[wp-hackers] IRC Problems

Mon Jul 17 04:18:02 GMT 2006

As someone who provides almost daily support to WP newbs via
#wordpress, I couldn't agree more with the need to address the lack of
ops. I'm happy to provide support to encourage new WP users, but I'm
only willing to do this via IRC as I find the slow response time of
forums and mailing lists to be too time-consuming. The increase in
meaningless crap in #wordpress does make this more frustrating and can
scare off people who are unlucky enough to be new to both
WP/html/css/php AND irc.

To the point: Give Michael Hampton (io_error) ops power.
He's in there far more than anyone else and he provides what is
currently the most used/useful bot(error_bot). By "in there the most"
I mean actually active and reading the stuff that comes through, not
just leaving a headless b0xen connected to the channel at all times.

Sure, he's a little power mad and self-admittidly "an arrogant
blogger" [ ;) ], but he is always in there solving peoples' problems
and won't take any crap.

I've been moderating forums for years and I don't see anyone else in
there who appears a better fit, nor more likely to do a good job, than
Michael.

-Andrew

On 7/17/06, Ryan Duff <ryan at ryanduff.net> wrote:
> Ryan Duff wrote:
> >
> > This has come up numerous times before and its the same thing...
> > photomatt says that #wordpress isn't for support so he really isn't
> > concerned with what goes on in there. It has even come up at meetups
> > before. I have tried numerous times to get it through their head that we
> > do need ops, for the sake of the channel and decency of the community
> > and he seems to care less.
> >
> > There was at one point, a time where we did have a troll, and he did
> > give someone ops for about 2 days until the person ended up getting
> > banned from freenode.
> >
> > This is why I have given up on #wordpress and the community in general.
> > His lack of care (for lack of a better term) is what drove me away.
> > Wordpress is a great product, but when the community goes to shit, well...
> >
> > I used to be in the forums alot as well as on #wordpress and the mailing
> > lists.. since the meetup where we fought over ops and he still declined
> > to do anything about it... I have pretty much dropped myself off the
> > map. From what I've read in the forums and the mailing list, I know
> > there are others that have taken similar actions and removed themselves
> > from the community.
> >
> > Matt, if you're reading this... for the sake of the community, please
> > try to understand that giving ops isn't asked for as a status issue, but
> > for the good of the community.
> >
> > Previously we have gone through the issues of how to pick people and how
> > it will work... please solicit 5-10 long-time active participants in
> > #wordpress and see if they will volunteer. I know most aren't around all
> > the time, but if you get a group of 5 that agree, someone should be
> > active at most times.
> >
>
> To follow up on references regarding some of the things I said... Here
> is a link to the transcript of the meetup where it was majorly addressed:
>
> http://codex.wordpress.org/IRC_Meetups/2005/June/June29RawLog
>
>
> It also came up throughout the month of July, but was ignored or hushed.
> http://codex.wordpress.org/IRC_Meetups/2005/July
>
>
> July 6, 2005 - Ignored... never even mentioned even though it was on the
> topics to discuss.
>
>
> July 13, 2005 - Matt never showed, meetup canceled.
>
>
> Taken from July 20th, 2005
> (http://codex.wordpress.org/IRC_Meetups/2005/July/July20RawLog)
>
> [17:40] <photomatt_wrk> I see the IRC topic is brought up again, is
> anyone actually interested in discussing that?
> [17:40] <relle> Granting voice to regular users who are helpful, a way
> to show who is knowlegable and trustworthy in #wordpress
> [17:40] <photomatt_wrk> I think it's been run into the ground already
> <!--snip-->
> [17:42] <photomatt_wrk> on IRC we don't need administrative people
> policing things
> [17:42] <photomatt_wrk> freenode handles that
> <!--snip-->
> [17:46] <photomatt_wrk> on IRC to give people titles would create a
> class distinction between people in the chat
> <!--snip-->
> [17:46] <photomatt_wrk> and we would need a complicated and PITA process
> to decide who gets titles and not
> [17:46] <photomatt_wrk> and people who didn't have titles would be pissy
>
>
> July 27, 2005 - Once again Matt never showed, IRC topic came up... same
> things were reiterated... but without Matt to make a decision and
> actually do something about it, nothing was done.
>
>
> Taken from August 3, 2005
> (http://codex.wordpress.org/IRC_Meetups/2005/August/August03RawLog)
>
> [17:25] <relle> Next? IRC
> <!--snip-->
> [17:26] <photomatt> what are we discussing about IRC?
> [17:27] <tunicwriter> Was the matter ever really resolved?
> [17:27] <relle> In the meeting last week, there was a discussion about
> an "invasion" from a bad person and the need for volunteer ops to kick
> those people out.
> [17:27] <relle> Guidelines were to be written on what that meant.
> [17:27] <relle> Were they?
> [17:28] <photomatt> ops wouldn't have made a difference
> [17:28] <photomatt> in situations like that someone from freenode has to
> handle it
> [17:28] <masq|lappy> I think they mean in the general invasion of an
> impolite person more than that exact situation
> [17:28] <tunicwriter> indeed.
> [17:29] <masq|lappy> I don't think we'll see that situation again, I
> sent the VERSION string that the software used to send that attack has
> to freenode admins, so the attackers will have trouble getting on int he
> first place
> [17:30] <relle> so is the issue of ops in the channel now dead?
> [17:32] <tunicwriter> We need something in place, I think (not that my
> opinion is worth a great deal). Matt isn't always there, so therefore
> there's no op there if someone gets particularly... "impolite," as
> masq|lappy put it...
> [17:33] <photomatt> okay let's move on
>
>
> Last but not least... some ideas...
> http://codex.wordpress.org/User:Morydd/IRC_Status_Ideas
>
> That page hasn't changed much since last year (July 24, 2005).
>
>
> --
> Ryan Duff
> http://ryanduff.net
> AIM: ryancduff
> irc.freenode.net #wordpress #plogger
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