G'day Ray,
David Mestel wrote:
Wikis in general, including MediaWiki in particular, are very poor for
conducting discussions
The thing I find is that on-wiki, anything you say which you later think better of stays around to haunt you forever. Obviously, however, openness is also a Good Thing, so I think that the bottom line is that IRC is a place for informal opinion-gathering, not for actual decision-making.
OK, but you still need to make the arguments in a public place, where after discussion on IRC some of the more stupid elements can be eliminated. Agreement on IRC is not on-wiki agreement. The new people that become involved may have very different ideas.
That's exactly right. There's nothing wrong with going to IRC and saying, "Here's my idea. Can anyone get rid of the Suck before I propose it on-wiki?"
I've done this several times, and benefited enormously. I also think I have been of benefit to others when they seek to discuss something informally and --- gasp! --- PRIVATELY before potentially making fools of themselves on-wiki.
Refusing to adequately explain an admin action (or, indeed, any challenge action) is a Bad Thing, but it's a Bad Thing whether the spectre of IRC is raised or not. Those who fear IRC need to press home the whole "explain it on-wiki" thing, rather than spend sleepless nights wondering if the married couple Admin A and B said something private at the kitchen table last night.