Rules for IRC

Owned by Kelli Higdon
Last updated: Mar 25, 2024
4 min read

 

Considerations:

  • The people who assist you in the #freepbx or #freepbx-dev IRC channel are often unpaid, unthanked, frequently stressed out volunteers who give up much of their time just to help you. Please be patient and courteous with them.

  • You may find that you are more likely to get additional help quickly if you follow the guideline for how to ask questions outlined here: http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.htm

Rules:

The top 2 Rules:

  • Insults, name-calling, harassment of any form, vulgarity, profanity, obscenity, etc. are not allowed. See below for more information.

  • Be patient. Sometimes no one will see your question for quite a while if they are away from the computer or busy elsewhere. Sometimes people are chatting but no one answers your question. Just ask your question and hang out in the channel until you see some activity or find someone willing to assist you. Do not ask every two minutes. If no-one answers you may ask again 15 to 20 minutes later.

If you do not agree these rules, please feel free not to use any of the FreePBX's IRC channels.

Rules in full

In order to chat, and receive help on this channel, you must agree with the following rules:

Although the administrators and channel operators of the #freepbx IRC channel will attempt to keep all objectionable messages to a minimum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the original author, and neither the owners of Freenode, nor anyone connected with the FreePBX project will be held responsible for the content of any message.

Specific rules for chatting in the IRC channels

  • The purpose of the channel is to find help about the FreePBX program, as in how to properly configure it and/or how to make modules work

  • Anyone capable and willing to help is of course welcome.

General rules for chatting in the IRC channels

One of our objectives for the #freepbx IRC channel is to create a fun, lively, friendly, safe community for everyone to enjoy. To that end, we have unfortunately found it necessary to enforce the following rules:

  • No advertisement of sale for any products, services, auctions, etc.

  • No solicitation

  • READ THE TOPIC (the text that appears as soon as you join the channel?)

  • No name calling

  • No insulting remarks

  • No denigration is permitted of other peoples

    • Nationality

    • Race

    • Creed

    • Colour

    • Ethnicity

    • Religion

    • Age

    • Gender

    • Politics

    • Ideas

    • Knowledge

    • Opinions

    • Size

    • Shape

    • Hobbies

    • Pets

    • Sexual Orientation

    • ...or any other personal feature.

  • Just to be clear, you may disagree with anything or anyone you like, but you may not insult anyone (this means nobody may insult you either).

  • No harassment

  • No threats

  • No vulgarity

  • No obscenity

  • No graphic sexual or anatomical references

  • No accusations

  • No flaming

    • (By "flaming" we mean saying anything that is hurtful to another individual. This includes all the things listed above, and also includes the intention to discredit, harm, put down, ostracise, or stirring up others to do similar.)

  • No bickering

    • (By "bickering" we mean that exchanges including, but not limited to "I am not, You are too", or similar are strictly NOT permitted.)

  • No flooding

    • (By "flooding" we mean posting many identical messages, posting meaningless messages, and posting in any way that results in an unreasonable amount of space being taken in the channel.)

Problems with other individuals

  • If any individual has a problem with any other individual(s), they may contact any of the Channel Operators by private message only, so as not to involve the entire rest of the channel unnecessarily.

  • Individuals who do NOT respect this rule will be subject to action taken against them.

  • You may report any objectionable posts, and the Channel Operators will, at their sole discretion, take any appropriate action as expediently as possible.

  • If there is a dispute between a channel user and any one or more of the Channel Operators, the decision of the Channel Operator will take precedence.

  • Channel Operators may act at their sole discretion if they feel that the channel environment is being negatively affected by any user.

Logging

General

  • We encourage individuals to share a limited amount of personal information, just enough to help us feel that you are a real person.

  • We advise individuals not to share too much personal information, as this is the internet after all, and there are some dangerous people out there.

  • Disrespect and intolerance towards other people is NOT acceptable, and will result in measures being taken against any offenders. You have been warned.

Disciplinary Policy

  • Currently, our policy towards individuals who break these rules is a "Three Strike" policy. No warning is issued as you are supposed to be aware of these rules

  • The three strikes:

    • First offence: Being quieted in the channel (this will prevent you from speaking) for one hour or less.

    • Second Offence: Being kicked from the channel one or more times.

    • Third offence: Either a temporary, or a permanent ban. These actions will be taken at the sole discretion of the Channel Operators. You may be banned outright for breaking freenode network policy.

Appeals

  • Appeals to action taken by Channel Operators may be made by Private Message only to any of the Channel Operators.

Spam

  • Any posts that offend in any of the ways outlined above will be treated as Spam, and the individuals responsible will be subject to action taken against them.

Your Responsibilities

  • You MUST keep up to date with this Users Agreement. It will be amended from time to time, and it will be entirely YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to be aware of any changes. Announcements will be made in the channel if there are any changes.

  • You MUST read all announcements posted in the channel by the Channel Operators. These notices are posted for YOUR BENEFIT, it is entirely YOUR responsibility to read and adhere to any guidelines they outline. Your failure to read, know, or adhere to these rules will likely result in disciplinary action, since you will not be aware of the rules, or changes. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO BE AWARE OF ALL OF THESE RULES AND OF ANY SUBSEQUENT MODIFICATIONS. By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, or otherwise violative of any laws.

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