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> We all knew how great it would be to have a repository of knowledge for people to find their answers, but Slack was simply too good at providing the quick fix

> We all knew how great it would be to have a repository of knowledge for people to find their answers, but Slack was simply too good at providing the quick fix we all needed. I'm seeing this across numerous open source project communities, and it's really infuriating. B/c these communities are not paying Slack, they don't have access to archives, and of course it's all invisible to Google. So a valuable Q&A that might help thousands of people over many years were in on a public forum winds up helping...the handful of people who were in the channel on the day it happened.

mr337 11y ago
I couldn't agree more. Either ppl don't know or don't treat it of value to have history.
op00to 11y ago
Information dropping into a black hole happens in IRC on Freenode all day, every day. The issue isn't just Slack.
- vitno 11y ago
  actually, most channels have logging. I've frequently stumbled across solutions on public (and indexed!) IRC logs.
- prakashk 11y ago
  Many IRC channels are archived and the archives are searchable, so the information is not necessarily lost.
  - scrollaway 11y ago
    Archives are a start, but the problem is most channels are not indexed. There is no "google for irc" of sorts. Even if the archives are searchable (the searches generally suck in the first place), who's going to know to go into this specific archive, for this specific channel, and search for this particular query? As someone who was interested in this a few years ago: This is still an open problem for someone to solve. The solution isn't particularly hard, it's just nobody has really gotten to it yet. (And yes, you may come across the odd irc conversation in your google searches once in a while - but it is not to scale with the immense amount of information that comes out of irc).
    - HappyTypist 11y ago
      Every single open source project's IRC channel I've seen is logged and searchable, with a link in the topic.
      - scrollaway 11y ago
        Please re-read my post. Searchable doesn't mean indexed and mass-searchable. Are you going to know that the problem you are encountering with your bluetooth connection was solved in freenode's #pulseaudio 3 years ago?
    - heinrich5991 11y ago
      Here's a solution, e.g. for the #rust channel: https://botbot.me/mozilla/rust/ https://botbot.me/mozilla/rust/
      - scrollaway 11y ago
        Botbot is nice but does not solve the issue of mass-searchability.
    - rarepostinlurkr 11y ago
      Oddly enough, I prefer the IRC channels I frequent to not be logged, just like the conversation I'm having at the corner coffee shop (probably) isn't logged beyond the ears of those who hear it. To me it helps create more of a community feel. Often times you'll see active community members turn problems they deal with on IRC into blogs, articles or even books to spread that knowledge.

mr337 11y ago

I couldn't agree more. Either ppl don't know or don't treat it of value to have history.

op00to 11y ago

Information dropping into a black hole happens in IRC on Freenode all day, every day. The issue isn't just Slack.

vitno 11y ago
actually, most channels have logging. I've frequently stumbled across solutions on public (and indexed!) IRC logs.
prakashk 11y ago
Many IRC channels are archived and the archives are searchable, so the information is not necessarily lost.
- scrollaway 11y ago
  Archives are a start, but the problem is most channels are not indexed. There is no "google for irc" of sorts. Even if the archives are searchable (the searches generally suck in the first place), who's going to know to go into this specific archive, for this specific channel, and search for this particular query? As someone who was interested in this a few years ago: This is still an open problem for someone to solve. The solution isn't particularly hard, it's just nobody has really gotten to it yet. (And yes, you may come across the odd irc conversation in your google searches once in a while - but it is not to scale with the immense amount of information that comes out of irc).
  - HappyTypist 11y ago
    Every single open source project's IRC channel I've seen is logged and searchable, with a link in the topic.
    - scrollaway 11y ago
      Please re-read my post. Searchable doesn't mean indexed and mass-searchable. Are you going to know that the problem you are encountering with your bluetooth connection was solved in freenode's #pulseaudio 3 years ago?
  - heinrich5991 11y ago
    Here's a solution, e.g. for the #rust channel: https://botbot.me/mozilla/rust/ https://botbot.me/mozilla/rust/
    - scrollaway 11y ago
      Botbot is nice but does not solve the issue of mass-searchability.
  - rarepostinlurkr 11y ago
    Oddly enough, I prefer the IRC channels I frequent to not be logged, just like the conversation I'm having at the corner coffee shop (probably) isn't logged beyond the ears of those who hear it. To me it helps create more of a community feel. Often times you'll see active community members turn problems they deal with on IRC into blogs, articles or even books to spread that knowledge.