Privacy issues in Ubuntu's IRC channels and Launchpad

[Corey Quinn]

On Sep 26, 2013, at 12:07 PM, Tony Yarusso <tonyyarusso at gmail.com> wrote:

> Since the IRC channels provide user support, and other people may have
> the same questions, it is in the community's best interests for those
> logs to be searchable, so more people can find the answers they need.
> We do however currently exclude the offtopic (non-support) channels
> from logging altogether.

I strongly disagree with this; "irc logs" are about on a level with "Expert's Exchange" when it comes to finding solutions to problems; they're unstructured, unsearchable in any meaningful way, and generally not that useful for long term troubleshooting. The value of IRC is realtime discussion.

From the freenode guidelines:

> If you're considering publishing channel logs, think it through. The freenode network is an interactive environment. Even on public channels, most users don't weigh their comments with the idea that they'll be enshrined in perpetuity. For that reason, few participants publish logs.

Generally we've found that public logging creates more problems than it solves; I've long felt that there was something "off" about Ubuntu's insistence on public logging.

-- 
Corey Quinn
freenode Network Staff
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