4 ms·

Many projects that I use already have IRC with permanent log, so you can just go in there and estimate the times when the regulars hang out from the logs. And t

Many projects that I use already have IRC with permanent log, so you can just go in there and estimate the times when the regulars hang out from the logs. And then you join at that time, too. It kind of is like office hours via chat.

detaro 6y ago
I think having the explicit concept still has some value: a) "you can just go and ask" is a surprisingly large cultural barrier for many people (as are other conventions around developer channels), b) an explicitly set time will have higher success rate than guessing based on logs and c) it's also something the devs can structure and plan around. I.e. sure, I'll answer questions when I see them and have time, but steering people to ask when convenient to me also improves my experience maybe?
- fxtentacle 6y ago
  In my experience, you want a slightly inconvenient barrier, or else you'll be swamped with beginner's questions only partially related to your project. For computer vision topics, StackOverflow is recently full of people who did a "deep learning expert in 4 hours" course and now need help with things that are covered in every textbook on the topic, like "what is disparity?". Not everyone strives to be a teacher. Some of us also just want to work on cool stuff with like-minded people.
  - detaro 6y ago
    Sure, and that's a valid choice (although if IRC is the best filter, or just a convenient one, is arguable), but that's even more an argument that having an IRC channel is not quite the same as "having office hours by chat", especially if you don't want to have office hours. Maybe I just misinterpreted your initial comment, but to me it read like "we don't need office hours, our IRC channel does the same thing". What works best entirely depends on what your goals, personal preferences and audience are.

4 ms·

Many projects that I use already have IRC with permanent log, so you can just go in there and estimate the times when the regulars hang out from the logs. And t

by fxtentacle 6y ago

detaro 6y ago
I think having the explicit concept still has some value: a) "you can just go and ask" is a surprisingly large cultural barrier for many people (as are other conventions around developer channels), b) an explicitly set time will have higher success rate than guessing based on logs and c) it's also something the devs can structure and plan around. I.e. sure, I'll answer questions when I see them and have time, but steering people to ask when convenient to me also improves my experience maybe?
- fxtentacle 6y ago
  In my experience, you want a slightly inconvenient barrier, or else you'll be swamped with beginner's questions only partially related to your project. For computer vision topics, StackOverflow is recently full of people who did a "deep learning expert in 4 hours" course and now need help with things that are covered in every textbook on the topic, like "what is disparity?". Not everyone strives to be a teacher. Some of us also just want to work on cool stuff with like-minded people.
  - detaro 6y ago
    Sure, and that's a valid choice (although if IRC is the best filter, or just a convenient one, is arguable), but that's even more an argument that having an IRC channel is not quite the same as "having office hours by chat", especially if you don't want to have office hours. Maybe I just misinterpreted your initial comment, but to me it read like "we don't need office hours, our IRC channel does the same thing". What works best entirely depends on what your goals, personal preferences and audience are.