Re: [ESPResSo-devel] gitter chat for ESPResSo

[Ulf Schiller]

Hi,

I don't know Gitter but I have been using Slack (with Github 
integration) on various spells. I have become less than enthusiastic, 
and I agree with Georg and Peter on the potential downsides.

Regarding the pros and cons, I would not weight out chat vs email. But 
in my opinion the pro arguments are a bit anecdotal.

On 07/13/2016 05:41 AM, Peter Košovan wrote:
>         + More responsive than the mailing list

From my experience with Slack I would say that the trendiness may make 
people more responsive initially, but eventually everyone will fall back 
to their usual habits.

>         + Syntax highlighting for code

Visual sweetener, but do you really want to include larger chunks of 
code in chat messages?

>         + Desktop and mobile clients

Holds for virtually any platform these days.

>         + Does not clutter your inbox

Filter rules for email can achieve the same (with the advantage in my 
view that the recipient has control over sorting). Once you use chat 
channels for several projects and groups, it becomes as horrendous as an 
unfiltered email inbox (think searching for a conversation in 10,000s of 
messages without subject threads).

>         This chat makes discussing short questions or new features very
>         easy and seems like a nice extension to the mailing list to me.

I do agree this can be useful if used wisely, but really just as a 
replacement for IRC, Jabber, or Skype. It's basically a question of 
synchronous vs asynchronous communication and push vs pull subscription. 
Chat may be useful for discussing specialized topics in a smaller group. 
Gitter, Slack, HipChat, etc. offer a closer integration of the chat 
client with Github (plus convenience features such as syntax 
highlighting), but at the risk of scattering information on yet another 
platform.

That being said, I'm not opposed to trying Gitter - I'd think of it as 
the trendy version of a phone call. But be sure to keep the relevant 
information somewhere documented, structured, and traceable (like 
meeting minutes). I think many of us can't afford the time to follow yet 
another communication channel on a regular basis. Just my 2 pennies...

Cheers,
Ulf

--
Dr. Ulf D. Schiller
Assistant Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Faculty Scholar, School of Health Research
Clemson University
161 Sirrine Hall
Clemson, SC 29634

Office: 299c Sirrine Hall
Phone: 1-864-656-2669
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