Discussing things online (software)

[VetLegion]

- web forums
- usenet
- irc
- email
- instant messaging
- voip

Which of these venues for discussion do you use and which software do you use for which?

I'm curious whether people like specialized software for each, or do they prefer using same software for a couple of things. For example, you can use Thunderbird for: e-mail, RSS, and Usenet. You an use Opera browser for: web, usenet, IRC, e-mail, RSS. Or you can have a specialized piece of software for each purpose. Thanks in advance for the replies.

[MORON]

forums - firefox
usenet - haven't been on it for a whole, and the web give you access to some of the stuff anyways....
irc - mirc
email - gmail - web
im - trillian
voip - no voip for me

[Urban Ranger]

forums - firefox
discussion groups - used to use agent, haven't been on usenet for a very long time, though
irc - some foss program I found
email - thunderbird and firefox
im - gaim
voip - not yet

[VetLegion]

Ups, I forgot to write mine. Here the are:

- web forums: Opera
- usenet: 40tude Dialog
- irc: mIRC
- email: The Bat
- instant messaging: MSN (I have it installed but don't use it)
- voip (don't use it)

[Immortal Wombat]

Forums: Firefox
Usenet, RSS: Thunderbird
IRC: mIRC
email: webmail through Firefox
IM: MSN and Skype

[Mercator]

Re: Discussing things online (software)

Opera and MSN.

Most of my Usenet and e-mail use is on the web (Google Groups, Gmail), but I use Opera for both web-based and non web-based.

I occasionally use Firefox as well, and I'm forced to use IE sometimes (like now, at uni ).

I hardly ever use IRC. The only reason I ever use it at all is because it's in Opera.

I don't think I can technically say I use VoIP, but I'm having video conversations and voice chat using MSN. I also use Skype sometimes, basically just when MSN is giving problems.

[VetLegion]

What made me do this little poll is... I've found that I waste a lot of time just juggling different software which all serves the same purpose - communication, or more specifically, discussion.

I'm wondering whether covergence of different programs and protocols is the future. There is little difference between email and usenet, that's why you have had combined clients for a long time.

But forums... they need browsers, they display ads, aren't uniform and are a hassle generally.

Is the future in a smart client which will take the data forums provide and display it in your Discussion Aggregator(TM) along with your email and usenet?

Think about all the weird forums you have seen on the web. Threaded, non threaded, php, asp, purchased, home made, good looking, atrocious looking... wouldn't it be cool to have a client which recognizes the structure, and displays every discussion you want to read, wherever it is, whichever protocol it uses - in a uniform way?

Another thing this aggregator would do is automatically check for updates. Clicking F5 to refresh a page is simply so... inefficient.

There is a future for an interface like that, I think.

[Adrian Hon]

(OS X)

- web forums - firefox
- usenet - unison
- irc - X-Chat Aqua
- email - Apple Mail
- instant messaging - Skype/Proteus
- voip - Skype

It would be nice to have a forum aggregator that would do that. I already subscribe to automatically generated RSS feeds produced by a PHPBB board that I frequent, which is a stopgap solution.

[Ted Striker]

Re: Discussing things online (software)

- web forums - Firefox
- usenet - Firefox/Google Groups
- irc - don't use
- email - Gmail
- instant messaging - don't use
- voip - Vonage

[Kataphraktoi]

firefox for forums
IRC, i use icechat
icq,i just use the program from their site
i have trillian configged with msn\aim but it has probs with icq last i tried
skype for voice chat
dc++ for music and videos and games

[Ari Rahikkala]

- web forums: Firefox
- usenet: On the occasion that I use it, Google Groups with Firefox
- irc: irssi
- email: Webmail with Firefox, and on occasion mutt
- instant messaging: gaim
- voip: don't use it

I feel stuck between two worlds here, folks