irc rules

[Joejc]

I think that the irc channel needs some rules that make it more kid friendly like no bad words is doing. One rule i think it needs is no random pming and asking asl and similar things. If you have any ideas please post them here so clem or someone important can help in implementing them so we can get an official list of rules for our irc channel.

[ArcherSeven]

I agree, no PMing and no personally identifiable questions would be a good thing. Also, no flooding, and answering tech support questions gets priority; so that off topic conversations don't get in the way of people getting answers.

[proxima_centauri]

Well if I had to whip out my big brother hat.
I think the IRC should act as primarily a technical support channel, however being a community, if no questions are being asked then I think casual conversations hurt no one and can strengthen relationships of those involved.

I don't see a problem with PM's so long as they are in context - can't an individual block whoever they want anyway?
In terms of rules:
1. Serious Offences: Instant Ban
- Any form of racism hate, or prujudice expression
- Intentionally malicious advice (hey man "sudo rm -rf /" will solve your problem)
- Not heeding multiple warnings to stop behaviour in question
2. Less Serious Offences: Warning, some sort of strike rule
- Swearing, but not used in a derogatory nature (i.e. in casual conversations)
- Reoccuring spamming with no purpose
- Being rude to newbies

[Husse]

It's sad that the IRC can't be a good place for all
I have contacted Clem about it and I am thinking about what to do - you have to think before you act
Basically
Support first, but if there is room for some chit chat that's OK
But I think the basics are:
No bad language (I know - the bot is a bit harsh, but is better than nothing)
No "bad comments" (Edit -racism, sexism and other forms of abuse)
No illegal activities
That's about it - fairly simple

[clem]

I agree with this, however I don't think we actually "need" rules. In fairness most of what you're describing here is basic common sense and/or netiquette-standard. Any tech channel on freenode would have you kicked or banned for doing stuff like that. So do we need to actually write down the rules? I don't think so. Like in every community, people who are annoying others end up being rejected... no need for explanations, or rules IMHO.

As for that:

- Being rude to newbies

You'll be happy to know that Linux Mint 7 Gloria is introducing a new shortcut to the "/usr/bin/man" command, called "/usr/bin/rtfm".

Yes. We did it. You can now actually rtfm something, and when someone tells you to do so, he's not insulting you anymore, he's actually helping

Note: I know this is extremely stupid, but it's our way of mocking n00b-bashers. It will be in the release notes, and with a bit of luck it'll actually make people think.

Clem.

[ArcherSeven]

I agree with this, however I don't think we actually "need" rules. In fairness most of what you're describing here is basic common sense and/or netiquette-standard. Any tech channel on freenode would have you kicked or banned for doing stuff like that. So do we need to actually write down the rules? I don't think so. Like in every community, people who are annoying others end up being rejected... no need for explanations, or rules IMHO.

I very much would like to agree with this, but I've spent time on the channel and I've seen a lot of arguements over these things, especially the badwordsbot plugin. Despite these being great things, I believe that the rules may be needed to enforce that it's not a debate at this point, this is what has been decided, and I believe that's what Joe was getting at starting this thread, if all of that makes sense, but these are only my opinions.

[miket]

Hi,

Being the one on the end of the abuse and complaints regarding the controls over bad language I would certainly like to see some "Structure"
put in place similar to the forum where people know the boundaries, unfortunately there are those who will always take advantage and
complain they are being victimised as there is nothing written down saying they can't use bad language etc which makes my life hard at times
as I waste more time trying to control the idiots rather than offering a quality support service.

I'd also like to see some more Ops from countries in other time zones who have advanced Linux Technical skills on the channel helping me to improve
the overall quality of support on the channel.

I would also like to see one of the youngsters take an Ops role and help welcome and support our younger userbase who are now coming online for support.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

MikeT.

[Husse]

MIke
Just take my prior post as a base set of rules
Very simple I know, but sufficient I think
Mail me if you want something more

[deadguy]

Hi,

I lurk at #linuxmint quite a bit and miket does get a lot of complaints about the bot kicks.
lots of times these complaints/arguments start when someone is kicked for one of the less
harsh words. (I won't give an example )

the main problem in my opinion with the badwords plugin is that it does not understand context
and that certain words can be good or bad depending on context.

A better solution IMO would be (as miket says above) more op's on the channel.
I'm not really good at tech support, but I volunteer to help out with the "bad stuff".
(and perhaps take some of it off miket's shoulders so he can concentrate on support which he does quite well I must add!)

so. to sum it up,
I think if the bot's badwords list was trimmed down to just the most offensive words,
and more op's were added, the problems there would go away.



Just my thoughts on this issue

Cheers,

Deadguy

[Joejc]

I agree with deadguy more ops would solve the bad words problem and any other possible problems. If you can't get more ops making MintBot smart enough to look at context would fix it to.

[ArcherSeven]

hehe, ok, adding to this, i would like to start a vote on who everybody thinks should be made ops and give everyone a chance to decide who looks after the channels. Just leave a quick note with names and theyll be totalled up later.

Starting with: Kingdomcome, Deadguy, Roin, Plinker

Thanks
Becca x

I vote Steely, for what it's worth, and Kingdomcome.

[Joejc]

hehe, ok, adding to this, i would like to start a vote on who everybody thinks should be made ops and give everyone a chance to decide who looks after the channels. Just leave a quick note with names and theyll be totalled up later.

Starting with: Kingdomcome, Deadguy, Roin, Plinker

Thanks
Becca x

I vote Steely, for what it's worth, and Kingdomcome.

I agree with ArcherSeven Steely and Kingdomcome should be ops. I can think of specific reasons for each of them.

[deadguy]

well, if I were to vote on this (I think it's up to Clem anyway )

I would vote for kingdomcome

Cheers,

Deadguy

BTW, welcome to the LinuxMint forums Becca and Kagimaro

[Joejc]

I don't think we should actually be voting until clem or Husse come back and support the idea.

[deadguy]

I don't think we should actually be voting until clem or Husse come back and support the idea.

Good point Joejc

[AK Dave]

Yes. We did it. You can now actually rtfm something, and when someone tells you to do so, he's not insulting you anymore, he's actually helping

I love ya, Clem!

[Husse]

More ops is a good idea
However this needs some thinking - we must make sure we get good ops (no offence meant to anyone mentioned here)
And the bot uses a standard IRC bad words list....
Oh - it's nice to see some IRC people here...

[lee8oi]

I agree that Steely would be a good OP. I'm yet to get to know the others more. But I've seen Roin, and kingdomcome a couple times each....all three of these guys are very knowledgeable, and seem to be valuable help in the channel.

[tawan]

Along side all these good names I would be happy to offer my services IRC nick "tawan"

I am good with basic usability, friendly welcomes, idle chat - very fast google skills

and i have a little off-beat knowledge such as flux box and, no that's it..

As I am around on Australian time I can offer some assistance in keeping it friendly during those hours if needed. ..

if not, no warries mate.

[Husse]

@ phonicboom
are you tawan
Well there we have a knowledgeable person