Re: IRC Logging

> 2) Should this be done? (I think it should...)

The problem that occurs with logging an active channel is simply one of 
volume.  That is, how do you determine what is "relevant" discussion and what 
is the idle chatter that can rapidly develop on IRC?

If you want to archive everything, you should be prepared to store it, and if 
archived search is a goal, you should be prepared to store it appropriately 
from the beginning.

Even if you drop control messages (joins, parts, ops, etc), you're still left 
with a nice chunk of raw data.

Searching and sorting of data: Do you store nick in a separate field, or 
simply use an endless database of raw text storage and simply do a text 
search?  Do you store datestamps?  These things provide a greater 
amount of power and flexibility in sorting, but require thought and possibly 
hacking first.

Think about speed of archival: That is, how often will the data move from XML 
output from the bot to searchable db, and how long will this conversion take 
for how much data on what kind of box?  Should we first track discussion in 
the channel over a period of a couple weeks in terms of volume and processing 
time, and then factor upwards by, say, 250% to 300%, in looking at target 
capabilities?

Give consideration to either how long the archive will be held, or how 
fast it will grow and what the limitations of the db engine are that we'll 
need to design around.  MySQL may be perfectly sufficient ... or does it have 
some upward limit we may run into?  If so, how quickly?  And if it's "a long 
time away," it's helpful to think -now- about future upgrades and data 
conversion (or even at abandoning a limited system before we start), as we're 
all well aware (because lack of planning on your part does not constitute an 
emergency on my part).

If you think you can "edit" toward only "relevant" discussion, forget it.  
Nobody is going to want to volunteer the time to read all that nonsense, I'd 
bet, and be unwilling to put up with the flack they'll catch once something 
"important" is zapped.  (Been there, done that.)

Having said all of this, I'll agree:  If IRC is a discussion forum that leads 
to decision-making within the community, it's important that we archive, if 
for no other reason than "governance in the sunshine." Decision-making 
and archival of discussion surrounding the decision are linked and should not 
be separated, because the record of discussion, how decisions are made, and 
why, is important to transparency (just ask the FCC).  That has been a 
complaint about Gentoo's centralized decision-making -- that it's not 
transparent and seems to be going on behind closed doors or behind 
participants' backs.

If we wish to avoid the same mistake, we should avoid it from the beginning 
and request (require?) that archives be kept as a matter of community record.

ag