EFNet #Linux has rules that you must follow in order to participate in the channel. Please read the rules below. These rules are not negotiable, and you are expected to follow them while you're on #Linux. Failure to do so will result in a warning or ban, with or without notice.

We have these rules for a reason. We're not trying to be tyrants, we simply must enforce these rules due to past experience and to ensure the quality and legitimacy of the help offered. Keep in mind, our contributions to #Linux are purely voluntary. Please understand our situation, and help us help you by following the rules.

• We are not a search engine. Please reference google.com, HOWTOs, man pages, etc... FIRST.
• This is IRC, not IM, so keep your comments to as few lines as possible. Don't ask to ask a question. Just ask your question in a concise, informative way. Here are some good tips on asking questions.
• DON'T paste to the channel!. We have a channel pastebot for this. For usage, go to here, or /whois linpaste on irc for details.
• Do not use bold/underlined/colored text or excessive punctuation to draw attention to yourself.
• Offensive or excessively lame vhosts are at the discretion of the ops and subject to banning. Some vhosts are banned automatically based on a high score from spamcalc.
• Bad/malicious advice or commands are grounds for an immediate ban.
• No bots are allowed in #Linux. Bots are subject to an immediate perm ban.
• Do not join as root, or from another system account such as nobody. Use a valid user to IRC from.
• Only one client per person is allowed. If you need to access from two places (work and home for example) look into screen.
• Do not join from a service host, such as a mail/nameserver/ftp/web server.
• Please don't paste unsolicited URL's to #Linux. We don't care.

• Hacks/cracks/warez/keys/ebooks. No copyright, patent or any other IP infringement is supported
• irc daemons/servers/ircd
• Fxp/bnc/shells. This includes VPS and shared hosting. We are not your hosting support
• Snooping/spoofing/Smurfs/DoS
• Compiling C files/exploits/etc
• Linux on game consoles
• Circumventing any security measures, speed caps, or blocked ports by your employer, ISP, or University.
• No one will send you a file, so don't ask. Get the appropriate package or search google.

• Public away status nicks or messages will not be tolerated. Please disable public status messages. We don't want to see that you are away, at school, work, lunch - auto, or otherwise.
• Disable autojoin/autorejoin in your irc client. Help us reduce the amount of quit/join spam.
• Disable any anti-idle features of your client, including nick changes, random text being sent to the channel/etc.

Finally, do not ask for ops. Think of it as a "don't call us, we'll call you" sort of thing. The decision to appoint new ops is not taken lightly.

Thanks for your cooperation. See you on the channel!

     - The EFNet #Linux Operators