[mnet-devel] Solving some communications problems.

[Jim McCoy]

Poor communication is probably one of the critical faults that led to 
the current problems that will


I think the first problem that needs to get fixed is using an irc 
channel as the primary communications tool for the group.  Irc can be 
fun, convenient, and offers the possibility of getting a quick answer 
to a problem but I think that it is better as a secondary 
communications tool than as the primary channel, which it had become 
with Mnet.

This just doesn't work for so many reasons:
	-There is no convenient way to do detailed discussion on specific 
points unless everyone else on the channel wants to discuss those 
points and irc promotes a conversational style that is even worse than 
email for conducting worthwhile technical discussions.
	-IRC has poor archiving facilities and no centralized knowledge base 
that can be observed by people with a passive interested in the project.
	-Some of us have better things to do that to hang around in irc all 
day hoping that the right mix of people show up, by using the email 
list to discuss important issues it is possible to know that even if 
everyone doesn't participate in the thread they at least know what is 
going on and can refer back to the earlier discussions when necessary.
	-Because irc is used almost exclusively for mnet discussions it 
appears to anyone checking the SF archives that the project is idle. 
This is mostly true now, but you would not have been able to guess when 
this happened by looking at the volume of traffic on the lists...

I am going to start discussing our mnet-related work on this mailing 
list.  Rob or I may show up in #mnet every now and then to chat or ask 
a fast question, but I think it might be a good thing for everyone to 
try stepping away from the irc client for a few days and trying to 
re-organize things via email... Better communications are not going to 
solve the current problems, but it might make it easier for everyone to 
row in approximately the same direction and to get a short-term path to 
stability on track.

Jim



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