[Talk-us] Slack: Do we need an Alternative (was Planning an import in Price George...)

[Rihards]

On 2018.06.12. 11:08, Greg Morgan wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Jun 11, 2018 at 9:42 AM, Martijn van Exel <m at rtijn.org
> <mailto:m at rtijn.org>> wrote:
> 
>     I would argue that it is a good thing that people converge on one
>     platform to talk about OSM. Whether Slack remains the right choice
>     is something we can debate. It was really the only feasible choice
>     that was available to us at the time we (OSM US) felt the need for a
>     better platform for conversations. Slack has done its job as a
>     for-profit non-open company well in the sense that we're somewhat
>     locked in now. I dislike the fact that it is a walled garden, and
>     becoming more so, as much as anyone who values free and open data
>     and software. If there is a practical way to improve that situation,
>     we should pursue it.
> 
>     Finally, please stop your unpleasant trolling, it has no place in OSM.
> 
>     Martijn
> 
> I am thinking of something that happened _even before Slack was
> around_.  I found out late that, let's say it was, USSOTUM was already a
> go and that planning in high gear.  Come to find out that I guess that I
> should be reading the US Chapter's blog every day.  I don't recall
> seeing the information in an email.  Well with the job that I have now,
> I have only so much time to divide between mapping and other activities.
> Sometimes all I have time for is a quick scan of email and adding a
> single node.  My older phone was only 8G.  I had no room for anther app
> like slack.  What is nice about email is that I can watch various OSM
> messages along with various github notifications with just one app.  I
> just don't have time for all the social media channels out there.
> 
> If part of the mission of the US chapter is to "spread the word", then
> the chapter is not succeeding by selecting just one channel.  Not
> everyone has a nice phone to load apps, or would care about slack,
> facebook, or Twitter.  I think that the board needs to use all of the
> systems to get the word out.

First, kudos to everybody who contributed to building the community -
that is a very valuable work, and I can see how it is tempting to choose
something already used at work to kickstart things.

But I'm also not using Slack because of their terrible terms and the
completely closed ecosystem. Building on top of existing open solutions
would have been much more preferred - whether it's a better mobile
client and gateway for IRC or some other solution.

Using open solutions is close to eating our own dogfood. While not using
OSM while advocating it would seem silly, I can imagine a conversation
like this:
- this is OSM, an open map
- oh, I love open things, let me map something - and where's the community?
- it's in this proprietary chat app that does not interact with anything
else
- oh

There are parallels with the use of the closed BitKeeper for Linux
development, which gave rise to the development of git. Open communities
do conflict with closed ecosystems eventually.

> https://www.openstreetmap.us/
> We support OpenStreetMap by holding annual conferences, providing
> community resources, building partnerships, and by spreading the word.  
> 
> Regards,
> Greg-- 
 Rihards