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Open source threaded team chat?! (Changelog Interviews #607)

Sep 5, 2024
Alya Abbott from Zulip joins the conversation, shedding light on its journey as an open-source, threaded team chat platform. Their unique organizational features not only enhance communication but also rival giants like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Alya discusses self-hosting options, the importance of community feedback, and standout integrations. She also reveals how Zulip supports low-connectivity environments and the push towards diverse client options, all while navigating the challenges of user migration in a competitive landscape.
01:32:16

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Zulip's transition from a closed-source project to an open-source platform has fostered community engagement and independent development since its Dropbox acquisition.
  • The application's unique conversation organization, which assigns topics to discussions, greatly enhances clarity and mitigates the chaos of real-time messaging.

Deep dives

The Origins of Zulip

Zulip was launched in 2012 as a closed-source project before being acquired by Dropbox during its private beta phase. The acquisition aimed to integrate Zulip's chat capabilities into Dropbox's product suite, but the company ultimately chose a different direction. Dropbox later decided to open source the entire Zulip codebase, along with its complete commit history, as a generous contribution to the community. This move allowed Zulip to develop independently with no ongoing relationship with Dropbox, enabling users to benefit from open-source collaboration and community engagement.

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