Jeremy could setup a chat session right in the site instead of suggesting an irc channel

There used to be a linux chat here, it rarely got used. I like the idea of the forum because all answers are archived. Is a chat something that people are interested in?

a chat is cool, but the thought of the forums being archived i think is better too. if too many of us answer questions in the chat, they never get recorded for others to use.

I think chat would be nice because sometimes people need the answer right away. Maybe instead of the chat, you can put something that people could send each other private messages or something like that. I dont know how well its going to work but its just an idea.

I like the idea of chat, especially for speed. But I think that the PM thing is better than having a main chat room where 7 different conversations are going on at once. I found that a one-to-one session can be actually better than any other type of advice.

I like the PM thing too. Even though I have been emailed, IM on AIM and everthing else, its just as easy to just use those tools I think and make the content of this site better with the forums and maybe more information with FAQ, online tutorials or something to help people out.

Instead of creating a chat room where everyone is just talking about 10 different topics all at the same time, that gets confusing, well at least to me. It would be like on AOL or something.

Anyone is welcome to IM or email me since my job requires me to be next to a computer almost all day, on the net. I usually work from 6am to 6pm all day. Hence you see me here all the time. Wonder if Jeremy will start like paying me or something.

I like the idea of archiving all messages to help people in the future. However, I like the idea of a chat. What if there was something like "Ask an expert" and there were times rotated by experts in certain areas?

Just a thought from a newbie,
Thanks,
Peter.

I think that the expert thing does already happen because you have alot of regular posters who try to answer the posts they feel that they know. Chat if it was used should be thought about alot before deciding about anything.

Ever chatted in a crowded chatroom in mIRC ?

I hated it. One's question gets hardly any attention, it has to be repeated, and repeated politely, and repeated desperately, until one gets an answer.

Jeremy, how about a poll on this ?

Archived msgs are also better; users can be picky.

Finally, a forum has more system.

You misinterpretted what I meant by chat. I agree that chat rooms are not at all suitable for asking questions. What IS good though is being able to PM a person or two in the same area and be able to ask questions in real-time, be able to ask things which spring to mind. I have done this with ICQ a few times and it is really effective. Works especially well with problems which have their own individual characteristics, cus sometimes the general answer does not apply.

Archived posts are good, aswell.

We definitely should get a chat room in here...or whatever CragStar was talking about. A Newbie like me really needs almost instantaneous answers! Eg. Right now, I'm "Formatting" my new computer right now and typing this on a seperate box at the same time. If experts like you guys can respond in 2sec.to any pathetic questions I have, I will die happy tomorrow!

I think you should really consider it Jeremy....
As far as archiving goes, here is what I suggest.

Have both a forum and a chat room.
The chat room is for emergency use, or near emergency uses.
Forum is if you want a very detailed message and you want LOTS of them, or at least multiple opinions. Or if you're a really saintly person, post a question in the forum so everyone can learn from it.

This is a really tough decision, so all I can say is "Good Luck!"

My thought behind the chat room was that if someone is really having hard time trying to get something work. They can arrange to meet at a time on the chat room and discuss the problem. When you are trying to get something working, sometimes a live conversation is better.

Maybe, after a while it can evolve into topic night "This Sunday, come one, come all, a discussion of building your own RedHat kernel will amaze you all!"

Peter.

Like the idea of meeting a person to chat, and topic nights sound good but would need a hell of a lot of working out.

re: topic night
if we all knew the time and date we could use the linux_talk channel on the irc. for one to one conversations, i don't see why icq wouldn't work.

Well,
There's only one way to decide.
Let's give it a try....