Internet Relay Chat

[Deleted User]

Hello, is there any IRC channel where people can talk about programming in NetLinx? To my mind it is not the bad idea to create such channel somewhere on Freenode to let anybody get online help every time he needs it.

DHawthorne

I tend to lump IRC chat in the same category as IM - some may love it, but I can do without the immediate demand for attention. I prefer a venue like these forums, where I can post something at 1AM or 1PM, and respond likewise, when I have a break in my activities, and not accoriding to someone else's timetable.

Spire_Jeff

I agree with Dave. I've dabbled with IRC in the past and it has some issues that won't make it viable for this type of help (IMHO). The biggest issue is the availability of someone that knows the answer to your question. Even if there is someone that has some suggestions, you loose the benefit of multiple experiences and points of view that this forum is so great at providing.

Another issue that tends to appear in IRC channels is the inordinate amount of spam and BRKs (Bored Rich Kids) you have to deal with. If you restrict a channel, normally the people you want to get in can't and the people you want to keep out find their way in repeatedly.

One last issue I will bring up is the inpatience that IRC breeds. Someone using IRC for troubleshooting tends to wants answers 10 seconds after they ask the question. When they don't get answers quickly, they start spamming the question, then they eventually tick off whoever is trying to help them and then they give up on the channel and tell all of their friends that the channel is worhtless because nobody knows anything.

That's my 2 cents (plus a little more).

Jeff

P.S.
Bored Rich Kids is not refering to all bored rich kids, it is simply what I have come to refer to those individuals that have nothing better to do than write virii, annoy people in online chat rooms, abuse IM programs, .... If someone has developed another term, please share and I will consider changing terms

[Deleted User]

Ok, thank you for answers. But there are my thoughts about them.
To my mind IRC is very different from IM - what "instant messaging" can you talk about, when there are tens people in the channel, to which you can address your questions? Yes, this forum is good enough to post messages, and even better - to receive good, professional answers. But there is long time delay between a moment when you post a message, and a moment of receiving an answer. In IRC this delay is much less, even if you will need to wait five or ten minutes. In IRC you must not show your ICQ number or e-mail, so, you can avoid spam. You can also use forum, if you really need to post question at 1 AM, and there is nobody in channel (but i thought, most programmers will be talking in channel at night - what the programmer is it, if he doesn't like to work at night)))
What about BRK's - doesnt' the channel have operator, who can kick or even ban anybody, who annoys channel visitors?
And at last - you don't must answer every question - if asker seems stupid or annoying to you - just ignore him.
That's my 2 kopecks )
---
Sorry for my english.

jjames

I do agree with everyone's post so far on here. It would be pretty nice to have a channel / room to chat about this stuff in real time. Even quick short answers can be helpful at night, especially a long day of programming, and you just can't get the darn code to work the way you want, or you're running into issues. Sometimes someone will have that quick answer that solves all your problems, or will share a good tip that can improve your programming or at least allows you to see your problem or even your way of programming in a new light.

I'd love to see a "chat room" (used loosely) just for us AMX programmers / designers. Maybe one of us should start one eh?

Thomas Hayes

I have to lean towards Dave and Jeff with this one. I see too many hours wasted with IM and the like, I have seen it first time with the younger guys chatting about nothing more that the colour of their shorts. I personally find that 99% of the questions I ask get anwsered within a day or so anyways or I get enough info to figure it out myself.