[development] #drupal / #drupal-dev split considered harmful

[Angela Byron]

On 31-Jul-07, at 7:35 PM, Gerhard Killesreiter wrote:
>
>> So, I don't see why charters can change, with development
>> in #drupal-dev (and only development), then #drupal become
>> community focused, has support, infra discussions, and everything
>> else that is not development.
>
> I am not going to agree to this.


I'd really prefer not either. But see? It doesn't matter what me or  
Gerhard think. Drupal's community changes, and always has, by the  
actions of its individuals.

Obviously, enough people felt okay with 'taking our toys and going  
elsewhere' for #drupal-dev to happen in the first place; if even a  
fraction of those people were actively helping in #drupal make the  
channel more friendly to newcomers, we wouldn't be having this  
discussion, because the change would've already been made. One or two  
'support?s' against an army of people spending hours of their time  
helping people with their problems would make the switch right there.

If this happened, us old curmudgeons like me, who believes that IRC  
netiquette is an essential element of respect and shows value for  
other peoples' time and the culture of a community, and who believes  
the Drupal project is ultimately best served with #drupal being a  
bustling hub of development activity rather than a cluster of people  
who don't show this basic element of respect asking a bunch of  
questions that are likely already available in the handbooks, we  
would be forced to forget our old ways and come along for the ride.

However, this isn't happening. Instead, #drupal-dev folks are staying  
in their corner, #drupal folks are still treating it like we always  
have, and the end result is dividing the traffic in #drupal, and  
hurting the project's face to newcomers as a whole.

Since the people who founded #drupal-dev are the ones who rocked the  
boat, I believe it is their responsibility to steer us to our final  
destination. So what's it going to be? Are you guys going to hang out  
in #drupal and answer support questions all day? Or are you going to  
come back to the fold?

-Angie