I've been using free software for a couple decades. I get why it's valuable but having watched what is and is not adopted really underscores if we want people to use OSS we need to offer a competitive experience. Years of cajoling people did not get them to use Linux because the desktop experience sucked. Years of advocacy did not get them to adopt Mozilla in great numbers but people did respond when Phoenix/Firefox focused on UX and was actively improving during Internet Explorer's great stagnation.

Anyone who wants to avoid the possibility of lock-in using Slack should be laser-focused on making IRC competitive rather than trying to convince people that poor UX is just the price of freedom.