The issue is not whether IRC-based support is a good idea. I think we can all agree that forum-based support is better. However, we already have a support channel where volunteers may offer support if they wish. So that point is moot. I am also not opposed to people's first impression of Drupal being a "bustling hub of development activity". The problem is that this is not the case. The first impression people have is that they are rudely spoken to for unwittingly entering what appears to be a channel about Drupal, but is really a development channel. This has two negative effects: 1. Developer time is taken up redirecting people to #drupal-support. Frustration builds on the part of the developer. 2. Unsuspecting newbies, many of whom may be potential developers, are given a negative impression at the outset. This is bad system design, plain and simple. No one is saying that support is more important than developing software. What I'm saying is that after the 150th car crashes from going around a sudden turn in the road, it's time to recognize there is a design problem and rebuild the road. No one is saying that development is not important. It is important. It's so important that it warrants its own channel. But what's also important is designing an on-ramp for new potential drupal users and developers that is as smooth and easy as possible. Inviting potential developers to the dev channel is far more uplifting than booting them to the support channel. The current system is broken. Let's fix it.