furrbear | Why IRC Isn't a Great Tech Support Platform

A most enlightening post from the MinGW-Users list about the problems and faults of trying to use IRC as a technical support platform. I must say, it pretty much reflect my own experiences of trying to use IRC in this manner.

On Tue, 8 Jan 2008 19:00:35 +0100 Fredric Johansson <johansson_fredric@hotmail.com> wrote: > > Vincent Torri wrote: >> > > On Tue, 8 Jan 2008, Bob Rossi wrote: >> > > >>> > > > Also, why is the freenode #mingw channel invite only now? It >>> > > > didn't start that way. >> > > >> > > it's quite strange for an open source project. Not really open. >> > > >> > > Vincent Torri > > > > Hello > > I might be able to explain that > > The channel moved to ##mingw since it isnt official and a > > forwarding #mingw->##mingw was setup before. It seems > > to have been removed and apparently resulting in the channel > > being invite-only. If you want to know why it's invite-only, I > > guess you should ask the staff on freenode. > > > > Fredric Johansson

For completeness when future readers are browsing, at least, please let me add the following about #mingw@freenode:

Due to Freenode (http://freenode.net) policy, only someone who has official status as a representative of a recognized F/L-OSS project may authorize the creation of a single-octothorpe ("#", "hash") -named channel on Freenode. http://freenode.net/group_registration.shtml. And since of the current volunteer participants who are in ##mingw (the "other" kind of Freenode channel, completely unofficial), none have such status with the MinGW Project, the #mingw channel will remain locked, like an office space or warehouse that has been abandoned.

Earnie Boyd has, I am told, been sent email about this some weeks ago from other channel participants than myself. If he's not received it or chosen to ignore it for whatever (I'm sure perfectly good) reason, then the situation with people looking to use IRC to discuss* mingw will remain the same. Someone who fits the above criteria as an authorized representative of mingw has to contact Freenode staff. When they do, they can specify that "mingw" (the official F/L-OSS Project) wishes for an autoforwarding of joins #mingw -> ##mingw to be reinstated permanently, or they can choose some other status for the channel.

As a result of the situation (locked room) remaining the same, it's reasonable to predict that questions of this sort will continue to be received on the mingw-users ML from time to time.

Those of us who "support" ##mingw@freenode cannot do anything about it ourselves. For the record, I am an alternate (co-) contact person for the new-ish (at the writing) UNofficial channel ##mingw. I am not on Freenode network staff.

*a personal opinion on using IRC to support technical projects:

It's my personal viewpoint that IRC is mostly unproductive and wasteful, even detrimental, as a medium on which to cooperate in co-development of F/L-OSS projects, or on which to support users of such projects.

"Wasteful" of developer's scarce free time, which will be spent on attempting to reply to redundant FAQs put forward by barely-coherent individuals in a spoken language that only remotely resembles English; such queries will much of the time be shown, after multiple attempts have been made to get clarification on the asker's intended meaning, to have been asked after minimal or no "homework" has been done by that person, to familiarize themselves with the fundamentals and known procedures.

"Unproductive" as well because of the emphemeral (temporary) nature of IRC; unless channel logs are pubilcy kept in a known location, any discussions that take place are gone later, never to be usable again by persons needing to get similar information (unlike a Mailing List).

"Detrimental" due to several interpenetrating factors: the absence of emotional maturity, professionalism and objectivity which is demonstrably problematic on most text media online is probably worse on IRC than on any "persistent" medium (speculatively, because many users regard it as more of a playground and venting outlet than as a serious venue for respectful intellectual exchanges?).

Due also to the rampant set of antisocial negativities which often go unchallenged (and thus grow more frequent: "Silence betokens consent") on IRC channels: sexism/homophobia/racism (the perpetrators almost never admit to harboring such intent or attitudes). This is detrimental to individual projects but even more so to Free Software as a social movement and struggle to assert humanistic and benevolent values against the default social values of short-sighted greed and erroneous self-interest. It is so because it hinders the expansion of diversity within the community of F/L-OSS users and developers (anyone noticed how White and Male we are lately?). The kinds of thoughtless or malicious statements I've seen on the Freenode IRC network tech channels are the same kinds of things for which several public figures have been losing their livelihoods and reputations in the past 24 months (at least in the US). No one who is paying any attention here in my country can claim that the kind of irresponsible, juvenile or malicious speech of which I am speaking is harmless or has no potential impact.

So that this Off-Topic matter can be cleanly closed, I'll answer the inevitable question in advance:

"If IRC is so bad and so unsuitable, why are YOU involved in it, somian?"

Because of a couple of factors. One is the small number of productive and interesting exchanges that do take place amidst the general waste. From time to time I get to know very worthy people on IRC in a way that would take much longer on other media.

Another is the neurological dependency (please avoid annoying me with whining complaints about "psycho-babble", thanks) that I have on the unique immediacy of IRC. Me and those like me find that it gets our neurotransmitters humming happily to be engaging in the occasional exchange on IRC. This isn't a recommendation. I don't wish the reader to get hooked on crank, either.

Another is the belief that there may be a small benefit to the public perception of the health of the mingw project if the ##mingw channel does produce at least timely (< 12 hours wait) responses to requests for help or advice. People do not share my observations about IRC. They have what I view as deluded or ignorant expectations about IRC, so they come to a channel like #mingw/##mingw expecting that if they get helped, it reflects on the vitality, the viability or the good health of the project with which the channel is associated.

Many times my response to a request for help is to refer the asker to the official MinGW venues for support (Wiki, MLs, archives of MLs).

Thanks for your attention, everyone.

Soren Andersen (somian)

-- All unaccompanied children will be given espresso and a free kitten.