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Ask HN: What do you use for chat?

9 points by colinhowe ↗ HN
We've been using Hipchat a while but the lack of real Ubuntu support sucks. So, we're scouting for alternatives.

Must haves:

  * Desktop application
  * Web application
  * Good code pasting
  * Easy for non-coders to use
What do you guys use?

19 comments

[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 47.6 ms ] thread
adrianhoward
[apologies for lack of decent punctuation and caps - shift key broken]

skype when i have to.... but generally i try to avoid chat completely. much prefer to just talk to somebody face to face or on the phone. if it's not important enough to warrant that then it's probably just a way for me to avoid actually doing some work.

lzm
I rather prefer talking via text. It's quicker, doesn't ruin my concentration as much, and doesn't bother my coworkers. I'm also always with headphones on so having to take them off to listen to someone is a big hassle.
andyhmltn
Google chat using the messages app in OSX ML.
tunnuz
Skype on MacOS, Windows Phone 7, Windows 7 and Ubuntu. Sucks a bit on Ubuntu.
rpwilcox
My current team uses http://www.jaconda.im for chat. Before that most teams just used Skype chat groups.

Why Jaconda is cool:

  1. Web interface OR it works over GChat. So I can use my native IM client
  2. There's a pause chat feature, which pauses the chat from your perspective, for heads down work.
munimkazia
Jaconda is nice. We use it too, but I have trouble integrating it with google talk accounts from a google apps domain.
rpwilcox
Interesting. Hate to say it, but that exact setup works for me :-\",
AdamGibbins
IRC + qWebIRC + your choice of desktop client. Ship out a preconfigured client so its easy for the non-techies.

Paste code into a pastebin then link from IRC.

waxjar
To chat with my friends I just use Facebook. I configured Messages (OS X) to receive its messages (Facebook uses Jabber).

I also hang out on IRC, which I do most of my chatting on.

DavidPP
Why not use Hipchat through XMPP?

Since we mostly use OSX, we configured Adium with an inline image plugin : http://www.adiumxtras.com/index.php?a=xtras&xtra_id=7926

We also use a group chat theme that replicate hipchat look and also support "system message" formatting : https://github.com/davidpaquet/hipchat-adium-message-style (I forked it to add "Bitbucket" and "Trello" as system messages senders but the real work is from Seth Chisamore).

I'm pretty sure you could achieve somethign like this with Pidgin.

aliukani
Not a company guy, just a student at Northeastern University's CS school. We have an IRC channel, but it's tough to explain to freshmen how to ssh into a university box and use screen+irssi, and then get them to keep doing it. If they use Windows you also have to show them how to set up PuTTY. I'm not against teaching people how to do this, but teaching this doesn't scale. That's why our IRC channel is mostly upperclassmen and alumni.

Now whenever we need to coordinate for student groups (like ACM) we use Facebook groups and Facebook chat (which is XMPP, so I plug my account into Adium).

I'm working on a guide to screen+irssi to get more people on our IRC server, but still I'd trade our IRC&Facebook setup for something like Grove.io or Hipchat.

pasbesoin
What ever happened to... was it Mibbit?

https://www.mibbit.com/

I haven't looked at it in several years. Don't know whether it is (still | ever) useful/viable in your kind of context.

anujkk
I occasionally use gtalk(inside gmail) and facebook to chat with friends and family. That is once in 2-3 weeks.

I use IRC more often.

I don't use desktop/mobile applications to chat. I don't need code pasting features in chat.

apoorvsaxena
I came across a new product advised by a friend, its name is http://talk.to which allows connecting Google, Facebook, IRC, and PingPong accounts.

It also allows you to send SMS to the listed contacts, that too for free with no limits. Have become a great fan of their design, ease of use and lightning fast speed. Its worth checking out.