[Ambassadors] registering your nick to get into #fedora

[Larry Cafiero]

2010/9/14 Ricky Zhou <ricky at fedoraproject.org>

>
> Er, reading this again, I just realized that a Chinese person would
> probably want (the non-registration-requiring) #fedora-zh anyway :-)
>

Right. Incidentally, this is only #fedora we're talking about.


> The point is that it's easy for somebody already looking for support in
> the first place to get frustrated when they have to jump through another
> hoop to get there.
>

Possibly, but I'd be willing to bet that new Fedora users -- if this is
indeed their first crack at Linux (and I bet that, in most cases, it's not)
-- are not going to go first to the IRC channel. Heck, =I= rarely go to
#fedora for answers, choosing first to Google for the answer (that doesn't
include forays into #fedora-kde to ask the "kde noob question of the day")
which often leads to the Fedora Forum, linuxquestions.org or some other
source of answers. If I don't find it there, then it's off to #fedora.

[#fedora channel denizens, you can thank me later. :-) ]

Also, let's not fall into the trap that new users are morons. They were
smart enough to decide to try Fedora. If they have more than two IQ points
to rub together, I think they can manage to either use the method above to
find answers or, in being introduced to IRC with the intention of using it,
register a nick on freenode in order to ask a question (or questions) on
#fedora.

Bear in mind, too, that a nick registration has its benefits for someone who
plans to use IRC on a regular (or semi-regular) basis, one of which is to
keep your nick yours, if that matters to you (as it does to me). Also,
GUI-based programs like xchat allow you to set it automatically to run the
/msg nickserv identify $PASSWORD on startup (as well as signing you in to
whatever channels you designate -- pretty handy I'd say).

So I'm still not sold on the argument that this is a hurdle for new users
and I think if there's a problem with bots in #fedora, it should remain open
to those who have a registered nick.

Larry Cafiero
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