Bioconductor is Moving from Slack to Zulip for Community Chat

Maria Doyle

1 month ago

[This article was first published on Bioconductor community blog, and kindly contributed to R-bloggers]. (You can report issue about the content on this page here)

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Bioconductor’s community chat is moving from Slack to Zulip on Monday 2 June 2025. The transition ensures long-term access to discussions and better reflects our open-source values.

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Why We’re Moving to Zulip

Our Slack Pro subscription ends on Sunday 1 June. Switching to the free tier would mean losing older messages — including valuable conversations, decisions, and shared knowledge. To preserve this history and stay true to our open principles, we’re migrating to Zulip.

Zulip is already trusted by many open-source and academic communities. Its structured, topic-based approach makes it easier to follow and return to discussions — a good match for Bioconductor’s distributed, collaborative nature.

Thanks to Zulip’s open-source sponsorship programme, Bioconductor receives access to the Standard plan at no cost, enabling high-quality, sustainable communication.

Note

To help preserve Bioconductor’s history, messages from public Slack channels will be migrated to Zulip.

We’re also exploring ways to improve long-term access to community discussions — such as public-read Zulip channels or archiving — in line with open-source norms. Any future changes will be clearly communicated and shaped by community input.

Questions? Contact maria.doyle [at] ul [dot] ie.

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Why Zulip is a Good Fit

Structured conversations: Topics within channels keep threads focused and easy to revisit.
Full history: No 90-day limit — all messages remain accessible.
Open source: Zulip aligns with Bioconductor’s mission and values.
Markdown and LaTeX: Ideal for technical and academic exchanges.

Screenshot of Bioconductor’s Zulip space in testing. Channels are shown on the left, with topic-based threads in the `#general` channel.

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How to Get Started

Final Slack export: We’ll export public Slack data on Friday 30 May.
Join Zulip:
- If you used your email on Bioconductor Slack, you’ll receive an invite.
- No need to create a new account — click “Forgot your password?” to set it.
New to Bioconductor Chat? Join us from Monday 2 June at https://chat.bioconductor.org.
Prefer using an app? Zulip is available for desktop and mobile on all major platforms.

< section id="tips-for-using-zulip" class="level2">

Tips for Using Zulip

Start a new topic for each subject — it keeps conversations clear.
→ Intro to topics
Admins can help move or rename threads to keep things tidy.
Use Markdown and LaTeX for formatting and equations.

💡 Want more tips? Explore our community-sourced Zulip Tips & Tricks for Bioconductor guide.

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What’s Next

Slack retires on 1 June: It will revert to the free tier. A read-only archive may remain accessible for a limited time.
Zulip launches on 2 June: You can join anytime — but we recommend getting set up early to stay in the loop.
Need help or have feedback? Post in #general on Zulip or email maria.doyle [at] ul [dot] ie.

We hope you’ll find Zulip a welcoming space — built for open communities like ours.

Edited in June 2025: Added link to community-sourced Tips doc and updated link to Bioconductor Zulip.

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