IRC Support Closed

[Valtam]

Support will no longer be offered in the IRC channel #linuxlite.
There are several reasons for this:

• In the time that it's been open, most users disconnect within 1-2 minutes if they don't get a reply.
  
• When someone does receive help, many people are disconnecting before that help is finished.
  
• Many people coming in are using IRC for the first time and have no idea how to use it giving them the impression we are not offering a user friendly facility.
  

These are the main ones, there are others and at the end of the day I have made the decision to concentrate Support here in the Forums where everyone can see the solutions to problems.
All of this has been incredibly frustrating for those who give their time to help others, not to mention the lack of manners from people who do get help. A simple thank you after spending half an hour helping someone is not much to ask.

We still have multiple options for people to get support. With Support now concentrated mainly to the Forums, this will only serve to increase the knowledge base here, where on IRC, it is lost. Support options - https://www.freecinema2022.gq/support.html

Since there are still Linux Lite versions out there that have the IRC link in the Internet Menu, I've added an auto-response bot to the channel that directs people here to the Forums. In Linux Lite 2.0 the IRC Menu link will read 'Support' instead of 'IRC Support' and will link to these Forums.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

I think moving away from real-time support is a good idea, for several reasons:

1. 95%-99% of users don't even know what the abbreviation IRC stands for, much less how to properly use it. Most 'old-schoolers' do, but still probably haven't used it in years.

2. Sometimes (most of the time), research must be done to answer some of the questions that pop up - whether those questions pop up on IRC, or in the forums. As you said, the forums provide a repository of useful information that relieves everyone of the need to constantly 're-invent the wheel' over IRC.

3. The LL development team provides support on a pro-bono basis, on top of earning a living and raising families. Additionally, spending time monitoring and answering IRC queries takes away from bug-swatting and making enhancements to the OS and software, which is far more important right now.

Despite all the efforts made to make using this OS as easy as possible, Linux and Windows are different, and always will be. There was a learning curve for everyone when Windows first hit the scene; likewise, there's going to be one for Linux as well.

For those who continue to struggle with various issues, HANG IN THERE. We truly are blessed that Canonical has pumped a lot of resources, financial and otherwise, into making Linux easier to work with over the last several years. Five years ago, getting certain hardware to work under Linux was a real challenge indeed, and often meant having to compile your own custom kernels to get a lot of the stuff out there to work.

If I've expressed this rant in the past, my apologies...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[Valtam]

You hit the nail on the head Rob, thank you for your comments.

[N4RPS]

Hello!

You're welcome, Valtam. Even in the forums, it seems that to an extent, some of the same questions get asked over and over.

Perhaps some stickies on some common issues, like, let's say, wireless, would help with that, but I don't really know, heheheheh...

73 DE N4RPS
Rob

[Scott(0)]

Good decision. Conserve resources so they can be better spent elsewhere. Like sleep!

[rmcellig]

I agree with Valtam. The forum is a much better place because at least there is a paper trail to solutions, suggestions etc... Very good a timely decision Valtam!

[robert]

IRC is definitely time intensive and closing it is a step in the right direction.  The facility to a direct link to the forums is a great idea.

Having the archived forum available is a great boon too.  I've found good things from them.

Also keeping the FB page non technical is a plus for me.

[ohjrson]

Yeah ok. I love the forum here. Every time I get a new user from windows introduced to Beryl I tell them if you have any questions go to the forum. They WILL help you get things straightened out.

So far I guess they are using it.
As far as a FB page is concerned, People are using that thing like it is paper and unfortunatly it is going to ba a good place for users to turn to. So is Twitter and all the other common social programs. But I would restrict it to the most common ones. I don't care for FB and their policys but unfortunately they have a huge user base. and the more people that see us on FB or Twitter the better.

I agree with closing something that is not helping though..