[lug] Jitsi, etc. (Michael Hirsch)

[Jonathan Corbet]

On Fri, 22 May 2020 16:24:34 -0600
Dru Whitledge <druw at oneimage.com> wrote:

> Any opinions on why OSS has failed us as a "free" solution for Public 
> Infrastructure software and Zoom won that lotto -- clearly with an 
> impetuous, emotional stampede to the bright shiny object -- that now 
> seems unstoppable (used as a verb) even if Jitsi could match the quality?

FWIW, I just hosted a 50-person development conference with BigBlueButton:

	https://lwn.net/Articles/820337/

I got lots of comments from attendees about how they like the platform,
better than Zoom.  We're currently planning to use it for the Linux
Plumbers Conference, which is an order of magnitude larger.

OSS hasn't failed us at all, it has provided at least two high-quality
free solutions.  But this isn't just a matter of the software; we're
talking about a service that has to be supported.  In such a setting, it's
going to be hard to get away from proprietary offerings; if you're
investing in the infrastructure to support vast numbers of people talking
over the net, it's going to be hard to resist the temptation to do
anything you can to lock those people into your platform...

jon