Community: mention open-source communication option(s)

[toastal]

Feature request

Current Behavior

The only options listed are FPChat (Slack) and a Discord guild on Discord's servers. These are not open source, are hostile to alternative clients, and require community member agree to a terms of service that could change at any point behind for-profit companies. (Can read more here from Drew DeVault).

Desired Behavior

At least mention open-source alternatives as unofficial places to meet for discussions so people know where to go.

Suggested Solution

I'm not asking to take down the current options, but a mention to say #fp-ts on Libera.Chat or a Matrix Space on Matrix.org would be nice. Currently they do not exist.

Who does this impact? Who is this for?

Users that oppose the closed-source options: open-source proponents, people with low-end hardware that can't run Electron or web apps, people with disabilities that need alternative clients, people with privacy/security concerns, people in countries that these servers are censored from (e.g. US sanctions), or anti-capitalists not wanting to participate in the data-harvesting economy more than necessary.

Describe alternatives you've considered

I went to #fp-ts on Libera.Chat and saw no one. I search Matrix.org and there were no results.

[samhh]

This issue unfortunately transcends fp-ts. The Haskell Foundation has settled on Slack as well, although understandably their rationale was that they need to pick their battles as a community. For what it's worth I'd participate in an #fp-ts channel on IRC.

You could make a similar case against GitHub. It's created its own workflows that keep you locked into the platform rather than working in tandem with Git's native features a la Sourcehut. I believe there have been geopolitical concerns in the past as well.

Likewise copyleft licensing as opposed to MIT if you're politically aligned as I am.

Alas like the Haskell Foundation I'm picking my battles. I use Sourcehut and copyleft by default but fp-ts-std is on GitHub under MIT because on balance I'm more interested in seeing functional programming succeed.

[enricopolanski]

I joined your chat as I'm a fan of irc myself. But fwiw, I'm against spreading the userbase more than it is.

[toastal]

I'm in the IRC room now from the bouncer provider by Sourcehut. I don't believe spreading a userbase is a problem though, because certain people, like myself, will not join these closed communities unless absolutely necessary. Expecting it to be vibrant and lots of chatter and official support is a bit much, but even an unofficial endorsement could go a long way for the people that would participate but don't have an option that meets their needs.