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Wiki > Main > IrcGuidelines
---+!! Guidelines for the Rockbox IRC channel

%TOC%

---++ Reasoning behind having guidelines

The channel is logged. It is used by many developers as the main medium to talk to each other through. People check the logs to see what was discussed when they were away from the channel. There are also others that use machine translation on the logs to make them more readable to them as well as make the blind able to read it clearer.

The channel is not there for a social purpose. It is there as both a support tool and a developing tool. It is also a family-friendly channel.

---++ Guidelines

   1 Before requesting help, make sure that you have *read the [[http://www.rockbox.org/twiki/bin/view/Main/DocsIndex#FAQ][FAQ]] and the [[http://www.rockbox.org/manual.shtml][manual]]* as well as doing a basic search for the information you're seeking. The next link is not required reading, but it does re-iterate our guidelines and is a very handy thing to have read; people will be *much* more willing to help you if you follow its advice http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html .
   1 *Keep discussion Rockbox-related.* Unsupported builds are classified as off-topic as well. If you wish to have off-topic chat, please go to #rockbox-community.
   1 Demonstrate *common courtesy* to people. This includes such items as being polite to people, refraining from using vulgar language, treating people humanely, among other similar actions.
   1 *Use clear, grammatical, correctly-spelled English.* "Words" such as "thx", "u", and "kewl" are not acceptable. This includes l337speak and odd usages of capital letters as well. Exceptions to the "real English" rule are terms described on http://rockbox.org/wiki/ProjectGlossary as many or most of these are specific to the Rockbox project, or at the very least can be looked up here.
   1 *Do not "spam"* the channel. This term can refer to either repeating one line many times, use of the enter key as a spacebar, pasting a large multi-line snippet of text, among many other variations. If you need to convey the latter of these, use a pastebin such as http://pastebin.ca/ .
   1 Please *do not discuss how to obtain copyrighted material illegally*, or *how to remove digital rights management* (DRM) or other copyright protection schemes. Also, *do not post the intellectual property of someone else* unless you have permission to do so.
   1 *Do not employ scripts that send a message* to the channel. This includes scripts that inform about various items such as the currently playing song as well as scripts that notify that you are away from the keyboard or busy. Similarly, *do not change your nick when you go away* or become busy.
   1 Please *be reasonable* when requesting help. This means that you should listen to the people trying to help you and that you should not repeat your question needlessly if you get no response the first time. If you got no immediate response, it most likely means there's no-one around who knows the answer, it doesn't mean you're being ignored. Wait patiently (this can mean for hours sometimes) for someone who does know the answer.
   1 *Don't "ask to ask".* If you come in and ask your question, people will see it and help if they can. If you come in and ask, "can I ask a question?", nobody will want to bother asking what the real question is and you may have just lost important assistance. The channel is open to questions and you do not need to get permission to ask them. This is also intended to cover the general "Does anyone...; Is anyone...; etc" questions.
   1 Please *refrain from using odd formatting* such as special characters when they are not needed. This makes the conversation harder to follow by many people.
   1 Channel moderators may at any time modify these guidelines at their discretion.
r19 - 31 Dec 2009 - 10:17:34 - SamuelKatz