're using now, but how long are they going to be active in their 50s, 60s, 70s?
I don't really agree with this sentiment, because the author is not really comparing software very thoroughly and completely ignoring the fact that the reason Slack and the likes are finding widespread adoption because they offer a simpler discussion platform to the tech illiterate. No one knows how to use NeoMutt. Everyone knows how to use Outlook, or Slack. Email is not very secure and it is not immune to being tracked at all. While true, Slack is tracking what you do, there are platforms like Slack that don't (see Matrix or XMPP) that people can use without understanding the CLI.
Email ultimately puts security into the hands of the user, which we now know, just isn't going to work to make communications on the internet actually secure. And you aren't going to evade tracking by sending plain test messages through the internet.
Another thing is that services like Slack don't require someone to immediately answer you, unlike the author states. You can just message someone or ask a question, and someone will get back to you when they can.
The author just seems to be defending his own choice of communication and damning everyone else because they're all noobs that need to have a GUI on a shit operating system like Windows (gasp) and aren't using ancient cool formats like email.
Also, email handles images way better than Slack does. When someone sends me an image via email, my client shows it at the largest reasonable size (full size if it's small, scaled down to fit the window if it's large and allows me to quickly see the full-size image by just clicking on it and pressing space). Whereas in Slack, I get a small image that I almost never can read, need to click on it, which opens a new tab that gives me the option to click again to view at full size. It's ridiculous.
Without a qualifier of what sort of discussion we are talking about this is, to put it bluntly, pure nonsense. If we are talking about a one on one relation then email is indeed a very suitable platform and possibly even the best platform out there as it is highly software agnostic and can be accessed and used from basically most devices people use.
As soon as you move away from that one on one relation email simply doesn't do. At best it poorly emulates an old fashioned forum when everyone in the mail hits reply all and everyone replies neatly in order, but that is often not the case. At that point you need to start working with mailing lists, etc.
Frankly this author is effectively saying that the rest of the world is wrong because they are comfortable with how email for their use cases. The same argument often used in the past for IRC when slack became popular and later discord as well. IRC will filling a certain role isn't really easy to use or to understand for people coming new into it. Something I have resisted for the longest time myself (I still sit on IRC in a few holdover channels though) but have come to accept.
To me it seems the author is conflating their reservations about tracking with general usability.
I can understand the author's position, but only in the context of his very specific niche: "legacy" open source software projects.
I say "legacy" to indicate that these are mature, with active developers who joined long ago.
And in this communities, not only are all members technically competent, but are very used to communicating via these channels. The fact that Slack has a slick UI, has message history without having to setup a relay server, and great integration with github/lab/bitbucket, jira, G-suite, etc. and of course comes with all this on one install doesn't matter.
But if I was starting an OSS project today, I'd use Slack (or maybe Matrix but purely because of cost), still use Email (I really think the author is a bit loco there; slack doesn't replace email, it doesn't intend to), use github/lab for PRs, patches, etc.
And the question really for the author is: how much new blood are you getting, and is that a problem? The existing members can no doubt do fine with what they're using now, but how long are they going to be active in their 50s, 60s, 70s?