Chat+Mail+Wiki (CMW)
by Sven Guckes
chatmailwiki(at)guckes(dot)net

Sun Sep 07 12:30:52 CEST 2008

= Abstract =

This paper proposes the use of chat+mail+wiki
to be used with any kind of group effort which
makes use of the internet (or intranet) as a
means of communication to the effort's progress.

= Background =
i have been to a few dozen events
on free and open source - and
they all use some of CMW already.

however, it is pretty hard to convince new events
to make use of CMW right from the start.
so here is a summary of my experience with it.

= Existence =

whenever i suggest installing a new service to a group of
people then this is the first question that comes up.
"Do we really need this?  This seems like a lot of work!"
and my answer usually is "definitely maybe!"

you see, if you do not offer a medium for exchanging information
then the people can only meet each other by chance.
they might meet at the event itself - but then it usually
is far too late to coordinate anything before the event.

there is no way of telling whether the *offer* of CMW
will result in a tremendous feedback and payoff for you.
but one thing is for sure: if you do not offer anything
then you will certainly diminish the possibilities.

placing the info about CMW onto the website makes it
*possible* for everyone to use the given media, however.

......
and avoiding unnecessary work seems fair enough to me.

my reply to this question is this:
"if it doesnt exist then 

= Installation+Maintenance =

Installation:
the installation of a chat channel is simple:
simply connect to an IRC server and enter the command
"/join channel" - and it will be created.  it will
exist as along as at least one client is connected.
when the last client leaves then
it does not exist any longer.

however, if you want to gain control of the features an
operator has on a channel then you should register it.