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Sup guys,

POL used to have a direct/simple way to connect to IRC support channels via the POL GUI. 

What happend to that feature? Personally I think that was an awesome way to get in touch with pros instantly.

Cheers,

Ocean

It was removed a few releases back. Though, the POL channel is still on freenode if you want to get to it. :)

Sup Ronin,

aaaw damn... why was it removed? I honestly think that was a great feature, granting users direct access to an official support channel - easy, direct, fast and awesome.

PS: I'll look you guys up on freenode though. :)

Cheers,

Ocean

#playonlinux is the channel name. Off the top of my head, I cannot remember, but I think it was because of it having a dependency for an IRC client, and if someone doesn't have it or doesn't need it, then it is an unused dependency that is dragged into the mix. That is my recollection of it, anyway. I may be mistaken. lol.

Well, it has been removed for three main reasons:

• Linux software philosophy in General is to handle one task (and handle it great)
• This feature was not used as I expected: people are coming to ask for support (without even saying hello in general) and leaving just after
• It was one more piece of crappy badly designed code to maintain inside PoL4

We may reconsider adding this feature for v5, although it is not sure at all

Hello,

• Never heard of that before. Where did you get that info from? 
• How about creating two IRC channels? One for direct support and one for general - friendly (?) - discussion. Wine and other projects do the same thing, if I am not mistaken.
• It might have been crappy from a dev point of view, but as a user, I really enjoyed it. Direct, integrated, fast, easy to use and overall good. That's how support is suppose to be.

Please reconsider your decision for v5.  

Thanks for taking the time!

Cheers,

Ocean

Edited by Ocean86

 

• Never heard of that before. Where did you get that info from? 

I do agree that a vast majority of the users that came in via that method did not really request help in a way that we could actually help, and then literally within seconds would leave. lol. It is not from a dev point of view; it is from a support point of view. 

 

• Linux software philosophy in General is to handle one task (and handle it great)

Another point I agree with; there are great IRC clients to handle frequently-used channels and servers. Yes it is not a bad feature, but then again, it does not really serve a purpose (there is already a bug reporting system and logging mechanism built in, plus the forums, wiki, and bug tracker on the website) other than just being a feature. 

Personally, I liked it. :)

 

 That's how support is suppose to be.

There are actually quite a few professional, closed-source, major-money programs that excel in support, that do not have an IRC client built-in (actually, a vast majority. Along with most of the open source software I opened on my system), yet do provide support services via their website, forums, and bug trackers and whatnot. From the dev point of view, code maintenance is actually a HUGE issue, because if code is hard to maintain, support will be hard to maintain. At least in my opinion. It really is a small feature, considering the help menu links directly to the forums and all of that, and the same thing can be achieved (actually, you are more likely to get a faster response on the forums, simply because those that do not use IRC can see the posts too, even if they were not online when they were posted). 

I am for it coming back (with some reservations. haha.), but I will not miss it if it stays gone. haha. :)

 

Quote from RoninDusette

Edited by RoninDusette

I am really sorry about the formatting. I have no idea what happened when I saved. haha. 

Sup Ronin,

thanks for the feedback and the links! I'll take a look at them tonight.

Well I do understand the issue of ppl being impatient - luckily I am different, but only because I meditate near a relaxing waterfall on a regular basis.

Anyway, I realise all the issues that come with it, but all I can personally say is that I very much enjoyed such a feature. Being able to directly connect to the devs and other POL users, without having to login, register or subscribe to anything was awesome. That feature actually helped me get started with POL. I suggest having two channels available; one for off-topic and one for direct support. I'd just apply some "rules" to the chatrooms that ppl can read via an automated message when they join the chat. Patience would be one of the things I'd ask for. 

So... +1 for the feature to come back.

PS: What happend to the formatting? O,o

Cheers,

Alex

Edited by Ocean86