[Theforum] IRC Bot - thepfy

[Madhu Menon]

G'day.

I've kept quiet about this whole IRC issue. Maybe I should put my 2 paise, 
er, Rupees, in. [1]

I'll admit to being a complete IRC newbie, which is probably why I still 
take delight in teaching thebot to say silly (but never offensive) stuff. 
When I first joined #evolt, I didn't know bots logged conversations. It did 
surprise me. However...

At 11:09 AM 12/28/2001, Michele Foster typed these words:
>It is not a matter of having saying things to a private forum .. it *IS* a
>matter of knowing who's listening in and who isn't.

I believe that this premise is incorrect. IRC is not a "private forum", 
unless you have your own channel and restrict membership/access to people 
you trust, like, or want. One-to-one email is private, instant messengers 
are private, and restricted chat rooms may be private, but an IRC channel 
that *anyone* can join is not private. It's not my space or something that 
only some people use. #evolt is for anyone who wants to join.

Having established that, one should be careful what one says in a public 
forum. As Internet veterans, all of us know this already. If you don't 
think that others should read it, use more private channels. When I want to 
talk privately to someone, I use an instant messenger or email.

If people want to have their private chats, I can think of a few options:

a) Start your own private channel on the server (I *think* this is 
possible. Can an IRC veteran confirm this?)
b) In the #evolt channel, use private messaging i.e., send a message 
directly to your friend. I don't think bots can log this.
c) Use email
d) Use Yahoo messenger/ AIM/ ICQ/ MSN

Options a) and b) are the easiest, IMHO.

A bot logging a conversation may unnerve a few people initially (I was one 
of them), but then if you want to say stuff like "[xyz] is a loser who 
needs a kick in the arse" or other personal details, it's better to do so 
privately rather than on a public channel like #evolt. That's always a good 
idea whether there are bots or not.

Once we see that a public IRC channel with no restrictions (yet) is NOT a 
*private* space, most arguments will be resolved.

Regards,

Madhu
[1] 1 Rupee is approximately 2 US cents. 2 paise is 1/100th of 2 cents ;)

<<<   *   >>>
Madhu Menon
User Experience Consultant
e-mail: webguru at vsnl.net