Pretty much disagree entirely. I've found being in these open source channels 24/7 extremely valuable as have many others. Seems like the author is railing against the fact that dealing with notifications may be difficult, but luckily most IRC clients give you a ton of options on how/what/when you should receive them. I think even if you turn notifications off entirely, you will find some value to being in the same places as the developers of the software you use.