@jwildeboer counterpoint: when you force people to use IRC, you're excluding a *LOT MORE* potential contributors because so many people do not like or want to learn IRC, especially younger folks. They want a nice app, rich chat features, and limited friction to sign up / connect.

The IRC crowd is old now. A lot of investment needs to be made into making IRC "comfy" for people. I don't know how to solve this. I've worked on several teams where we used IRC and when new people came onboard they were absolutely horrified and confused about IRC. They did not like it and mostly abstained from using it.