Hi All The reason for my post is that I have noticed the majority of our regular channel users are also using irc.z.je (formerly irc.nixhelp.org). I want to propose moving to this network for several reasons.

I don't think there has been any major problems with the channel being on Freenode.  Freenode does occasionally get attacked but I've never seen our little channel be on the receiving end of that.  I'm no fan of Freenode mind you and they've had a mixed history which has ultimately led to a few major projects getting up and leaving to OFTC such as #debian.

Freenode does however have UK servers which are as quick as any to connect to, not to mention that Freenode itself is a UK organization!  For me the main benefit of sticking to Freenode is to keep the number of IRC networks your average free thinking geek need connect to... Freenode has an immense number of free software projects on it which makes it an obvious choice to host a LUG's channel on.

If we do have a problem with Freenode then that needs addressing and if unresolvable then the floor needs to entirely opened up to what alternatives we could use (such as how Debian opted for OFTC - with similar goals to Freenode and other major free software projects). Also as for web access, I'd rather see CGI:IRC being used (I have experience setting this up if anyone needs a hand) as I'd rather not bog my browser down with either Flash or Java - especially if we are using it from a phone or PDA.

> My point was mainly that we have an overlap of users who connect to > z.je There is likely to be an overwhelmingly greater number of people who share #staffslug and some other Freenode channel in common, than #staffslug and a channel on irc.z.je which to my limited knowledge is essentially Home Automation, A&A ISP and mzje's cooking channel. > Freenode does indeed have a London server, however the dns pool has > never (that I've noticed) connected me to it! If you lookup irc.freenode.net you'll see one of the results is 213.232.93.3 which is the Holmes London server which I've been connected to many times.  However we can always have irc.staffslug.org.uk as a CNAME to holmes.freenode.org which solves the issue. > I understand your point, from my experience the issue has been latency > and refreshing with GCI:IRC, this may have changed... I couldn't > possibly say. The latency issues can be fixed by altering refresh rates in the configuration, however the trade off between CGI:IRC vs anything else is bandwidth - if you use CGI:IRC then it's the web server connected to IRC for you... not your own machine.  Great when you can't use a Java or Flash applet, and great for times you may be on an internet connection that doesn't allow IRC. Steven _______________________________________________ Staffslug mailing list Staffslug(a)staffslug.org.uk http://lists.staffslug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/staffslug

For those of us that can tell the difference between 100ms and 30ms latency on IRC, I'd say this is an excellent idea. For everybody else I think this is unnecessary upheaval. Thanks, Jon On 15 January 2011 12:47, Andrew Edwards <edwards.andrew(a)gmail.com&gt; wrote: > Hi All > > The reason for my post is that I have noticed the majority of our > regular channel users are also using irc.z.je (formerly > irc.nixhelp.org). I want to propose moving to this network for several > reasons. > > 1) Connecting is much quicker - feel free to try yourself. > 2) There are less channels to use, however for our users convenience > we will appear clearly in the /list > 3) The network is hosted mainly in the UK, which eliminates latency to > some extent > > I realise that there may be issues for some users with the change, > therefore I propose we deal with this by implementing the following > > 1) Pjirc Java applet on the Staffslug site > 2) use a DNS A host for irc.staffslug.org.uk and aim it at the z.je dns > pool > > I don't believe that we require the extensive help pages that Freenode > offers given that IRC has been around longer than the "web". Should > anyone feel it necessary - documentation could be produced quite > quickly and I would even do it myself to save arguments. > > Does anyone have any objections/opinions on this? > > All constructive criticism welcome. > > Thanks for reading and if this does not apply to you (perhaps you > don't use IRC at all) then please don't feel you have to contribute > anything to this topic! > > If anyone knows of a regular to the IRC channel who is not on the > list, please mention this to them. > > > -- > > Andrew Edwards > > _______________________________________________ > Staffslug mailing list > Staffslug(a)staffslug.org.uk > http://lists.staffslug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/staffslug > _______________________________________________ Staffslug mailing list Staffslug(a)staffslug.org.uk http://lists.staffslug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/staffslug

On Mon, 2011-01-17 at 09:22 +0000, Adam Egan wrote: > What about those of us who can tell the difference but don't > necessarily care as it really makes sod all difference? :P Hehe Burn me at the stake or whatever, but I think that's what he was implying :p _______________________________________________ Staffslug mailing list Staffslug(a)staffslug.org.uk http://lists.staffslug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/staffslug

Then there are those of us who don't give a flying fig about IRC because we haven't used it in about 15 years :-) I hated it back then too.

No doubt, trouble is so have my fingers. I can't type fast enough (arthritic fingers) which is why I prefer good old bog standard e-mail. I can send a reply at my leisure rather than feel rushed to do it as fast as possible. It's why I stopped using IM a few years ago too yet I liked that.

Then there are those of us who don't give a flying fig about IRC because we haven't used it in about 15 years :-)  I hated it back then too. --

From my original post:

Thanks for reading and if this does not apply to you (perhaps you don't use IRC at all) then please don't feel you have to contribute anything to this topic!

On Mon, 2011-01-17 at 11:27 +0000, Andrew Edwards wrote: > Thanks for reading and if this does not apply to you (perhaps you > don't use IRC at all) then please don't feel you have to contribute > anything to this topic! You can't post to a public list and expect everyone to reply with positive responses. 'Don't feed the trolls'. Better yet, don't run the risk of looking like an arse for sending sarcastic replies. Tom _______________________________________________ Staffslug mailing list Staffslug(a)staffslug.org.uk http://lists.staffslug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/staffslug