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I&nbsp;feel&nbsp;the&nbsp;need&nbsp;to&nbsp;put&nbsp;in&nbsp;my&nbsp;two&nbsp;penn'orth&nbsp;here.
 There&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;lot&nbsp;of&nbsp;debate&nbsp;about&nbsp;which&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;ideal&nbsp;communication&nbsp;/&nbsp;discussion&nbsp;channel,&nbsp;so&nbsp;here's&nbsp;my&nbsp;views&nbsp;on&nbsp;the&nbsp;issue.
 IRC&nbsp;-&nbsp;Has&nbsp;the&nbsp;big&nbsp;advantage&nbsp;that&nbsp;the&nbsp;debate&nbsp;is&nbsp;real&nbsp;time,&nbsp;but&nbsp;suffers&nbsp;many&nbsp;disadvantages.&nbsp;Low&nbsp;signal&nbsp;to&nbsp;noise&nbsp;ratio,&nbsp;can&nbsp;be&nbsp;hard&nbsp;to&nbsp;determine&nbsp;what&nbsp;comment&nbsp;a&nbsp;reply&nbsp;is&nbsp;to,&nbsp;and&nbsp;some&nbsp;people&nbsp;are&nbsp;just&nbsp;not&nbsp;able&nbsp;to&nbsp;sit&nbsp;on&nbsp;IRC&nbsp;all&nbsp;day&nbsp;waiting&nbsp;for&nbsp;others&nbsp;to&nbsp;come&nbsp;along&nbsp;and&nbsp;start&nbsp;discussing&nbsp;(currently&nbsp;I'm&nbsp;on&nbsp;dial-up).
 If&nbsp;IRC&nbsp;is&nbsp;to&nbsp;work&nbsp;as&nbsp;anything&nbsp;more&nbsp;than&nbsp;an&nbsp;informal&nbsp;meeting&nbsp;place&nbsp;then&nbsp;perhaps&nbsp;what&nbsp;we&nbsp;need&nbsp;is&nbsp;a&nbsp;formal&nbsp;weekly&nbsp;meeting&nbsp;(maybe&nbsp;in&nbsp;another&nbsp;channel)&nbsp;so&nbsp;that&nbsp;people&nbsp;can&nbsp;always&nbsp;know&nbsp;when&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;are&nbsp;to&nbsp;take&nbsp;place&nbsp;and&nbsp;can&nbsp;turn&nbsp;up&nbsp;for&nbsp;them&nbsp;without&nbsp;having&nbsp;to&nbsp;hang&nbsp;around&nbsp;on&nbsp;IRC&nbsp;all&nbsp;the&nbsp;time.
 
 Mail&nbsp;List&nbsp;-&nbsp;I&nbsp;think&nbsp;that&nbsp;the&nbsp;mail&nbsp;list&nbsp;should&nbsp;be&nbsp;best&nbsp;left&nbsp;for&nbsp;announcements,&nbsp;and&nbsp;other&nbsp;items&nbsp;that&nbsp;are&nbsp;of&nbsp;general&nbsp;interest&nbsp;to&nbsp;most&nbsp;members.&nbsp;Personally&nbsp;I'd&nbsp;prefer&nbsp;not&nbsp;to&nbsp;receive&nbsp;IRC&nbsp;logs&nbsp;in&nbsp;my&nbsp;inbox,&nbsp;having&nbsp;read&nbsp;some&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;log&nbsp;that&nbsp;was&nbsp;posted&nbsp;I&nbsp;certainly&nbsp;don't&nbsp;intend&nbsp;to&nbsp;sift&nbsp;through&nbsp;them.
 
 Forums&nbsp;-&nbsp;Why&nbsp;are&nbsp;the&nbsp;forums&nbsp;so&nbsp;quiet?&nbsp;I&nbsp;think&nbsp;that&nbsp;this&nbsp;would&nbsp;be&nbsp;the&nbsp;BEST&nbsp;place&nbsp;for&nbsp;discussion.&nbsp;We&nbsp;can&nbsp;then&nbsp;join&nbsp;the&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;we&nbsp;are&nbsp;interested&nbsp;in&nbsp;without&nbsp;having&nbsp;to&nbsp;download&nbsp;email&nbsp;we&nbsp;may&nbsp;not&nbsp;be&nbsp;interested&nbsp;in&nbsp;and&nbsp;without&nbsp;having&nbsp;sit&nbsp;on&nbsp;IRC.&nbsp;Create&nbsp;a&nbsp;&quot;What&nbsp;should&nbsp;we&nbsp;be&nbsp;doing&nbsp;as&nbsp;a&nbsp;LUG&quot;&nbsp;forum&nbsp;where&nbsp;we'll&nbsp;see&nbsp;topics&nbsp;such&nbsp;as&nbsp;&quot;Install&nbsp;Day&quot;&nbsp;where&nbsp;we&nbsp;can&nbsp;discuss&nbsp;where,&nbsp;when&nbsp;etc,&nbsp;or&nbsp;&quot;The&nbsp;next&nbsp;six&nbsp;meets&quot;&nbsp;where&nbsp;we&nbsp;can&nbsp;discuss&nbsp;the&nbsp;presentation&nbsp;/&nbsp;debate&nbsp;topics.
 
 In&nbsp;summary&nbsp;I&nbsp;think&nbsp;that&nbsp;IRC,&nbsp;Mail&nbsp;list&nbsp;and&nbsp;forums&nbsp;are&nbsp;all&nbsp;important&nbsp;methods&nbsp;that&nbsp;the&nbsp;LUG&nbsp;should&nbsp;be&nbsp;using.
 IRC&nbsp;for&nbsp;informal&nbsp;drop-in&nbsp;chat,&nbsp;and&nbsp;possibly&nbsp;for&nbsp;weekly&nbsp;organised&nbsp;meetings.
 Mail&nbsp;list&nbsp;for&nbsp;announcements&nbsp;and&nbsp;articles&nbsp;of&nbsp;general&nbsp;interest.
 Forums&nbsp;for&nbsp;support&nbsp;queries,&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;and&nbsp;blowing&nbsp;off&nbsp;steam.
 
 I&nbsp;really&nbsp;think&nbsp;we&nbsp;should&nbsp;promote&nbsp;the&nbsp;forums&nbsp;more.
 
 Phil.

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