As many of you will recall: we have an IRC channel on EFNet called #marp. If you didn't - please give us a visit! :)

The problem with having a channel there is because a good number of people can't get on no matter how hard they try. Add the fact that there's no way we can protect a channel without all the net splits.

With this in mind - I'd like to motion to move the channel to Starlink-IRC(not StarLink - that's different).

Why there? Well some of us know of another channel where we go to every once in a while - that also moved for another reason...(I'd mention it... but it would then become a cheap plug :) )

What does everyone think of this proposition? Thanks for considering it :) {GB9}

-- Gameboy9 (goldengameboy@yahoo.com), April 16, 2000

Answers

I`ll go with the flow. Dunno what you mean about it being hard for people to get there. Hell, if I can get there, anyone can ! The #marp is fun, and gives us players a chance to converse with fellow MARP`ers.

If the location is to be changed GB9, please be sure to provide step- by-step instructions for the stupid people like me :)

Oh, and would it be possible to provide a permanent link here at MARP, for #marp ? Just curious.

Thanks, ALEX

-- Alex Weir (alexweir@indigo.ie), April 16, 2000.

It just so happens that starlink IRC has java-chat links to channels - so I bet I can get some linking going on... but I will probably only link to the main page of Starlink-IRC. I will add additional steps as neccessary.

Now if we were to make the move and register the channel - we'll need SEVEN supporters(emails and nicknames)... yours is RoboAL isn't it Alex?

This move is obviously NOT official yet - I have to get opinions from others before trying this... Thanks for reading :)

-- Gameboy9 (goldengameboy@yahoo.com), April 16, 2000.

Having java-chat sounds like a great idea, especially for the less technically inclined among our playing field. I'm all for this.

-- Q.T.Quazar (qan@home.com), April 16, 2000.

Because of new work hours I can really only get on IRC on weekdays after Midnight US Central time (when pretty much everyone is gone) and on weekends. Since there's another channel on EFnet I frequent I'd like to see #marp remain there, even though I know it won't.

I'm all for anything that will make #marp more accessible to all, but I've never even heard of this StarLink thing - EFNet is known by a lot more people. People that can't get on? I couldn't access EFnet for quite a while because I thought all AOL'ers were banned, but I found a server that lets them on. Seeing how there's only one other MARP regular on AOL (SportsDude), and he hasn't even submitted much lately, I think accessing it isn't a problem.

The only thing that would justify moving the channel is to get away from net splits. But has anyone tried to take the channel over?

-BBH

-- BBH (lordbbh@aol.com), April 16, 2000.

I'd never used IRC until last night - mainly due to not having Net access other than at work.

However, last week I set up access through FreeNet - gee I wonder why I chose them... ;-)

Last night, having installed Mirc I chose to connect to an EFNet server in Oz and then chose to join the #marp channel and found JoustGod already in there and we chatted for around an hour.

I can't see how this is difficult, perhaps all we need to do is have a link to something like Mirc on MARP and some brief instructions on how to connect using the selected IRC chat tool.

Newbie question: What the heck are "Net splits" and how does someone "take over a channel" ?!

BeeJay.

-- BeeJay (brianjohnstone@jade.co.nz), April 17, 2000.

Net Split: Where two servers split up or something like that and we lose a bunch of people - this would probably not occur on starlink- irc.

Taking over a channel: On EFNet, a stranger can just pop right on in and take the channel over if he's the first one there. This can happen because on EFNet there's no channel service to protect a channel. Although we haven't had that problem yet - it certainly can happen. Starlink-IRC has such a thing to protect a channel.

I have a problem with EFNet's access to people. For me, over 95 % of the servers are inaccessible to me. As a matter of fact, there's only two servers I can connect to. With Starlink-IRC, no restrictions unless you get banned or something.

Finally, you may notice that the room is secret to all the others - this would probably not happen at Starlink-IRC. My point? There's a possibility of getting new players just by dropping by.

Well... that's my 87 cents worth... 51 shillings if you convert it... something like that.

-- Gameboy9 (goldengameboy@yahoo.com), April 17, 2000.

...or two pennies Canadian.

Q.T.Quazar, who's wondering how he's going to pay his tuition next year.

-- Q.T.Quazar (qan@home.com), April 18, 2000.

The short answer is that it strikes me as unnecessary.

Net splits would be the only valid reason to make the move, and there's no denying that EFNet has its splits. But they're temporary things for the most part, and a nuisance at worst.

Takeovers are not an issue. ~If~ the bot wasn't there, or ~if~ somebody had the audacity to take over the channel, one can simply find another channel to congregate in. In all honesty, it wouldn't even be worthwhile to conjure up such a backup plan and train everyone on its use considering the small number of folks we have using the channel and the fact that something like that may not happen for months or even years. It's more work than what you can gain from it.

As far as not making the channel secret, just ask Rewd to change the bot so that it doens't make the channel +s immediately.

I generally agree with how things go down around here, but to propose a move when half the users will benefit slightly and half will be incovenienced slightly is just going to be working for nothing. #marp is a pretty informal gathering, and isn't really something that needs voted on in the public forum (I'm sure I'll draw a flame or two there, but there ~are~ limits, people...)

Cheers, Brian

-- Brian McLean (bmclean84@hotmail.com), April 21, 2000.

I havn't been on IRC lately and I'm just now catching up with about 3 weeks of mail. I'll go ahead and configure the bot so the channel is not secret. I have that as default because of spam bots. I also lost the bot user files about a month ago and I'm not sure if I have everyone back in. Email me at info@kaupp.cx if I missed getting someone back on the bot.

I'll see if I can get some time to get back in the channel, whether it moves or not.

-- Dave Kaupp (info@kaupp.cx), April 24, 2000.