#ubuntu-offtopic channel topic

Juha Siltala topyli at ubuntu.com
Wed Oct 13 19:53:25 UTC 2010


Hi Matt,

On Wed, Oct 13, 2010 at 10:46, Matt Darcy <ubuntu.lists at projecthugo.co.uk>wrote:

If you want to ramble on about "this girl you met" or "lol guilwars
> rules" there are plenty of offtopic channels within the Ubuntu name
> space, and many more that are nothing to do with Ubuntu name space that
> are better suited for stuff that is currently going on in #ubuntu-offtopic.
>

I am not aware of a channel in the #ubuntu-* namespace other than
#ubuntu-offtopic (and #k + #x equivalents) for rambling about our romantic
lives and musical tastes. To be sure, the channel was created to facilitate
ubuntu-related, non-support chat, but the reality emerged quickly that it
occasionally (or even mostly) hosts discussion completely undetatched from
Ubuntu. #ubuntu-offtopic has become, in a word, a social channel for the
members of the community.

I would likely oppose a dedicated channel for LOLcats and Lady Gaga. That
material belongs to either #ubuntu-offtopic or outside the Ubuntu space
altogether.


> Lets try to put a use to the channel beyond a place where people can hit
> the bot with !hammertime every 30 seconds.
>
> I wanted to discuss some Ubuntu issues a few days ago, but looking at
> the junk that was going on in #ubuntu-offtopic there was nowhere to go.
>

We do discuss Ubuntu and community development quite a bit in
#ubuntu-offtopic, and I find that the channel patrons are usually quite
happy to pick up Ubuntu-related subjects whenever they come up. I'm sad to
hear that the offtopic ramblings have put you off. Perhaps the experience
varies from time to time.


> Also this would make putting a policy and removing that "grey area" of
> the rules in #ubuntu-offtopic easier.
>

This is certainly possible if a consensus is reached that this is desirable.
We can decide that only Ubuntu related discussion is allowed on
#ubuntu-offtopic. I am completely opposed to such a move.

If such a decision were reached, I would strongly oppose creating another
channel, even more offtopic, to act as a dump for material that we would
judge to be offtopic for offtopic. That would have to move outside our
namespace, and I would consider it a great loss to our community.

Juha
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