Continuing the discussion from [Design process of ROS 2](
https://discourse.ros.org/t/design-process-of-ros-2/7782/6):
After reading through an engaging thread over in the *Design Process of ROS-2* category, I wanted to follow up on a particular point made by @wjwwood by re-opening a general discussion for it:
[quote="wjwwood, post:6, topic:7782"]
I think one thing were missing is *good* instantaneous chat.
[/quote]
https://giphy.com/gifs/gOkawaguYNiSI/html5
:+1: ^ :100:! I totally agree that adding community channel for ephemeral communication could really help wrt. many of the issues raised in the related thread. To help push this forward, I'd like to kick start with some callbacks to past discussions, current solutions, and some of my own suggestions. Please feel free to add references you think I might have missed.
---
# Past Discussions
http://lists.ros.org/pipermail/ros-users/2016-March/069890.html
https://discourse.ros.org/t/equivalent-of-slack-random/102
---
# Current Solutions
## IRC
> Old school, but kind of dead with few modern features or popularity
http://irc.lc/freenode/ros
## Slack
> Been there done that, proprietary and limited free tear
https://rosorg.slack.com
## Discord
> Feature rich, support for audio, polished multi-platform
https://discordapp.com/open-source
## Rocket Chat
> Open Source, hosting like Discourse, video conferencing
https://rocket.chat
## Gitter
> Developer orientated and integratable (from GITLAB)
https://gitter.im
---
# Suggestions
I'd like Discord or Rocket Chat, as I appreciate voice/video chat rooms given I'm quite a typo typist, but Gitter seem most applicable given our community software focus. Before reading more up on the compassion between the three, I didn't realize that Rocket Chat also supported screen sharing ([via jitsi](
https://rocket.chat/docs/user-guides/voice-and-video-conferencing/
)), which would also be helpful for presenting or demonstrations.
https://stackshare.io/stackups/gitter-vs-rocketchat-vs-slack
https://www.slant.co/versus/5637/10600/~discord_vs_rocket-chat
https://www.slant.co/improve/options/4567/~gitter-im-review
I've used Discord before with another software project ([albeit a much smaller example community](
https://discordapp.com/invite/aRUAYFN)) and it liked using it, given the UI clients worked well both from an installed application or web browser. Given its gaming origins, having features like push-to-talk or voice-activation made sitting in an open-ended VOP enabled chatroom for prolonged discussions quite natural and low barrier. However, the interface is designed more around the individual, like a social media platform; though I haven't administrated an org on Discord, I'd imagine the community management infrastructure might not be as scailable as with Gitter or Rocket Chat.
I've also used Rocket Chat when interacting with the [Hyperledger Community](
https://chat.hyperledger.org/). Although not as polished as Discord, Rocket Chat it is open source, and has similar hosting model like Discourse. However, Gitter's integration with the existing platforms we already use seem like the dead ringer. To get a better feel than just is mono landing page, you can check out the [gitter readme docs here](
https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitter/webapp/tree/master/docs).
https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitter/webapp
---
[Visit Topic](
https://discourse.ros.org/t/an-instantaneous-chat-platform-for-the-ros-community/7794/1) or reply to this email to respond.
If you do not want to receive messages from ros-users please use the unsubscribe link below. If you use the one above, you will stop all of ros-users from receiving updates.
______________________________________________________________________________
ros-users mailing list
ros-users@lists.ros.org
http://lists.ros.org/mailman/listinfo/ros-users
Unsubscribe: <
http://lists.ros.org/mailman//options/ros-users>
(text/plain)