Hi,
I'd like to submit for the community's consideration the idea of having a Kamailio Slack channel.
Emmanuel Schmidbauer took the initiative to create one:
The sign-in link is: https://join.slack.com/t/kamailio/shared_invite/enQtNDY1NDc5MzMwNDIzLWJlNTFh...
I for one think this is a good idea and, even if it doesn't ultimately get traction, it should be seriously considered by all.
Yes, I am aware of the open-source-purist objection to Slack; it is proprietary and perceived to be a "walled garden" of sorts. Furthermore, for those of us who have been on the Internet and involved in technology for a significant amount of time, the irony is not lost that it is little more than a packaging of the "IRC" experience in the bloated form of a modern JavaScript application.
I am also very reluctant to contribute in any way to the Balkanisation or fracturing of project-related communication channels. That thought gives me no comfort. These are all concerns of which I'm mindful.
Nevertheless:
- A great deal of professional real-time messaging and communication in many organisations has moved to Slack. This is also true of our company, and most companies we work with. Thus, a Slack channel for Kamailio would be highly complementary to a platform many other people are already using.
- Slack provides a polished and cohesive user experience, which is why it has become so popular. There are clients for every platform, and a seamless user experience that is also highly compatible with mobile and tablet.
One can shoehorn IRC into these media, but it clearly is not designed for them.
- There are already lots of open-source discussion channels and developer forums on Slack.
- Slack's inline Markdown and other conveniences make it _much_ easier to have discussions about code, configurations, etc., since it is easy to insert inline monospace and multiline blobs, attachments, etc. This is what inspired my switch to it.
- A lot of people positioned within the current wave of thinking about IT and technology, and thus a big part of our candidate user base, have never used IRC.
Anyway, for those interested, I propose that you join Emmanuel and I. Let's see how it works out?
-- Alex