mirror of https://github.com/tLDP/LDP
276 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
276 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
<chapter id="finding-help">
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<title>Finding Help</title>
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<blockquote><para><quote>Help me if you can I'm feeling down. And I do
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appreciate you being 'round.</quote> - The
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Beatles</para></blockquote>
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<para>Help is out there. You just have to know where to look. With
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Linux there are an amazing number of places you can go. There are
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mailing lists, IRC channels, web pages with public forums, and many
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other resources available. This chapter will try to help you get the
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most out of your quest for help.</para>
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<sect1 id="newsgroups-mailling-lists">
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<title>Newsgroups and Mailing Lists</title>
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<para>
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This guide cannot teach you everything about Linux. There
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just isn't enough space. It is almost inevitable that at some point
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you will find something you need to do, that isn't covered in
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this (or any other) document at the LDP.
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</para>
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<para>
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One of the nicest things about Linux is the large number of forums
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devoted to it. There are forums relating to almost all facets of
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Linux ranging from newbie FAQs to in depth kernel development issues.
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To receive the most from them, there are a few things you can do.
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</para>
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<sect2 id="right-forum">
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<title>Finding The Right Forum</title>
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<para>
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The first thing to do is to find an appropriate forum. There are many
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newsgroups and mailing lists devoted to Linux, so try to find and use
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the one which most closely matches your question. For example, there
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isn't much point in you asking a question about sendmail in a forum
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devoted to Linux kernel development. At best the people there will
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think you are stupid and you will get few responses, at worst you may
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receive lots of highly insulting replies (flames). A quick look
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through the newsgroups available finds comp.mail.sendmail, which
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looks like an appropriate place to ask a sendmail question. Your news
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client probably has a list of the newsgroups available to you, but if
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not then a full list of newsgroups is available at <ulink
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url="http://groups.google.com/groups?group=*">
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http://groups.google.com/groups?group=*</ulink>.
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</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="before-you-post">
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<title>Before You Post</title>
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<para>
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Now that you have found your appropriate forum, you may think you are
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ready to post your question. Stop. You aren't ready yet. Have you already
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looked for the answer yourself? There are a huge number of HOWTOs and
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FAQs available, if any of them relate to the thing you are having a
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problem with then <emphasis>read them first</emphasis>. Even if they
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don't contain the answer to your problem, what they will do is give you a
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better understanding of the subject area, and that understanding will
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allow you to ask a more informed and sensible question. There are also archives
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of newsgroups and mailing lists and it is entirely possible that your
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question has been asked and answered previously. <ulink
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url="http://www.google.com">http://www.google.com</ulink> or a similar
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search engine should be something you try <emphasis>before</emphasis>
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posting a question.
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</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="writing-your-post">
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<title>Writing Your Post</title>
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<para>Okay, you have found your appropriate forum, you have read the
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relevant HOWTOs and FAQs, you have searched the web, but you still
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have not found the answer you need. Now you can start writing your post.
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It is always a good idea to make it clear that you already have read
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up on the subject by saying something like ``I have read the
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Winmodem-HOWTO and the PPP FAQ, but neither contained what I was looking for,
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searching for `Winmodem Linux PPP Setup' on google didn't return
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anything of use either''. This shows you to be someone who is willing to make
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an effort rather than a lazy idiot who requires spoonfeeding. The former
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is likely to receive help if anyone knows the answer, the latter
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is likely to meet with either stony silence or outright
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derision.</para>
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<para>Write in clear, grammatical and correctly spelt English. This
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is incredibly important. It marks you as a precise and considered
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thinker. There are no such words as ``u'' or ``b4.'' Try to make yourself look
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like an educated and intelligent person rather than an idiot. It will
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help. I promise.</para>
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<para>Similarly do not type in all capitals LIKE THIS. That is
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considered shouting and looks very rude.</para>
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<para>Provide clear details stating what the problem is and what you
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have already tried to do to fix it. A question like ``My linux has stopped
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working, what can I do?'' is totally useless. Where has it stopped
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working? In what way has it stopped working? You need to be as
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precise as possible. There are limits however. Try not to include irrelevant
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information either. If you are having problems with your mail client
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it is unlikely that a dump of your kernel boot log
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(<command>dmesg</command>) would be of help.<para>
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<para>Don't ask for replies by private email. The point of most Linux
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forums is that everybody can learn something from each other. Asking
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for private replies simply removes value from the newsgroup or mailing
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list.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="formatting-your-post">
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<title>Formatting Your Post</title>
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<para> Do not post in HTML. Many Linux users have mail clients which
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can't easily read HTML email. Whilst with some effort, they
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<emphasis>can</emphasis> read HTML email, they usually don't. If you
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send them HTML mail it often gets deleted unread. Send plain text
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emails, they will reach a wider audience that way.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="follow-up">
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<title>Follow Up</title>
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<para>After your problem has been solved, post a short followup
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explaining what the problem was and how you solved it. People will
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appreciate this as it not only gives a sense of closure about the
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problem but also helps the next time someone has a similar question. When they
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look at the archives of the newsgroup or mailing list, they will see
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you had the same problem, the discussion that followed your question and
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your final solution.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="getting-help-more-info">
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<title>More Information</title>
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<para>This short guide is simply a paraphrase
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and summary of the excellent (and more detailed) document ``How To
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Ask Questions The Smart Way'' by Eric S Raymond. <ulink
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url="http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html">
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http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html</ulink>. It is
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recommend that you read it before you post anything. It will help
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you formulate your question to maximize your
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chances of getting the answer you are looking for.</para>
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</sect2>
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</sect1>
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<sect1 id="irc">
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<title>IRC</title>
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<para>IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is not covered in the Eric Raymond
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document, but IRC can also be an excellent way of finding the answers you need.
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However it does require some practice in asking questions in the right way.
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Most IRC networks have busy #linux channels and if the answer to your question
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is contained in the man pages, or in the HOWTOs then expect to be told
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to go read them. The rule about typing in clear and grammatical English
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still applies.</para>
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<para>Most of what has been said about newsgroups and mailing lists
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is still relevant for IRC, with a the following additions</para>
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<sect2 id="colours">
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<title>Colours</title>
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<para>Do not use colours, bold, underline or strange (non ASCII)
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characters. This breaks some older terminals and is just plain ugly
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to look at. If you arrive in a channel and start spewing colour or bold
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then expect to be kicked out.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="be-polite">
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<title>Be Polite</title>
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<para>Remember you are not entitled to an answer. If you ask the
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question in the right way then you will probably get one, but you have
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no right to get one. The people in Linux IRC channels are all there
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on their own time, nobody is paying them, especially not you.</para>
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<para>Be polite. Treat others as you would like to be
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treated. If you think people are not being polite to you then don't
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start calling them names or getting annoyed, become even politer.
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This makes them look foolish rather than dragging you down to their level.</para>
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<para>Don't go slapping anyone with large trouts. Would you believe
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this has been done before once or twice? And that we it wasn't
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funny the first time?</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="type-properly">
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<title>Type Properly, in English</title>
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<para>Most #linux channels are English channels. Speak English whilst
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in them. Most of the larger IRC networks also have #linux channel in
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other languages, for example the French language channel might be
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called #linuxfr, the Spanish one might be #linuxes or #linuxlatino.
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If you can't find the right channel then asking in the main #linux
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channel (preferably in English) should help you find the one you are looking
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for.</para>
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<para>Do not type like a ``1337 H4X0R d00d!!!''. Even if other people
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are. It looks silly and thereby makes you look silly. At best you
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will only look like an idiot, at worst you will be derided then kicked
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out.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="port-scanning">
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<title>Port scanning</title>
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<para>Never <emphasis>ever</emphasis> ask anyone to port scan you, or
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try to ``hack'' you. This is inviolable. There is no way of knowing that
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you are who you say you are, or that the IP that you are connected
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from belongs to you. Don't put people in the position where they have to
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say no to a request like this.</para>
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<para><emphasis>Don't ever port scan anyone</emphasis>, even if they
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ask you to. You have no way to tell
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that they are who they say they are or that the IP they are connected
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from is their own IP. In some jurisdictions port scanning may be illegal
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and it is certainly against the Terms of Service of most ISPs.
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Most people log TCP connections, they will notice they are being
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scanned. Most people <emphasis>will</emphasis> report you to your ISP
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for this (it is trivial to find out who that is).</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="keep-in-channel">
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<title>Keep it in the Channel</title>
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<para>Don't /msg anyone unless they ask you to. It diminishes the
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usefulness of the channel and some people just prefer that
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you not do it.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2><title>Stay On Topic</title>
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<para>Stay on topic. The channel is a ``Linux'' channel, not a ``What
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Uncle Bob Got Up To Last Weekend'' channel. Even if you see other
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people being off topic, this does not mean that you should be. They
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are probably channel regulars and different conventions apply to
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them.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="mass-ctcp">
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<title>CTCPs</title>
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<para>If you are thinking of mass CTCP pinging the channel or CTCP
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version or CTCP anything, then think again. It is liable to get you
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kicked out very quickly.</para>
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<para>If you are not familiar with IRC, CTCP stands for Client To
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Client Protocol. It is a method whereby you can find out things
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about other peoples' clients. See the documentation for your IRC
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for more details.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="hacking">
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<title>Hacking, Cracking, Phreaking, Warezing</title>
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<para>Don't ask about exploits, unless you are looking for a further
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way to be unceremoniously kicked out.</para>
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<para>Don't be in hacker/cracker/phreaker/warezer channels whilst in a
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#linux channel. For some reason the people in charge of #linux
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channels seem to hate people who like causing destruction to people's machines
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or who like to steal software. Can't imagine why.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="round-up">
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<title>Round Up</title>
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<para>Apologies if that seems like a lot of DON'Ts, and very few DOs.
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The DOs were already pretty much covered in the section on newsgroups and
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mailing lists.</para>
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<para>Probably the best thing you can do is to go into a #linux
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channel, sit there and watch, getting the feel for a half hour before
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you say anything. This can help you to recognize the correct tone you
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should be using.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="further-reading">
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<title>Further Reading</title>
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<para>There are excellent FAQs about how to get the most of IRC #linux
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channels. Most #linux channels have an FAQ and/or set or channel
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rules. How to find this will usually be in the channel topic (which you can
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see at any time using the <command>/topic</command> command. Make sure
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you read the rules if there are any and follow them. One fairly generic
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set of rules and advice is the ``Undernet #linux FAQ'' which can be found
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at <ulink url="http://linuxfaq.quartz.net.nz">http://linuxfaq.quartz.net.nz
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</ulink>.</para>
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</sect2>
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</sect1>
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</chapter>
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