Re: IRC: #appleiigs

[nathan@cco.caltech.edu (Nathan Mates)]

In article <1995Mar27.030219.26927@news.stolaf.edu>,
Peter F Handel <handel@mari.acc.stolaf.edu> wrote:
>In article <3koen4$ec4@newsbf02.news.aol.com> wagnere@aol.com (WagnerE) writes:
>>> Is this group any good?  What times are there people there?

>Yes. Often.

   Early morning is a bad time to drop by, plus really late at night
as well. There are a lot of people that may stay logged in, but not do
anything. But, if anyone's paying attention, they'll tend to reply.

>>Many of the folks that hang out there are Apple IIgs users but the
>>discussion is usually anything but Apple IIgs stuff -- only when someone
>>brings it up.

>The way it was is the way it is.  Welcome to IRC.  If you go to an
>Apple II user group meeting, do you ever say "Hey Bill, how's the wife
>and 5 kids?" or do you strictly talk about computers?

   There used to be far more IIGS talk on the channel. It was a
channel for Apple II types for Apple II stuff. Sadly, most people have
moved away from Apple II stuff (I'd estimate that only 1/3 to 1/2 of
the people regularly there have GS's and use them on a regular basis).
When there were a lot of programmers, and such, we could talk about GS
stuff quite a lot. Now, most of us know the answers to most things,
and definitely don't have questions for each other. That's why the GS
talk has decreased among ourselves. But, we can still answer
questions.

   It's a self-perpetuating cycle. Less GS stuff is talked about, more
people desert the place. I used to be on IRC a lot, since I liked what
I could learn while there. The quality's done down a lot; and there's
no point to really being there. What a loss.


>>Also don't expect extremely warm greetings unless you've
>>spent a lot of time there and have really gotten to know the people.
>>Newbies usually get a cold shoulder...

>Hey now, I've always tried to welcome newbies :P  Seriously folks,

   Same here. To echo an earlier poster, attitude counts for a lot.
If you show up, and ask a question politely, I'll try and answer it.
If you show up and try to hack the channel, demand answers
immediately, or ask for 'warez' or other garbage, you'll be treated
poorly. Simple, really. Politeness is a useful skill that's being lost
as people are into this 'I want it now!' mentality.

   I used to be on IRC a lot. If there's any real changes, I might
show back up, but for now, there's no point in really being
there. Yes, I do likemost of the people there, but it's a waste of
time being there.  Sad, but true. There's much more quality of
discussion, and staying to the point in email and usenet, I'm afraid.

Nathan Mates (GSHacker on irc #appleiigs)

--
<*> Nathan Mates http://www.ugcs.caltech.edu/~nathan/      <*>
# "When you hear the voice of heaven, go out and start running. No
# matter how far away, set on a journey to be sure. ... No matter
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