Quoting David Eisenstein <deisenst@xxxxxxx>:
What do you suggest as an alternative for IRC for folks who are not able or interested in using it?
I work in several opensource projects that have IRC channels, and I've never used IRC for any of them, and no one has ever complained about that fact except for here on FL. Instead, I use e-mail (the project mailing lists in all cases, except for here on FL where I sometimes use private e-mail also). Not a real big fan of the private e-mail, but it works here for some FL stuff. I've never had any lack of ability to do anything I wanted using e-mail instead of IRC on any of the projects I've worked on. I'm not knocking IRC. It has some limitations though, such as timezone issues, etc. Plus, some of us work on FL stuff at work, and IRC may be blocked at our work place or disruptive to our work. This can be a real issue for some of us. Hence, I never use IRC/IM at work, and hence since 99% of my opensource work is done at the office and not at home, that means I really can't use IRC/IM for these projects. Now, I think IRC is very useful for some things. For example, if you have a "board" or "core" group that has regular meetings, IRC is a great way to have those meetings. But for the typical FL user who isn't a core/board member, it is overkill. And I just don't see why I should be forced to install (IRC) software on my machine, learn how to use it, wonder if the University Network Folks will come knocking on my door because of it, and let it disrupt my work, just so I can ask a question that I can ask via e-mail. Now, e-mail lists have advantages also. A nice, searchable archive of the messages for reference by others, reference for myself later, and as a source for creating the documenation on the issues addressed there. Plus of course the asynchronous nature which allows people in all different time zones to participate, etc. So I'm not for getting rid of IRC, just for making it an additional option and not a required option.
Warm regards, David Eisenstein
-- Eric Rostetter The Department of Physics The University of Texas at Austin Go Longhorns! -- fedora-legacy-list mailing list fedora-legacy-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/fedora-legacy-list
