From owner-freebsd-newbies Tue Apr 21 01:38:04 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id BAA23592 for freebsd-newbies-outgoing; Tue, 21 Apr 1998 01:38:04 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from phoenix.welearn.com.au (suebla.lnk.telstra.net [139.130.44.81]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id IAA23542 for ; Tue, 21 Apr 1998 08:37:56 GMT (envelope-from sue@phoenix.welearn.com.au) Received: (from sue@localhost) by phoenix.welearn.com.au (8.8.5/8.8.5) id SAA27186; Tue, 21 Apr 1998 18:37:50 +1000 (EST) Message-ID: <19980421183744.56403@welearn.com.au> Date: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 18:37:45 +1000 From: Sue Blake To: FreeBSD-Newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: #freebsd-newbies References: <353BB623.59353921@aei.ca> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mutt 0.88e Sender: owner-freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org I've been giving this IRC business some thought, and as usual I've come up with lots more questions. If we can answer these, either we'll all be closer to making some decisions, or everyone else will become as confused as me :-) 1. When the reason is clear the best path will be easier to choose, so what is the *main* reason for having #freebsd-newbies? There are already some #freebsd channels around, but we want our own. If there was only one reason, what would it be, and why would newbies go there? - There's nowhere else to go? - Everyone else has a #*-newbies? - It feels good? - It looks good for FreeBSD? - It looks good for newbies? - It's fun to have your own channel? - We're not wanted on other channels? - Other channels don't give us what we want? - We don't like the people on other channels? - We want to help others? - We want to get help? - We want to meet each other? - Some other reason? 2. It will attract people interested in FreeBSD as well as giving current newbies a place to go, but are we concerned with both here? Do we slant more one way than the other? Can we do both at once? 3. Who is going to be there? Why? What will make people want to come? What will make them stay? What will make them leave? 4. What other things will lead to the channel's success or failure? How will we judge whether or not it is successful? 5. Is it better to have FreeBSD-related channels on as many nets as possible, or to stick with one to get good numbers? 6. How many of us have tried the existing FreeBSD-related channels? What are their strengths and weaknesses? I've spent most of today on the #freebsd channel at dalnet, in between the odd bit of work. As a confirmed IRC hater, I must say it was a surprisingly pleasant place to be. I didn't see an awful lot going on, but people drifted in and out and chatted about FreeBSD and music and computers and cats and FreeBSD and jokes and people and... all sorts of things. There were a few questions, not very many. Nobody seemed to know the answers but nobody seemed to expect their questions to be answered either. If there was ever a problem it was not enough people to keep it interesting. There might not be enough FreeBSD users to go around. Once I accidentally ended up on some other server (no idea what network, lots of channels) and found #freebsd with one person in it, apparently not around at the time. I visited twice more at different times and found one or two silent people each time. It would be a shame if #freebsd-newbies ended up like that. This is a very unfair report, since it is my only visit and I wasn't paying too much attention most of the day. This might be enough to start up some analysis of our requirements though. I don't know much at all about IRC. I'd like to know how other #freebsd channels might be different, and then, what would we expect to see in a successful #freebsd-newbies channel? -- Regards, -*Sue*- find / -name "*.conf" |more To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message