CommunityData:IRC

Chat on IRC

The CDSC's IRC channel is the main synchronous form of communication between CDSC professors, students, and other affiliated scholars and researchers. A number of us are idling in #communitydata on OFTC (irc.oftc.net). IRC is basically a chat system that is similar to Slack in many ways. In fact, it was the inspiration for Slack!

To use IRC, you'll need a client.

Element

Element is a fairly easy-to-use and free (as in beer and freedom) client with both web and phone-based apps that can let you participate in IRC rooms via Matrix. Matrix is an open standard communication protocol that User:Salt is an expert in. If you use Element you should also join the CDSC Matrix Space to more easily access the (potentially out-of-date) list of bridged IRC channels. Get in contact with User:Salt if you want to go this way and have any questions.

IRC Cloud

A decent one for folks new to IRC is IRCCloud. With IRCCloud there is a web interface as well as good Apps for iOS and Android.

One limitation of IRCCloud is that, after a 1-week trial period, the system will disconnect folks every two hours. There are a couple options for this. The easiest one is subscribing to IRC cloud which costs $5/month or $50 a year. If you feel this is the best option for you and you think the CDSC should cover your subscription cost, please talk to a faculty member of the group (e.g,. Aaron, Mako, Sneha, Jeremy, Sayamindu) to see if they can cover the bill. If you are totally new to IRC and just want something easy and straightforward, this is a pretty good recommendation. Other than Element, the other options are more indirect, technical, and/or involve a bit more work or figuring stuff out.

Joining other channels

While #communitydata is our main IRC channel, there are several subgroups (based on research topic, methods, etc.) that have a separate channel as well. If you want to join any of those, you can simply enter /join and then the channel name. So, for example, if you want to join the channel on systematic literature reviews, you should enter /join #communitydata-syslit.

Please note that if you use the Matrix protocol, it works slightly differently. You will enter /join #_oftc_<channel name>:matrix.org. So, in the case of the channel on systematic literature reviews, you should enter /join #_oftc_#communitydata-syslit:matrix.org. Alternatively, you can click Explore rooms, select OFTC from the drop-down, and search for the room name.

Here are some of the the sub-channels that we use:

IRC Room	Description	Matrix Room
#communitydata	Main chat	#_oftc_#communitydata:matrix.org
#communitydata-casual	A hangout space / watercooler	#_oftc_#communitydata-casual:matrix.org
#communitydata-nu	Primarily useful for Northwestern people	#_oftc_#communitydata-nu:matrix.org
#communitydata-purdue	A space for folks connected to Purdue	#_oftc_#communitydata-purdue:matrix.org
#communitydata-faculty	Just the CDC faculty (invite only, but if you're faculty you really should be there)	#_oftc_#communitydata-faculty:matrix.org
#communitydata-covid19	For organizing COVID-19 data collection and dissemination	#_oftc_#communitydata-covid19:matrix.org
#communitydata-ecology	For those working on the NSF ecology grant	#_oftc_#communitydata-ecology:matrix.org
#communitydata-learning	A working group around online learning	#_oftc_#communitydata-learning:matrix.org
#communitydata-syslit	A working group for folks working on systematic literature reviews	#_oftc_#communitydata-syslit:matrix.org

Making new channels

Because we are using both matrix and oftc, there's some incompatibilities that boil down to one basic limitation: if you use Matrix, don't make rooms. OFTC users can make rooms and you can join them using the description above.

Registering your "nick" (i.e., IRC username)

Due to spam, we have on a couple of occasions in the past had to block "non-registered" users from posting to #communitydata. This helps a lot with the spam but has a big disadvantage in that if you speak on the channel but are not registered, nobody else will be able to hear you!

It's a good idea to register your nickname or "nick" in any case because it means that can essentially reserve your nickname so that nobody else can have it.

If you've already done this long ago, you can stop reading, there's nothing new to do. If you haven't gotten fully registered and verified, here are the four "easy" steps, heavily mediated by the NickServ bot:

1. From IRC (irc.oftc.net), /msg NickServ register <<your password>> <<your email>>
2. Verification is via the website, see: [1]
3. Ask NickServ 'checkverify' and she'll tell you if you're verified.
4. Please say something on the channel to test. If you do not get a response, your messages can still be seen by community members. /msg mako or ashaw for help.