Fourwaves
Fourwaves follows its participant inbox with a week of admin fixes and security hardening.
Comparison · Meetings
HOMER vs Slack (Huddles)
A side-by-side editorial comparison of HOMER and Slack (Huddles) — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
HOMER vs Slack (Huddles): at a glance
What is HOMER?
HOMER 11.0.369 fixes S3 auth on Ceph-based storage and stops compaction memory growth.
HOMER's 11.0 line is still hardening its DuckDB tiered-storage layer. 11.0.368 retries incomplete tier moves and fixes tiered queries that missed lake tables. The 11.0.369 pre-release stops sending the AWS session token with static S3 keys, which broke Vultr/Ceph RGW, and keeps DuckDB's file cache off on write paths so compaction memory plateaus. Security fixes (bound tiered lookup parameters, hono bump) ride alongside.
What is Slack (Huddles)?
This feed is an archive of old Slack desktop releases, not current product news.
The window covers Slack desktop app versions 2.6.3 through 2.8.2 — keychain credential storage, resumable file downloads, keyboard navigation, French, Spanish and German localization, and a run of Electron security updates and input-method fixes. These are historical client releases, captured with version-only titles.
HOMER vs Slack (Huddles): editorial side-by-side
HOMER
5.0MEETINGS
HOMER 11.0.369 fixes S3 auth on Ceph-based storage and stops compaction memory growth.
◆ Current state
HOMER's 11.0 line is still hardening its DuckDB tiered-storage layer. 11.0.368 retries incomplete tier moves and fixes tiered queries that missed lake tables. The 11.0.369 pre-release stops sending the AWS session token with static S3 keys, which broke Vultr/Ceph RGW, and keeps DuckDB's file cache off on write paths so compaction memory plateaus. Security fixes (bound tiered lookup parameters, hono bump) ride alongside.
◆ Where it's heading
Almost every release since early October fixes the parquet lake: compaction, cache behaviour, tiering and S3 compatibility. The storage rewrite is being shaken out in production on more varied object stores. Feature work, such as OTLP log events on the call ladder, has paused while this stabilises.
◆ Prediction
Expect 11.0.369 to be promoted from pre-release, followed by more storage fixes for non-AWS object stores before feature work picks up again.
Slack (Huddles)
0.0MEETINGS
This feed is an archive of old Slack desktop releases, not current product news.
◆ Current state
The window covers Slack desktop app versions 2.6.3 through 2.8.2 — keychain credential storage, resumable file downloads, keyboard navigation, French, Spanish and German localization, and a run of Electron security updates and input-method fixes. These are historical client releases, captured with version-only titles.
◆ Where it's heading
Read as a sequence, the arc is a desktop client maturing: security and platform updates, internationalization, and repeated regression fixes to Japanese input. It says nothing about where Slack is heading now, because the entries predate the product's current direction.
◆ Prediction
No forward-looking read is supportable from these entries. Current signal would require the feed to point at Slack's present release notes rather than this archived client changelog.
Alternatives to HOMER and Slack (Huddles)
Other Meetings products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either HOMER or Slack (Huddles).
Element Call
Element Call starts moving to new LiveKit transports and falls back to remote SFUs when needed.
JW Player
JW Player moves CMAF VOD into the dashboard, adds AV1, and opens Broadcast Live to audio-only feeds.
rtpengine
rtpengine opens the mr26.3 branch with a rollback message and leaner call state.
Nextcloud Talk Desktop
Nextcloud Talk Desktop 2.3.3 adds accessibility options and bundles Talk v25.0.6.
Nextcloud Talk
Nextcloud Talk patches v22 and v23 while v25 stable sits five weeks past its last RC.
See all HOMER alternatives → · See all Slack (Huddles) alternatives →
Recent activity from HOMER and Slack (Huddles)
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.371: B2BUA legs in exports, Smart Search fix
- 3d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.369 fixes Ceph S3 auth and compaction memory growth
- 6d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.368 fixes tier moves and tiered-query table coverage
- 8d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.367 disables DuckDB file cache for local lakes
- 9d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.366 bumps DuckDB to 1.5.6, pins Go build
- 15d agoHOMERBlocks DuckDB file reads and rejects placeholder JWT secrets
- 5mo agoSlack (Huddles)Slack 2.6.3 fixes blank screens and video playback
- 5mo agoSlack (Huddles)Slack 2.7.0 adds keychain login and resumable downloads
- 5mo agoSlack (Huddles)Slack 2.7.1 fixes sign-in bounce and accent input
- 5mo agoSlack (Huddles)Slack 2.8.0 ships French, Spanish, German and external orgs
- 5mo agoSlack (Huddles)Slack 2.8.1 re-fixes Japanese input, updates Electron
- 5mo agoSlack (Huddles)Slack 2.8.2 is an Electron update only
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between HOMER and Slack (Huddles)?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. HOMER is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is HOMER better than Slack (Huddles)?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. HOMER is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Meetings products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to HOMER?
Top HOMER alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "HOMER alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/homer-voip for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Slack (Huddles)?
Top Slack (Huddles) alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Slack (Huddles) alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/slack-huddles for the full list with editorial commentary on each.