| I agree that we are not entitled to Jitsi (8x8?) providing us with a free service. But it is not as clear of a cut as saying "Run it yourself then!" to a bunch of spoilt brats. At the height of the pandemic I started using Jitsi for all my conferencing needs and was very happy to find that 8x8 had a paid-for option so that I could support Jitsi development through a 8x8 Meet Pro subscription. However, in December 2022 8x8 decided to axe the service and replace it with their "X Series plans" that are an order of magnitude more expensive (can not even find quotes easily right now [1]) and clearly geared towards large-scale enterprise. "By moving to 8x8 X Series, you will have access to features
like business SMS/MMS, unlimited calling to select countries, fax, voicemail transcription, integrations with business applications, call queuing, analytics, and more.", sounds great right? But not really to someone wanting to have a fixed URL and make twelve or so video calls per week on a budget. [1]: https://www.8x8.com/products/plans-and-pricing This effectively forced me to go and "freeload" on Jitsi again, despite being willing to pay. However, I refuse to go crawling to Facebook, Google, or Microsoft for an account as I worked long and hard to divorce them already. It is doubly frustrating when you know that 8x8 has an account infrastructure (I have used it) and they are deciding not to offer it to us. So, yes, we are not entitled to their free labour. But it is not like their track record is perfect here. This could all have been done much smoother. To end on a more positive note, I posted this story a few days ago [2] and here are some alternatives that were brought up: https://call.element.io https://jitsi.member.fsf.org https://meet.fsci.in [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37258646 Do seriously consider supporting organisation that provide these services so that we can continue to have nice things. I would also love for there to be a Jitsi alternative out there with a "leaner" technology stack and higher focus on security that (paranoid?) people such as myself would feel more comfortable hosting on our own. |