[Talk-us] Forums/email lists for OSM Discussions

[Shawn K. Quinn]

On 10/12/21 16:58, brad haack wrote:
> I'm in the anti Slack camp.  I don't use Slack for anything else.  I 
> don't want to use it for this either when we have better options. We 
> have mailing lists, the wiki, and the forum.    I never got the memo 
> that Slack was the main discussion app. Based on this thread there is
> obviously no consensus right now to use Slack as the prime discussion
> media.

My issues with Slack are that it is a proprietary  protocol,
gratuitously incompatible with things like IRC and intentionally not
able to easily be interfaced with most free software. I am on two Slack
servers  that don't offer any alternatives to stay connected to the
community, and I am looking forward to the day I  can drop that number
to zero.

[From SteveA:]

> I have referred to Slack as a "secret sauce walkie-talkie" before
> and do not use it at all, neither for OSM communication /
> collaboration nor any other purpose.  Why?  Because it seems (to me,
> obviously not others) that something proprietary and requiring a
> legal agreement with an onerous license (UNlike ODbL which is
> sensible and not onerous) is inconsistent with the spirit of OSM.
> That said, it does appear that many use Slack for OSM collaboration,
> and because I appear to be a "refusenik" regarding Slack, I miss out
> on what is communicated via its closed platform.  Frederick is
> correct ("whichever medium you choose you'll exclude some
> people..."), but he doesn't have to be correct forever in this
> regard.

I concur that it is quite anti-thematic for a project like OpenStreetMap
to be using something like Slack. (Honestly, the same could be said for
projects like WordPress as well, but that is a whole 'nother rant.) If
Slack was an open protocol, with alternative clients available as free
software, and not so rigidly glued to what Slack, Inc. itself puts out
as an official client, this would be far less of an issue.

Not quoted, but I saw the mention of Jitsi / Jitsi Meet in the thread as
well. How hard would it be to hack/repurpose an IRC daemon and client to
make our own analog to Slack?

-- 
Shawn K. Quinn <skquinn at rushpost.com>
http://www.rantroulette.com
http://www.skqrecordquest.com