Ouch. A large OpenStreetMap group has been using a proprietary chat platform as a community space for ~10 yrs. Now they gotta pay a $80k/yr (or $10k??) for usage. 🤯😱😢
Slack (now Salesforce) now wants to charge @OpenStreetMapUS for all ~6k users on their server. 😢😢 Ouch.
This sort of bait & switch is why open, community owned platforms (like this!) are vital!
read more on the slack (while you still can??!): https://osmus.slack.com/archives/C029HV951/p1705438543546349
#OpenStreetMap #OSM #FreeSoftware #Cassandra
@amapanda @OpenStreetMapUS just imagine all the development for matrix you could've funded with that money. I hope they move away. (There should be tools for bringing the data with you)
@NafiTheBear @amapanda @OpenStreetMapUS This is exactly what always ends up frustrating me about these cases. Nominally open communities going "but Matrix/IRC/whatever is not good enough", and instead of investing time/money into contributing to fixing that problem, they invest that same time or money into buying a proprietary solution...
This happens *so often* and it's a really good example of how a sense of solidarity is frequently completely missing in open-source (and otherwise 'open') communities. This stuff isn't going to happen by itself.
@joepie91 what bothers me most is those fork ways. going to closed alternatives in the first place is sometimes fine you want to get as many ppl. as possible on board so that you project grows, but there is this critical part, where you are asked for money, then you should be: "ok I invest that money for a move to an open source solution instead" and this is where the projects usually say: "everyone is used to this now, we can't move". which I think is bullshit.