[andrepd]

Why would you force people to use nonfree proprietary software in order to contribute to an open project?

[StavrosK]

That's a good point. I find Zulip better than Slack/Discord for discourse (even better than mailing lists, with some caveats, and it's Apache-licensed:

https://zulipchat.com/

[outime]

I knew about Zulip but wasn’t aware of the free hosted plan. I can truly see it now as an alternative for orgs who can’t afford running these things themselves.

[StavrosK]

I use the free hosted plan and intend to pay for it when I need more features. It's excellent.

[nerdponx]

IRC?

[hollander]

Free as in "Google"?

[zajio1am]

With mailing lists, users can use any mail client regardless of server side.

[andrepd]

?

[nervousvarun]

Guessing the implication being that Google is ultimately not "free" w/ respect to your personal data and how it is used.

[andrepd]

Yes but how does Google enter into this?

[feanaro]

It doesn't directly, only as a meme, or archetype. The same way that beer is not directly related to the concept of gratis, but you still use it in the illustrative phrase "free as in beer".

[monadgonad]

The mailing list is provided by Google Groups

[chronogram]

Help! Help! I’m being forced to use non free proprietary software!

Can just have both.