Brennan Stehling wrote:
I would stick with the web forum so the thread is archived from the start. I have yet to find an IRC client which really works well. You really have to sit and watch the window for incoming messages directed at you so that you send all your waiting instead of coding. And you have to filter out multiple discussions happening at the same time. At least a forum you have isolated threads.
For an interactive real-time group discussion I strongly suggest Skype as it runs on Windows, MacOS X and Linux and is completely free. It also has some useful functions, especially with Unyte (also free) for screen sharing. You can really help someone out when you can see their screen as you talk with them. Unyte works as a Java applet in the web browser so that is also cross-platform.
The problem for me (and maybe some others) is that it's hard to find a large chunk of time to devote to an audio/video meeting when we would all be available. It's such a geographically diverse group that just organizing a time will probably prove to be difficult. It is much easier to squeeze in a text chat because it doesn't necessarily have to take 100% of your attention, and it can perhaps be done on work time, etc.
In addition to that, what time I have tends to be at home in the evenings, but I also have don't have a home office and I have a 2-year old son who likes to talk and makes audio communication (even on the phone) an interesting task. :)
On another subject: It seems we have a lot of sysadmins offering time, so we might even be able to dedicate certain ones to certain setups ("specialists" I guess they could be called). For example, it would be best to have an admin who uses Dovecot on a daily basis to be responsible for its testing. They would be more likely to know quirks and what might be a configuration issue.
If someone reports a problem, a specialist could test, attempt to reproduce the problem, and gather more information before the ticket is passed on to an actual developer.
Just another idea...