Or maybe just stop?!? [LWN.net]

Or maybe just stop?!?

Posted Feb 21, 2026 17:37 UTC (Sat) by intelfx (subscriber, #130118)
In reply to: Or maybe just stop?!? by marcH
Parent article: Open-source Discord alternatives

> Yes: communication is not an exact science. Never has been. Must still keep trying!

This is inconsequential. I demonstrated a specific reason why "use right tools for right use-cases" is not a solution to the problem Cyberax raised.

> The real issue raised by Cyberax was the other way round: users wrongly expecting public discussions to be recorded and available. This is the only issue I was referring to.

Well, what *I* meant was that it is not a wrong expectation. It is a correct expectation.

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Or maybe just stop?!?

Posted Feb 21, 2026 17:53 UTC (Sat) by marcH (subscriber, #57642) [Link]

> I demonstrated a specific reason why "use right tools for right use-cases" is not a solution to the problem Cyberax raised.

There is no other solution and it solves the issue the majority of the time. It will never be 100% of the time because communication is not an exact science.

> > users wrongly expecting public discussions to be recorded and available.

> Well, what *I* meant ...

I assumed you were answering the bit you quoted.

> ... was that it is not a wrong expectation. It is a correct expectation.

Back to reality, the need for ephemeral discussions will always exist and "incorrect" tools for them will too. I'm sorry but the world will never get rid of those "incorrect", ephemeral tools just because you don't like them. At best you can dictate and inconvenience the projects you have a strong influence on. Merely inconvenience because people will find and use other ephemeral channels.

Here's a typical example:
- I couldn't figure how to do X, does anyone know?
- Did you check page Y?
- Ha! No I missed Y, thanks. How come it's not linked from Z that I did fiund?
- Good idea: Z should link to Y. Can you send a pull request?
- Will do! Thanks again.

Projects generally do not want to record and archive these, hence direct them to ephemeral tools. Yes, there will always be collateral damage where some things that should be archived, won't. I'm afraid we can only try to mitigate that collateral damage.