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Hi "fpqc",
No, there's no 'n-IRC' channel. I've never used IRC channels so I have no idea what the benefits or drawbacks of having one would be. Could you elaborate?
Andrew
Just what we need... a way to spend even more time on n-stuff!
I've never used IRC either, but my understanding is that it only really works when everybody is on it at one time. So it could take the place of a constant back and forth on the Forum, but not conversations that are drawn out over days. Is that correct?
It was suggested for meetings of the steering committee, but even we've been doing that on the Forum and by email instead.
'fpqc' - first, thanks for filling in your name on the 'member list'. Second, thanks for clarifying.
My instinctive reaction to an IRC channel is that it wouldn't be used much. The main reason being that the questions and so forth generally aren't urgent enough to warrant an immediate response. Over on meta.mathoverflow.net, Ilya Nikokoshev put it brilliantly in this parody:
It's one hour before the head of your department is going to make a highly technical presentation that is going to make or break your next year's funding (this is already strange enough). You're performing the final checks on the whiteboard — when suddenly you realize there is a divergent sum! You could swear the damn thing wasn't diverging yesterday (fun again), yet now the whole department is in danger. The 10-people team of you and your fellow mathematicians immediately drops other work and frantically writes formulas trying to eliminating this divergence. Finally, five minutes before the start you find that the problem was created by a fellow graduate student who wasn't careful in erasing his whiteboard. The happy head is able to announce that an important theorem has been proven.
One thing I like about the n-lab/n-forum set-up is that it works at a slow pace. Or, perhaps, to be more accurate: it can accommodate people like me who do work at a slow pace. If something faster is needed then I can email someone directly, but even then it's probably better to post something here and merely send an email saying "I particularly want your input on this".
Add to that the fact that the dedicated core of the n-lab is probably not all that large and is spread out over several timezones, so the times when we would use an IRC would be fairly limited. I think that if I really needed something immediate then I would post simultaneously here, on the n-lab itself, and over at mathoverflow.
The other argument against is one that you actually bring up: information entered into an IRC is ultimately lost (or at least deeply buried). I think, from other things that Urs has said, that he would feel this the main argument against. Even seemingly minor questions, like how to you typeset a downward-pointing arrow, are worth saving somewhere.
But I'm curious as to what prompted the question. Do you have a specific instance in mind where it would (have been) useful?
And in case it's not clear, the n-forum is a bit of dumping ground for any questions. The n-forum is completely subservient to the n-lab. Anything that makes life easier for the users of the n-lab is fair-game on the forum. (Well, I did veto the suggestion for a free bottle of aquavit for every sign-up)
'fpqc': What you've just said is about the only silly thing that it is possible to say here! They put up with me and my silly questions, so their tolerance level is quite high.
Slightly more seriously, so long as you show a willingness to learn and to understand then feel free to ask questions, both here and at MO. Neither site is a "closed club" nor is either interested in being so.
One thing that is worth knowing about the forum is that we actually try to avoid having discussions here. As soon as someone says something interesting then we transfer it to the n-lab itself. That's why you'll see that most of the posts in the "latest changes" category are of the form "Question at XYZ" or "Reply at XYZ". This place is really just to keep track of that place (the n-lab). But we'd rather you asked here than not at all - I know that it can seem a bit daunting to go in to the n-lab and put query boxes here, there, and everywhere.
And as for "threads" here at the forum, database space is cheap. Go ahead and start new discussions as you like. Start off in the "general" category - we can always move them to a more appropriate place later if needed.
Incidentally, you've signed on as 'fpqc' but have filled in your name in the Member List so anyone logged in can see who you are. Do you have any objection to us using your real name in the forum? The posts are publicly readable but I certainly find that having a real name helps me feel that I'm interacting with a person and not some amorphous blob out in cyberspace!
I second what Andrew says above. I am thinking in particular of one well-liked regular n-Labber who asks many very basic questions, and I for one am happy to talk with him about them (and I'm not the only one who does either). So ask away!
And, if it's alright by you, sometime next week when we're both online at the same time I'll make it possible for you to change your login to (some approximation of) your name.
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