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Posted to commits@lucene.apache.org by Apache Wiki <wi...@apache.org> on 2015/01/06 18:54:51 UTC

[Solr Wiki] Update of "IRCChannels" by ShawnHeisey

Dear Wiki user,

You have subscribed to a wiki page or wiki category on "Solr Wiki" for change notification.

The "IRCChannels" page has been changed by ShawnHeisey:
https://wiki.apache.org/solr/IRCChannels?action=diff&rev1=16&rev2=17

Comment:
trying to make the page more useful by re-ordering and adding.

  There are a few main things that should be known before joining the discussion on IRC.  The links are down near the end of the page, but if you ignore this advice, your experience may not go well:
  
+  1. When you log into the IRC channel and ask a technical question that's relevant to the channel, it may literally be '''hours''' before someone with the knowledge to respond will actually see your question.  IRC has a reputation of being an instant method of communication, but that can only happen if all parties are actually present and paying attention right at that moment.  IRC brings together people from all around the world, and the people who can answer your questions may be in a very different timezone.  They might be asleep.
+  1. Many times I have experienced the following:  I wake up, get ready for the day, and log into the machine where I run an IRC client that sits in #solr and other channels at all times.  I scroll back through the log looking for questions to answer.  I find half a dozen that have been asked over the last few hours ... only to discover that none of those users are still online.  Most of them will disconnect from IRC only a few minutes after asking their question, which they did while I was asleep.
-  1. If you start with a greeting, asking if anyone is there, or asking whether it's OK to ask a question, chances are very good that you'll be completely ignored.  You might interpret this as rudeness, but that is not the intent.  Most of the residents of the channel are busy people, and may not even see your question at all because they aren't actually looking at the IRC program on their computer.  It takes time to respond to greetings or requests that have nothing to do with the technical nature of the channel, so many of them simply won't respond.
+  1. Just ask your question as soon as you log in, providing as much detail as you can right up front.  If you start with a greeting, asking if anyone is there, or asking whether it's OK to ask a question, chances are very good that you'll be completely ignored.  You might interpret this as rudeness, but that is not the intent.  Most of the residents of the channel are busy people, and may not even see your question at all because they aren't actually looking at the IRC program on their computer.  It takes time to respond to greetings or requests that have nothing to do with the technical nature of the channel, so many of them simply won't respond.
-  1. Once you DO ask a technical question that's relevant to the channel, it may literally be '''hours''' before someone with the knowledge to respond will actually see your question.  IRC has a reputation of being an instant method of communication, but that can only happen if all parties are actually present and paying attention right at that moment.  IRC brings together people from all around the world, and the people who can answer your questions may be in a very different timezone.  They might be asleep.
   1. People who do not know the answer will usually ignore the question.  They may even carry on other conversations as if you never asked your question.  This will seem rude to an IRC newcomer, but consider this:  Those people actually think it would be MORE rude if they were to respond to a discussion where they cannot offer anything useful.
   1. Sometimes the [[http://lucene.apache.org/solr/discussion.html|mailing list]] is a better option than one of the IRC channels.  There's less chance of an instant response or interactive discussion, but the audience is much much larger.  Many problems mentioned on the IRC channel are referred to the mailing list.
   1. Once you have the attention of another channel user, resist any temptation to take the conversation private.  In accordance with open source ideals, we prefer all communication to be in the open, for the benefit of all.  If you need to share details about your setup that you don't want the public to see, sending that part of the communication privately is understandable and acceptable.