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Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

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Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#61
post #27
post #13

It does seem like this would be a lot easier if there were also chat (or even if it were chat-only). If you're talking about code, it would be really helpful to be able to paste in snippets or links to resources.

#RubyOnRails on freenode is basically this.

Give the #RubyOnRails users a way to paste a link (shorturl?) to people who come into the channel asking for premium help.

Make a game of it for the users, have a bot which reports the user stats (which users can auth via privmsg/ctcp password).

edit: a bot which reports stats on a request basis only, and privmgs all interactions with other users! no channel spam!

Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#62

Has Rails become so complex that people need a hotline?

Seriously, downvoters, I'm curious as to what motivated this. What's the need for a hotline? If there are problems, is a hotline really the best approach, or does it suggest that there's some larger underlying issue that makes it necessary? People used to tout Rails as being stupid easy to use. I.e. http://www.amedias.org/img/java_vs_rails_books.jpg So, just how complex has Rails become? What are the difficulties peo…

It's not about the complexity of Rails, it's about helping a learner get comfortable at their own speed, outside of the usual channels of support. It's about creating something that will unexpectedly delight people. No one expects free phone-based tech support for an open-source project.

This is ridiculously awesome. I think your reply did not contribute much of use to the conversation, and I think that's why you got downvoted (wasn't me, I can't downvote).

Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#63
post #47
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks! Obviously, some questions you're going to need to work through the code, so we can always move the conversation to text. So far lots of the calls have been about documentation and best practices which are pretty easy to talk through.

Agreed - maybe an Rails environment similar to http://tryruby.org/ for Ruby IRB?

an, if only herokugarden lived on, that would be ace!

Re: Rails Hotline (live phone help with RoR)

#65
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, downvoters, I'm curious as to what motivated this. What's the need for a hotline? If there are problems, is a hotline really the best approach, or does it suggest that there's some larger underlying issue that makes it necessary? People used to tout Rails as being stupid easy to use. I.e. http://www.amedias.org/img/java_vs_rails_books.jpg So, just how complex has Rails become? What are the difficulties peo…

It's not about the complexity of Rails , it's about helping a learner get comfortable at their own speed, outside of the usual channels of support. It's about creating something that will unexpectedly delight people. No one expects free phone-based tech support for an open-source project. This is ridiculously awesome. I think your reply did not contribute much of use to the conversation, and I think that's why you go…

Thanks very much for the response.

No one expects free phone-based tech support for an open-source project.

That's true, but there are various reasons for that, one being that it's rarely needed. Now, offering it despite any demonstrated need is an interesting experiment, but it also suggests that the typical paths for learning and support are lacking.

I think your reply did not contribute much of use to the conversation, and I think that's why you got downvoted

I asked a question with an unflattering (albeit realistic) supposition.

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