Hi! I'm a little new here.
I'm primarily a C and Java dev, with a comfortable level of Linux
experience. I'm by NO MEANS an expert, but I truly enjoy helping
other people solve issues if I'm able to help.
I maintain an IRC presence for a couple projects, and I fell in love
with Elementary the moment I saw it. I don't mind answering some of
the easier questions, or topics in our channel (#Elementary at
irc.freenode.net), but the dev's perspective has... put me off a
little bit.
From an IRC-perspective, the Dev's have basically created a walled
garden with how they treat the slack servers. I personally
understand WHY they have done so. And... that's completely fine.
Creating a space where developers can go and talk to other developers
on an invite-only basis is incredibly healthy, and encourages a lot
of growth for that community. I don't want that to stop.
The issues arise when we're stuck in the IRC channel alone. I'm
comfortable with bash scripts, some basic package-managing, and I've
helped with a couple of other odd issues, so I feel
comfortable/qualified to at least try and help, but what happens when
I run into another issue that needs a more experienced perspective?
There are a couple of other individuals in the channel who can also
help, but that isn't always enough. We run into questions that
require some more insight, and because the knowledgeable talent is
behind slack, it's largely inaccessible.
I've had to redirect a number of individuals to the sub-reddit, but
that's not a great solution if Eos' IRC just points people Reddit all
the time... (Also, I'm disregarding SO atm)
Has the dev-community considered adding an IRC-bridge channel? If
not, would it be possible to allow members interested in support to
join the Slack server? I feel like there needs to be SOME level of
access, but I understand why the devs would want to limit it, or have
it go though some level of filtering before the devs are constantly
barraged with a stream of "it doesn't work"
Thoughts?
-CptSpaceToaster-
