AUP

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1 AUP
2 Copyright

AUP

Intro

#Linux is not a general-purpose channel. This channel exists primarily for Linux-related discussions. We try to provide some help with getting Linux-related questions/problems resolved.

The discussions are not limited just to Linux: we discuss other UNIX-like OSes and various hardware. We even discuss Windows if the problem involves UNIX and Windows. We discuss GPL and other more-or-less Open software. In general, if it's related to computers, chances are it is an appropriate topic. Note, however, that if it's solely related to inferior so-called operating systems, we don't want to hear it. Call your proprietary vendor and get an answer from them. We are also not interested in your opinion about such "OS"es.

Every once in a while there will be a non-computer discussion. It should be a rare occasion and usually involves regulars, who tend to know more about each other and sometimes discuss non-computer interests. It's OK. Shit Happens<tm>. You're welcome to participate. But remember that this discussion is only appropriate during idle times. If there are people trying to discuss computer-related stuff and your random discussion is making it harder for them to communicate, please take your discussion somewhere else. There are lots of channels and you can always make another one. You CAN be kicked or even banned for continuing an inappropriate discussion on the channel.

As a continuation to the above sentence, I'd like to mention certain kinds of discussions that can get you kicked or banned very fast (and even w/o extra warning). First of all, anything offensive to ANY member of the channel (See "Politeness" below). Anything non-computer related that offends/annoys ANY member of the channel can get you out. It's OK to disagree about a hardware or software topic in #Linux. It is not OK to annoy others with your feelings/emotions/religions/general view of the world/hates/likes/etc. A flame war about cars can get you banned. Pushing your religious holidays (e.g. "merry Christmas" or "happy Hanukkah") can get you banned. I hope you get the idea. You better.

The rules

Please speak English.
All of the regulars on the channel speak pretty good English. If you want help, speaking English is the best way to go about it. We really don't want questions posted in Italian, Polish or any other whacked eastern European languages and, if you do, you'll probably get removed from the channel post haste. If you really can't speak English well enough to ask your question, try joining #linux.(your country code) - #linux.pl for Poland, for example.
FAQs and Documentation.
Before asking your question, we expect you to have done the minimum amount of research into your problem first. Questions like "how do I install Apache?" will be ignored or, more likely, will be answered with "RTFM!". Always remember, #linux is not actually a help channel. If you go there and someone is willing to help you, great!, you're in luck. You'll find us a lot more willing to help, however, if you've done your homework first.
Don't ask to ask, just ask!
Do not waste our time and bandwidth with questions like "can somebody help me?" or "can I ask a question?". If you have a question, ask it and wait for the answer.
Don't repeat.
If you ask a question and you don't get an answer it means that either a) no-one knows the answer, b) no-one is awake or c) no-one cares enough to answer you. Repeating the question several times will just annoy us and result in you exiting the channel.
Do not /MSG us!
Please do not /MSG us, unless we specifically ask you to do so. Ask your question in the channel. Even if nobody is answering your question and you see that somebody is awake, DO NOT /MSG US. Wait and if somebody knows the answer they will tell you.
Politeness
We expect you to be polite when you're on the channel, not just to the ops but to all the people present. If you come in the channel and start yelling at us, demanding our help or just randomly shouting your head off you'll be kicked and/or banned. It's as simple as that. Politeness also extends to respecting our privacy . Do not /MSG people unless they have specifically asked you to do so. Likewise, please ask before pasting log or configuration file excerpts to the channel. Things like that are normally best done as a private message to the person helping you, but only if they ask you to, of course.
Plain text only.
Many IRC clients these days have features that enable you to send bold, underlined, colored, beeping, blinking text to a channel. Don't use these features on #linux. Also do not use all caps (e.g. "HOW DO I INSTALL LINUX"). We just don't like it and you will be kicked.
Use complete sentences.
Try to give as much information in one line as possible. Do not spit
one
word
at
a time.
This will be considered flood and you will be removed from the channel.
l33t sp34k.
Don't use so called 'leet speak' on the channel, it's ugly and it's irritating. We also prefer people not to use short versions of words like 'ne1' or 'any1' for 'anyone' or 'no1' for 'no-one'. It takes us more time to decode what you're saying than if you just typed the words properly in the first place. Excessive use of capital letters (or 'shouting') is also frowned upon.

Channel Regulars

When you've been on the channel for a while, you'll notice that many people break some, many or all of the above rules and, yet, they don't get kicked and/or banned. These people are the channel "in crowd" - they can break the rules and get away with it because they have earned the right to do so. Often, breaking the rules will be a reference to some channel joke. Yelling "BIGLETTER!!!!!" for example, or "I MUST TO QUACK!!!". When we 'get to know you', you'll get away with it too.

Nicks

People using nicks that contains characters such as ")({}[]^" will be removed from the channel. They look ugly and are hard to type. Ditto nicks that contain random CapITAliSAtion and/or an ugly combination of numb3r5 4nd l3tt3r5. Don't nick flood and there's no need to change your nick if you're away from your keyboard. As with auto-aways, we'll know you're not here by the way you don't answer us.

Hosts

Webchat is generally not allowed, please see Webchat for more information.

No auto-aways, auto-rejoins etc.

Many IRC clients have auto-away features that send a message to the channel after X minutes of idle time. These messages generally take the form...

* User is away - ( auto-away ) - Messages will be saved

These types of message are not acceptable on a channel as busy as ours and we ask that you disable any and all of these that your IRC client generates. If you really must tell us that you're no longer paying attention to the channel, you can do so by just typing 'afk' (Away From Keyboard) or 'gone' or 'lunch' or whatever. The very best thing to do, though, is absolutely nothing, we'll know you're not here when you don't respond to our question/comment. An "auto-rejoin" is another common feature. When you are kicked from a channel for whatever reason, your client may detect this and automatically issue a 'join' command. Again, this is not acceptable and you will be banned. On a similar theme, we also object to loud sign-off messages advertising various things in bold, colored, underlined text.

Do not flood

Please do not dump ungodly amounts of data into the channel. Do not dump logs, your dmesg output or paragraphs of man. If it is important for solving your problem, the person helping you will either be very specific about which lines he wants to see. Maybe even ask you to /query him.

Idling on the channel

Yes, we know that it is fun to be a part of a big channel, and feel like you belong. It's also a problem for the maintainers to keep a track of possible bots joining the channel to monitor our systems. It's also impolite to keep your IRC connection open at all times without a need for it, it ties up resources from IRC-Servers and from your shell server.

No Spam

You may not advertise any commercial services on the channel unless it is in direct response to someone's query. For example, 'GND, 0207 550 0100' is a perfectly acceptable answer to the question 'does anyone know where I get a good Athlon box pre-installed with Linux in London?'. On the other hand, spamming the channel with 'Please visit my website... I get $$$$$ for clicks!!!!' will quickly get you banned. Any 'bots' found on the channel that have been placed there for, for example, on-join /MSG advertising, will be permanently banned.

DNS Spam

Many of the script kiddies infesting the Internet thinks it's cool to have host names that look like "l33t0.kiddie.that.0wns.you.recently.at.good.scene.hu". These are ugly and irritating. You can expect a permanent ban if you try to use one in the channel.

Warez and Shells

We do not trade pirated software (warez) and we most certainly aren't interested in 'trading l33t sh3llz'. You can expect to be banned if you do either on the channel. Being publicly visible in warez, BNC, shell trading or war channels, or advertising these things on your nick, user or realname also will get you banned.

And, that's it!

We realize that this may seem like we ask a lot, but, there is a plus side. If you stick by the rules, the channel operators will be on your side and you will automatically qualify for some, few, many or all or the following:

Free, frank, friendly help on anything from Linux to stereo equipment.

The use of a spam-free, abuse-free channel.

Copyright

Retrieved from "http://wiki.linux-irc.net/wiki/AUP"

Category: Channel Policy

AUP