2010/9/14 Ricky Zhou <ricky(a)fedoraproject.org>
Er, reading this again, I just realized that a Chinese person would
probably want (the non-registration-requiring) #fedora-zh anyway :-)
Right. Incidentally, this is only #fedora we're talking about.
The point is that it's easy for somebody already looking for
support in
the first place to get frustrated when they have to jump through another
hoop to get there.
Possibly, but I'd be willing to bet that new Fedora users -- if this is
indeed their first crack at Linux (and I bet that, in most cases, it's not)
-- are not going to go first to the IRC channel. Heck, =I= rarely go to
#fedora for answers, choosing first to Google for the answer (that doesn't
include forays into #fedora-kde to ask the "kde noob question of the day")
which often leads to the Fedora Forum,
linuxquestions.org or some other
source of answers. If I don't find it there, then it's off to #fedora.
[#fedora channel denizens, you can thank me later. :-) ]
Also, let's not fall into the trap that new users are morons. They were
smart enough to decide to try Fedora. If they have more than two IQ points
to rub together, I think they can manage to either use the method above to
find answers or, in being introduced to IRC with the intention of using it,
register a nick on freenode in order to ask a question (or questions) on
#fedora.
Bear in mind, too, that a nick registration has its benefits for someone who
plans to use IRC on a regular (or semi-regular) basis, one of which is to
keep your nick yours, if that matters to you (as it does to me). Also,
GUI-based programs like xchat allow you to set it automatically to run the
/msg nickserv identify $PASSWORD on startup (as well as signing you in to
whatever channels you designate -- pretty handy I'd say).
So I'm still not sold on the argument that this is a hurdle for new users
and I think if there's a problem with bots in #fedora, it should remain open
to those who have a registered nick.
Larry Cafiero