Subject:
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Re: The need for chat server - a dissenting opinion
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.robotics
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Date:
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Fri, 12 Jan 2001 04:54:07 GMT
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Original-From:
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Ross Carlson <webmaster@NOMORESPAMmetacraft.com>
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Viewed:
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777 times
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Hi Matthias,
This is an excellent point you make. I agree that the nature of IRC doesn't
lend itself to directly contributing to the knowledge base of Lugnet.
However I also feel that many
problem-brainstorming-troubleshooting-solution cycles, and the knowledge
garnered from them never reach the Lugnet community because the person
involved didn't want to spend the time posting to the newsgroups, waiting
for replies, trying the suggestion, and repeating the cycle.
I think that a chat server could very well encourage group participation in
experimentation and troubleshooting, whereas the much slower cycle of
newsgroups can sometimes inhibit that sharing of knowledge and experience.
Certainly each system has it's advantages and drawbacks.
I also feel that realtime discussions in a chat server can be much more
fun. Talking to other lego robotics enthusiasts at the moment they are
actually working on something, and "being there" when they make it work,
seems like it would be lots of fun for everyone involved, even just passive
listeners.
And so that the solutions aren't lost, I think we could all encourage each
other to remember to post a note to the newsgroups summarizing the problem
and the solution.
(There is also the option of making the chat logs available and searchable
through a CGI interface. This would be fairly trivial to implement, but as
you mentioned, the signal-to-noise ratio might be too poor to make that
useful.)
Thanks for bringing up this point ... I'd love to hear what other think.
-Ross
At 03:32 AM 1/12/01 +0000, you wrote:
> Sorry, but I for one have to vote against the idea.
>
> I appreciate that, given IRC's relative immediacy, there are some
> advantages to being able to get an answer "right now". This assumes,
> of course, that there is someone on-line with the answer "right now".
> I have to wonder how often the true "need" actually arises such that a
> user can't wait, and of those times, I wonder how often it would
> coincide with someone having the answer. I suspect it is rather
> infrequent.
>
> Having said that, I have to acknowledge that a Lugnut IRC would offer
> some real benefits, but I'm of the opinion that the these benefits
> would be outweighed by the "cost".
>
> "The cost", as I see it, is this: IRC discussions would not appear in
> the Lugnet newsgroups (please correct me if I'm wrong). If it did, I
> would think we would end up drowning in chatter and that would detract
> from the true usefulness of Lugnet.
>
> It should be pointed out/remembered that Lugnet is not just a
> glorified BBS, it's also a useful knowledge base for all of us (at
> least when the search functions are working). As a result, if someone
> needs information they need only search the database for messages
> pertaining to the subject at hand to find questions and answers that
> may have been posed months ago. Granted the search functions/search
> engine leave something to be desired, but I digress...
>
> The fleeting nature of IRC means that the only people who will benefit
> from discussions are the people where are there at the time.
> Consequently a lot of useful information will be lost to the rest of
> us. Unless, of course, the person posing the question and the people
> answering then move over to their news readers to re-compose the
> question and the answers and send them to Lugnet for the rest of us to
> see at a later date and time. I can't seriously see anyone doing this.
> As a result, while there is an immediate benefit for the person posing
> the question, it's the quality of Lugnet that will lose out.
>
> So there you have it: my argument for why it shouldn't be done.
>
> Please direct all sticks, stones, tomatoes, mega-blocks to:
>
> Matthias Jetleb
> VA3-MWJ
__________________________________________________
Ross A. Carlson
Metacraft Internet Services
webmaster@metacraft.com
http://www.metacraft.com
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a
mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize
them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
__________________________________________________
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Need for chat server?
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| I think that if you were to create a chat server strictly for lugnet that not only would they appreciate it but people would use it. not at first because it would take a while for some to hear about it but eventually it would get used. i personally (...) (24 years ago, 11-Jan-01, to lugnet.robotics)
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