dc9 - 0.5
DebConf9
| Speakers | |
|---|---|
|
Michael Banck |
| Schedule | |
|---|---|
| Day | DebConf day 2 (2009-07-25) |
| Room | Lower talkroom |
| Start time | 13:00 |
| Duration | 01:00 |
| Info | |
| ID | 415 |
| Event type | bof |
| Track | DebConf |
| Language | en |
| Feedback | |
|---|---|
|
Did you attend this event? Give Feedback |
Non-English IRC Support
and how #debian should use it
This talk will briefly cover the current status of Debian end-user IRC support in #debian and how it has improved over time. The main part of the talk will be about non-#debian IRC support. Users who do not speak English usually get directed towards their specific language channel. The problem with this (especially for less popular languages) is that we do not know whether they are getting help there or whether that channel has similar guidelines like #debian. Points of contact for a particular language with a well-known background in the Debian community should be decided upon to act as a liaison between the local channel and the rest of the Debian end-user support. This could be expanded for other communities like mailing lists. Hopefully, a discussion on how to best achieve the above will ensue during and after the talk.
In former years, complaints about the #debian atmosphere in general and the attitude of some of its regulars in particular were quite frequent. Over the last few years, the current #debian channel operators and regulars have mostly succeeded in providing a more welcoming, yet still highly effective end-user support for Debian users in #debian.
However, with the success of i18n in Debian and Free Software in general, more and more users who do not speak English fluently (if at all) request support in #debian. Those people get pointed to language-specific channels via the channel-bot factoid database. This works pretty well to keep the main #debian channel from non-English chatter and noise, but it is often unclear to the #debian channel operators and regulars whether those users are actually helped in the channels they are sent to. Feedback on how well those channels work is difficult to obtain because the users directed there usually do not return back to #debian. Sometimes, more than one end-user support channel for a particular language exist, they are split on several networks, or change names without the #debian regulars noticing. Some channels for less popular languages are also very small and low-traffic. Moreover, there have been complaints about abusive channel operators or regulars in those language-specific channels.
The Debian project might profit from general guidelines on what are acceptable and useful measures for end-user support among all of the support channels. Points of contact for a particular language with a well-known background in the Debian community should be decided upon to act as a liaison between the local channel and the Debian end-user support organizers. This could be expanded for other communities like mailing lists as well. Further discussion is needed and solicited to flesh out the above proposal.