[BangPypers] Online communication channel

[Noufal Ibrahim KV]

On Sat, Aug 15 2015, kracekumar ramaraju wrote:


[...]

> Biggest problem with IRC is to on board new comers. The learning curve is
> steep for normal tech users.
> It only makes life for already acquainted users easier not for new comers.
> It hardly takes 5-15 minutes get new person to get used to slack whereas
> that is not case with IRC.


My vote is for IRC. 

   - It doesn't require registration (atleast not with some company).
   - It's something which a lot of projects still use and so
     the learning investment is worth it.
   - It's open and there are variety of clients ranging from a web based
     (webchat.freenode.net) to native GUI clients for all platforms. 
   - It's been around for a long time and has more longevity than a
     freemium service from a startup.

Also, countering some of the objections. 
   - The learning curve is not that steep if you're using a GUI
     client. You get a list of servers. Connect to one and then a list of
     chatrooms (channels). Join #bangpypers with a click and you're
     on. Surely people who code and learn coding can pick up IRC. Once
     you stick on for a while, all the idiosyncrasies like the /
     commands become normal.[1]
   - Logging, notification etc. can be handled by one of the various
     open source bots out there. We can keep history with as much
     scrollback as necessary. Most open source chat rooms do this.



[...]



Footnotes: 
[1]  I used IRC for my training classes at http://thelycaeum.in and the
     students had no problem in adjusting after one class. Also, I think
     Kushal uses IRC for his DGPLUG trainings which have tons of
     students online at once.

-- 
Cordially,
Noufal
http://nibrahim.net.in