blog/2019/fragmented-communication/

[ahal]

https://ahal.ca/blog/2019/fragmented-communication/

[ahal]

Dan D wrote on 2019-05-22 02:23:46

I'm a Mozilla enthusiast, long-time occasional bug reporter, tester, etc.

I keep thinking: keybase.io is an open-source, independent chat app with a good security/data privacy story. It has a friendly UI, and seems relatively free of corporate gotchas, a rare combination.

Am I crazy for thinking this should be the app of choice for software teams which are skeptical of Slack for whatever reason/don't find it a good fit?

I know this is a weird thing to ask on a personal blog, rather than an official Mozilla channel. But honest,y much of this discussion around replacing IRC is publicly happening via blog posts. I am also on a team that uses Slack, and I wonder why we don't use something like keybase.io instead.

There is also Matrix, which is a lot like IRC, just newer and, if I recall correctly, provides standard ways of securing data, and/or keeping it private. The puri.sm folks seem to like it, and they're pretty intense about the free/libre ethos, so maybe that's another option? It has most of the downsides from a UX perspective that IRC has, like being a very nerdy, text-focused product with no one client GUI app to rule them all. It does have most of IRC's upsides too: decentralized, open standard, bring your own client (including web clients)... Interoperability with existing chat standards...

So I humbly suggest either keybase.io for more of Slack's UI polish/charm, but geekier and less centralized/corporate. Or Matrix for a relatively 1:1 (feature-and-UX-similar), modern IRC replacement.

[ahal]

ahal wrote on 2019-05-22 13:33:47

Dan D

My understanding is that those options are being considered. The evaluation process is just getting underway, and there will be a chance for public participation. See this post for more details:
http://exple.tive.org/blarg/2019/05/14/the-next-part-of-the-process/

[ahal]

Philip Durbin wrote on 2019-05-25 11:21:01

Hi! This is a fantastic blog post and I quoted several points you made about Mozilla's communication style at pdurbin/slopi-communication#22

I'd love to find something under mozilla.org about Mozilla's communication style, especially with regard to decision making happening in the open and being logged or otherwise record in public places (you mentioned Bugzilla and IRC logs, for example).

Andrew, can you please help me find a reference? Thanks again for this great blog post!

[ahal]

ahal wrote on 2019-05-25 21:17:35

Philip

Hi, and thanks! I'm not aware of any official stance or documentation with regards to public record keeping. It's just how it's always been and many of us old-timers just take it for granted (though as you might tell from this post, in recent years it's been less like this).

The logbot site I linked is a side project from a Mozilla employee, and I believe the older logs have been saved and passed on from Mozillians who ran logging scripts back in the day. I share your belief that having publicly indexed logs is benecifial. Hopefully we'll continue to have this ability with whatever replaces IRC.