Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Forum rules, important board info and how to get help.
Forum rules
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proxima_centauri

Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by proxima_centauri »

Section I - General Rules

[1] Respect the Forum Staff
  • All of the forum staff are volunteers and offer their free time to keep the forum running smoothly. Any decision made by an administrator or moderator is final and should be respected.
  • Do not argue with Staff directly in a topic; if you wish to discuss an issue, contact through e-mail or PM (Private Message).
[2] Do not be Offensive or Abusive
  • This includes usernames, signatures, avatars, PMs, and posts.
  • Any offensive material, such as swear words or derogatory terms, is prohibited. Hate speech, as defined as an attack on religion, race, nationality, sexual orientation, or any other self-identifiable group, is not tolerated.
  • Disclosing personal information about another person ("doxxing") is not permitted
  • Adult content, including obscenity, pornography and erotic material are not allowed
  • Censoring a swear word by substituting a letter with an asterisk symbol "*", or using acronyms that contain a swear word is considered swearing.
  • Messages that personally attack or call people names is considered abuse. These are sometimes referred to as "flame" posts.
  • Messages that contain sensitive religious or political topics may be removed on the basis of inciting far too emotional and personal debate.
[3] No SPAM or Advertisements
  • This includes posts, in a signature, or with the personal website field.
  • Spammer accounts will be deleted. SPAM accounts are made "for the sole purpose of providing information about and/or links to commercial websites or other advertisements".
  • Do not use Mint Forums to blatantly promote other projects
  • Do not respond to spam, simply report it and allow it to be dealt with.
  • Exception: Linux Mint's partners may link to their websites in their signatures and/or profiles.
[4] No Illegal Material
  • Any requests for help pertaining to illicit computer activities is prohibited and will not be supported (i.e., piracy, malicious hacking). Requesting, distributing, or linking illegal material is forbidden.
[5a] Do not Troll
  • Trolling consists of messages that contain an apparent foolish contradiction of common knowledge, being deliberately sarcastic to the user(s) of the forum, or a broad request for trivial follow-up messages. It serves no purpose other than the enjoyment of the troll.
[5b] No Dangerous Commands
  • Suggesting commands that could harm or destroy another user's system, even in jest, is strictly off-limits.
[6] Do not Use Chatbots
  • Experiment with chatbots like ChatGPT for your own risk, not somebody else's. Do not put your question or someone else's question in a chatbot and then copy and paste the chatbot's response as reply in any topic on this forum. This forum exists for users to help other users. Not to document or discuss chatbot responses.
Section II - Technical Guidelines

Linux Mint User Guides

[1] Search Before Posting
  • Search the Linux Mint forums and Google for questions before posting.
  • As the forum search function is very limited, you should consider searching the Linux Mint forum site with Google, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo or your favourite search engine by entering site:forums.linuxmint.com with your search query.
[2] New Questions Deserve New Topics
  • Do not add new questions to existing topics, start your own instead! This will make it easier for other members to provide support. This includes hijacking, do not ask unrelated questions in a user's existing support topic.
  • Do not resurrect support topics others have created. The automated topic-locking system closes topics six months after they were created so you could be locked out of a response if you resurrect someone else's topic.
[3] Consider Which Forum Section To Post
  • Posting to specific sections can make it easier for others to provide assistance and for future searches. For example, if you are having a specific software issue, post to "Software and Applications" section instead of "Beginner Questions".
  • If you would like your topic moved to a new location after you create it, click the ! button on a post in the topic, select the last option from the drop-down, and write to where you want it moved. The next available moderator will move it for you.
[4] Use Informative Titles
  • Use a title that is specific. Do not use titles such as, "HELP ME!!!" or "linuxmint fails". Instead, make titles that define the problem in a clear and concise manner such as, "Kernel Panic: Wifi Intel 3945AGN". A clear title will attract more views to the topic.
[5] Details! Details! Details!
  • Include the version and architecture (32-bit, 64-bit) of Linux Mint.
  • List any relevant hardware or software specifications. For this you can use the System Reports (mintreport) program from your menu. Open it, go to the System Information tab and click the Copy button there. Paste the copied information in your topic.
  • List what Display Environment you are using if relevant (Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce or other).
  • If you have output errors, list them in their entirety.
  • When posting output of commands use the "Code" tags if it is more than 2 or 3 lines long - this makes it more readable. The button that inserts these tags is marked </>.
  • If your Linux Mint installation isn't in English, prefix any commands that you want to share output of with LC_ALL=C. That forces output to be English. For example instead of running the command make, you'd run the command LC_ALL=C make.
[6] Use Default Font Size and Colors
  • Use of bold, italic and underline text can help convey meaning in a post - but use them sparingly and with cause.
  • Don't use different font sizes or colours for the whole post - use the defaults. If putting a word or sentence in a different size or colour can help convey meaning in a post you can do that - but don't overdo it in a post.
  • Refrain from using <CAPS> lock on posts - it gives one the impression the user is screaming.
  • Avoid jargon and slang, speak in plain language.
  • Don't use excessive punctuation - one "?" or "!" is always enough.
[7] Use Images Sparingly
  • Images may help explain something more clearly or indicate a problem you are experiencing better - but use them sparingly and with cause.
  • Please use the [rimg] tag instead of the [img] tag for large images, which will create a thumbnail automatically.
  • Remember that not everyone has the same bandwidth, so use thumbnails.
[8] Do Not Cross-Post
  • Do not create identical topics across multiple forum sections. Cross-posting creates unnecessary work for community users by separating potential answers and solutions - do not do it.
[9] Indicate Solved Topics
  • When an issue has been resolved for you, please edit the original post to include <SOLVED> in the title. This provides a good indicator for users with a similar problem to check out the topic. Please make sure the solution that worked for you is clearly indicated, especially if more than one solution has been proposed. If your solution came from outside the forum then describe it or post a link to it. Following these simple instructions will help other users find success solving similar problems.
[10] Bumping
  • Posting one word to bump a topic is generally discouraged. Try to research the problem and be patient for a solution. If nobody has responded within 48 hours, you may bump the topic to promote attention.
  • To bump a topic, scroll to the bottom of the topic and click Bump topic, by Board index, Subscribe topic, and Bookmark topic (the Bump topic link will appear 48 hours after the last response).
[11] Report Bad Posts
  • The forum staff cannot moderate every single post and message, it is inevitable that some inappropriate posts are missed. If you see a post in violation of the Linux Mint Rules, please report it. Topics can be reported by clicking the exclamation mark ! on the option buttons of a post.
[12] We've All Been Green
  • We have all been a newbie to GNU/Linux. Some users are harder to help than others, but remain respectful.
  • Assume a user is green unless otherwise certain. Provide detailed instructions and avoid technical jargon, slang, and procedures we take for granted.
  • If you are unsure of your instructions, or the instructions carry a risk - tell the user this.
[13] Private Message (PM)
  • Do not PM or e-mail forum members for support questions without prior consent. Those who help do so in their free time, and prefer to respond to topics of choice rather than being singled out.
[14] Posting links
  • Do not post bare links. All links should include an explanation or excerpt unless its meaning is clear from the context.
Section III - Forum Staff Policy

Linux Mint Team

[1] Banning
  • All users in direct violation of the General Rules will be given warnings where necessary. In extreme cases, such as messages containing hate speech or pornography, the user may be banned without further notice. Bots can be banned without notice as well.
[2] Dealing with Spam
  • A user account will be deleted if demonstrably created for the sole purpose of posting spam message(s). These accounts show links to commercial websites in the signature and/or personal website field, with little or nonsensical forum participation.
  • If you have a question concerning what is acceptable, ask a Staff member.
  • When an active forum member adds a commercial website link (charges a fee for services or sells a product), it is considered spam. In a case like this the member is sent a PM requesting the link be removed. If it is not removed within a reasonable time, the forum Administrator will globally edit the member's signature and remove the link. Only if the member persists in replacing the spam link after all of this will he or she be banned.
[3] Editing / Removing Posts
  • Posts in violation of the General Rules can be edited at a moderator's discretion. Whether posts are edited or removed, a warning will be issued if considered necessary. If posts are removed, a copy shall be held in the Staff archive. Persistent non-compliance with the General Rules will lead to a ban.
[4] Locking / Removing Topics
  • If a topic develops where those involved become too personally involved, in cases of heated and stirred debate, trolling, etc - the topic may be locked without further notice at a moderator's discretion. Warnings will be given when appropriate. When topics are removed, a copy shall be placed in the Staff archive.
  • Cross-posting identical topics in different forum sections will result in deletion of the copied topics, or with the topics being merged.
[5] Moving Topics / Splitting Topics
  • Topics may be moved to more appropriate sections when necessary, do not be offended!
  • Posts may be split from a topic and given their own place where applicable.
ichido
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Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by ichido »

I tried to edit the Subject to add [Solved], but I must have run out of the space to do it, so how do I mark my post as solved?
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. –Plato
proxima_centauri

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by proxima_centauri »

There is a max number of characters available in a title. You will have to refine and shorten your title to provide more space - otherwise there is no way to make it fit.
blueXrider

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by blueXrider »

I'm glad to see that these rules have been posted. I would like to add that the Moderators should READ them before making comments about postings. This should also pertain to the Mint Community.
sunewbie

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by sunewbie »

Happy to see updated rules.

We have posted a tutorial on community, General Rules and Guidelines for Community Ideas and Tutorials:

I kindly request you to please review and correct it for the good of all.

Thanks
Linuxephus

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by Linuxephus »

LOLing...makes me wonder how long it'll be before I myself unintentionally break at least one of these rules.
Then again, a great deal of my own comments usually contain such vagueness as to be confusing as to whether or not it might be "on topic".
Let the rambling begin!
And so it shall.
Lolo Uila

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by Lolo Uila »

[1] Search Before Posting

Search the Linux Mint forums and Google for questions before posting.
Only problem is the stupid search doesn't work. No matter what I type it ALWAYS says all my search terms are "too common" and have been dropped. So I cannot search for anything. This has been going on for a long time. Is the search function ever going to be fixed?
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xenopeek
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Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by xenopeek »

The site search can be fussy. For easier search, consider doing a site search with your favourite search engine. Yahoo, Duck Duck Go and Google (and possibly others) all support the same syntax for doing a site seach. For example, to search for "cinnamon llvm" on Linux Mint, you would give the search query:

Code: Select all

cinnamon llvm site:linuxmint.com
You can then use your search engine's search tools to further narrow your search.
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borgward
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Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by borgward »

How to comment that a particular tutorial is in error, no longer works?
zerozero

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by zerozero »

borgward wrote:How to comment that a particular tutorial is in error, no longer works?
the quickest way is using the ! on the top of the OP and report it explaining why (this way you are sure we <forum staff> won't miss it)
Astronaut

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by Astronaut »

I have two separate questions. I posted the first successfully, but posting the second I was told I could not post again so soon after the first. It is a sensible rule, but that limit is not mentioned in the rules above.
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xenopeek
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Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by xenopeek »

Astronaut wrote:posting the second I was told I could not post again so soon after the first
New users can only make a post every so many minutes, to discourage spammers. As you move towards level 2 by making more posts, this limitation is dropped.
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Thorium

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by Thorium »

When I try to post a new message with attachment, I got a message
Screencast 2014-01-31 19:49:51.mp4 is an invalid filename.
The extension mp4 is not allowed.
I tried to find what are the allowed attachments but nothing.
It could be easier to have an "easy to find" list of file extensions allowed in the rules section. No?

Thanks
roleen0195

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by roleen0195 »

A great amount of info to read; but rules and policies are good. I have been reading the pdf from the welcome screen and have read a lot of great information that will be helpful. I will do must best to follow them. Thanks :)
Octavian

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by Octavian »

Just want more clarification; I saw that you did not mention anything on religion or politics. "Da toutchy subjects"

I don't like to discuss politics that was just an example. I am a Christian and I have a passion for my belief in the Bible. I hate the way how some people push Chrisitianity so I usually don't talk about it unless its appropriat. I would like to put bible scripture in my sig. but I know that even that can get people. I know that some people are toutchy because of incedents with other "so called Christians," and I understand that most forums ban those topics as well as political topics.
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xenopeek
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Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by xenopeek »

Section I, rule 2 contains "Messages that contain sensitive religious or political topics may be removed on the basis of inciting far too emotional and personal debate." In short, this is a forum for getting and giving support with Linux Mint. Let's focus on that.
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nomko

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by nomko »

Octavian wrote:Just want more clarification; I saw that you did not mention anything on religion or politics. "Da toutchy subjects"

I don't like to discuss politics that was just an example. I am a Christian and I have a passion for my belief in the Bible. I hate the way how some people push Chrisitianity so I usually don't talk about it unless its appropriat. I would like to put bible scripture in my sig. but I know that even that can get people. I know that some people are toutchy because of incedents with other "so called Christians," and I understand that most forums ban those topics as well as political topics.
I understand and respect your point of view, but this is the case in these situations: if you constantly talk about it (your religion) and constantly bother other's with it (your believes), yes, expect some kicks back. As long you don't "advertise" it and provoke others, no one will bother you or insult you for your religion. Best tip: if anyone starts a discussing about religion, walk away from it and stay away from. You only get yourself into trouble when you intervene with it. And yes, politics, religion and related should not be discussed on this forum. Agree with xenopeek, this is a help/get help forum. Stick with that to avoid any problems.

On this forum i don't give a shit if someone is a muslim, christian, catholic, jew, bhoeddist, hindu or what ever. We are all here for 1 common reason: Linux Mint! If someone needs help, i help him/her.
tomliotta
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Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by tomliotta »

I'd like to post a question about the FAQ, but it's not clear where it should go. Since this topic covers guidelines, etc., it seems as good as anywhere. Under the What is BBCode? topic, it says "For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page." What 'guide'? Am I on the 'posting page' while I'm typing this question? If not, where is that page? Is the FAQ statement simply referring to the BBCode buttons? Is there a link I'm not seeing?

Tom
Tom

Lenovo W520 ThinkPad,Core i7, 16GB, 250GB HDD (LM18 Cinnamon 64-bit)
and numerous others.
nomko

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by nomko »

tomliotta wrote:I'd like to post a question about the FAQ, but it's not clear where it should go. Since this topic covers guidelines, etc., it seems as good as anywhere. Under the What is BBCode? topic, it says "For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page." What 'guide'? Am I on the 'posting page' while I'm typing this question? If not, where is that page? Is the FAQ statement simply referring to the BBCode buttons? Is there a link I'm not seeing?
Tom
You're right! There's no linkl nor can i find a guideline about BBCode's.
Let me help you instead:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBCode
http://www.bbcode.org/reference.php
proxima_centauri

Re: Forum Rules, Guidelines, and Policy

Post by proxima_centauri »

tomliotta wrote:I'd like to post a question about the FAQ, but it's not clear where it should go. Since this topic covers guidelines, etc., it seems as good as anywhere. Under the What is BBCode? topic, it says "For more information on BBCode see the guide which can be accessed from the posting page." What 'guide'? Am I on the 'posting page' while I'm typing this question? If not, where is that page? Is the FAQ statement simply referring to the BBCode buttons? Is there a link I'm not seeing?
Yes, it refers to the page you see when you are making a post. If you look to the right-hand side, underneath the Smilies, You can see BBCode is ON
Clicking on BBCode will take you to this link -> http://forum.linuxmint.com/faq.php?mode=bbcode

Not very easy to find, I know.
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