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IRC Support Channels?
Nik Picker asks: "Is there an IRC server group that has the best concentration of online users who are prepared to contribute to the IRC Linuxhelp channels? I have been using Undernet #linuxhelp but find that sometimes it just goes all quiet, lag time not being the issue here. I was wondering if any other readers have found a better source of online/realtime Linux support through IRC?" I think real-time support is a great idea, a lot of companies should investigate the use of IRC as a support medium. It wouldn't be all that difficult to do, and a few -Web sites- are implementing Web-based realtime support chat's, so this idea is spreading around. What good support channels are out there on IRC?
This is hilarious. I'm an op on #quake. If you ask for help there is a /small/ chance that someone will help. There is a large chance that you'll be riduculed and/or tricked.
Asking for illegal copies of quake etc will get you hounded mercylessly, tricked then banned.
-Yarn - Rio Karma: Excellent
The "infamous rtfm line" would not need to be stated if more people would take the time to actually read the available documentation.
Were a newbie to come to our channel with a question that is covered in a howto/readme/man page, our first question would be "Did you read the h/r/m?" If the answer was yes, we would try to help the person out starting from where it was that the h/r/m confused them.
It would be an entirely different thing if someone were to come to the channel and announce that after reading a section of a h/r/m they were still stuck with their problem.
If you have a specific question ("Why can't I connect to the internet" is *not* specific), ask it and I assure you that someone will provide you with an answer.
ESR stated in his Hacker-HOWTO FAQ "No one should have to solve a problem twice." Why is it necessary for us to regurgitate the plain and simple steps already outlined for you?
The howtos and man pages were written for a reason, and the fact that most people cannot be bothered to read them is an insult to the members of the community who spent the time writing them. D-side @ #linuxhelp
For those of us who are BSD inclined, #freebsdhelp on EFnet is a great help. There are quite a number of knowledgable people there and they've got a page set up with user submitted FAQ's and such for commonly asked questions. The URL is www.defcon1.org.
(disclaimer: i'm also an op on #linuxhelp (hi Vox!))
... I don't necessarily agree with the language criteria, but I generally honour it in channel. If you don't honour it too, you will get your butt kicked one way or another.
:)
Vox is right, a bit of patience pays off. Not only is this because of working hours, but because of time zone issues. We have ops who live in the UK, and ops that live in New Zealand. Don't give up if you dont get what you need right away. We do give a shit, and we do try to do our best when we are around.
If you are in North America, evening hours are generally the best time to find someone with a clue, op or otherwise.
I would also suggest, especially if you have a particularly strange problem (i.e. you've read the relevant HOWTO, manpages, and info pages, and it still isn't covered or it still doesnt make sense) Look for these folks:
Vox
Kuma
longword
Spamaps
(longword being the channel guru. if longword says it won't work, it wont fucking work. dont ask twice)
Oh yeah, don't use my form of language in channel or you will get berated
Happy linuxing
(Disclaimer: I'm an op in Undernet's #linuxhelp)
Well, I can understand how not getting an immediate answer to your questions can be frustrating, but...most of the silence times I've noticed are during work hours, when most of us get called away from the computer to do the stuff we get payed to do. Most of the #linuxhelp people work on computer related fields, so we tend to be online while at work, but that doesn't mean we have a chance to be chatting all the time.
Be patient and you shall recive...I've never seen a guy with patience and desire to learn leave #linuxhelp without getting an answer (annoying people who don't follow directions when being helped are a different matter completely)
Vox
Pain is the gift of the gods, and I'm the one they chose as their messanger...
On another note, people have to be more patient in IRC help channels, we're not getting paid or anything. What I especially find annoying is when someone asks a question and I go off to find some help with the answer and boom, I come back and the person is gone.
Chris Hagar
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." - Thomas Jefferson
I remember when I was working on my first "real" Perl script for work I had a big problem that I couldn't grasp and tried to find help on IRC. I think it was either UnderNet or DalNet where I stumbled into #perl and found a bunch of people socializing, no one providing help.
One person pointed me to the server irc.linpeople.org, and then second I joined #perl there and asked my question there were 3 individuals offering help.
From a channel list I just checked, they have channels on palmOS, php, livid, and many others (including Slashdot!), so I'd recommend anyone looking for some help to check out that server.
Pablo Nevares, "the freshmaker".
Pablo Nevares, "the freshmaker".
There are channels devoted to almost every topic, and alot of individual projects have channels set up there, such as #jabber and #livid.
As of this moment, there are almost 1000 users on 31 servers, including one of the faster servers, irc.linux.com.
The best channel for newbie help is #linuxhelp(50), but #linpeople(80) is chock full of gurus for the harder stuff (if you can ever get them on topic :) #debian is always the most popular, with 123 now.
Basically, if you can ask a question about Linux, someone there can answer it.
Oh, and did I mention the /. crew is usually in #slashdot (Emmett and CowboyNeal almost always)