IRC etiquette guide

some rules adapted from: fizerkhan/irc-etiquette

no flooding/spamming/trolling in main channels

multiline messages belong in a pastebin. if you have a need to spam many lines or abuse the figlet feature of tildebot, please do so in the appropriate channel (#chaos or #shitposting).

this includes ascii art and/or figlet output. please be considerate.

bot commands belong in #bots. please limit yourself to 2 or 3 commands at a time. spamming commands is unacceptable and subject to the consequences below.

don't be lazy - read the documentation

if people tell you to read the documentation then you should do so. never say: "i'm too lazy. come on. you all know what i need to do. just tell me what i need to do." this will get you ignored for all eternity. however you can expect to be told where to find the documentation. but if you get an url then get it and read it. if the documentation is too technical or you don't understand certain sections then say: "i have now read chapter 3.1 of the url you gave me and i understand how virtual domains work in general. but how would i use both virtual and non-virtual domains together?"

unintended rudeness

sometimes you may feel that others are rude. you may get a response like "reinstall the package. restart the service. read the /usr/share/doc/mysoftware/readme." although this is a very brief reply it is likely not meant to be rude. irc is often like human interaction without all the friendly bits. other people have probably answered your question a dozen of times today and they just want to help you solve the problem - not become close friends with you. don't be offended by it. the people don't mean it.

try to not repeat yourself

asking the same question every minute is annoying. if anyone in the channel isn't paying attention then they will neither read you the second and third time. and those who came back from lunch or sleep will likely see in their "lastlog" what has happened lately. this is too demanding.

avoid obnoxious behavior

the tildeverse is a purpose-driven community, intended to provide an environment where people can feel comfortable and supported in learning, practicing, or teaching about technology. while this purpose permits for a wide variety of activities on tildverse IRC channels, obnoxious or intentionally annoying behavior is not allowed. be considerate of the others on the IRC board; think about how they will perceive your chat messages. if people ask you to stop something, it's probably because you're being obnoxious, and you should cut it out. examples of obnoxious behavior include posting your stream of consciousness ideas when you are not actually interacting with others, repeating variations of phrases over and over, intentional join/part spam, or interacting with bots to the point of crowding out interactions from others.

don't assume pronouns

if you know someone's pronouns, use them. try to default to they/them if you don't know.

• check with tildebot to see if the person in question has set pronouns: /query tildebot pronouns <nick>
• check with /whois to see if a user has included them in the realname field: /whois <nick>
• ask them!

last but not least

be considerate to your fellow tildizens, take accountability for your actions, and don't forget to have fun!

consequences

• first offenses will be handled with a kick from the channel with an explanation of the undesirable behavior. at this point, it's acceptable to rejoin.
• second offenses will be handled with a 1 hour tempban. following the tempban, an irc/chan op will check in and let you know what kinds of behaviors to avoid.
• third offenses will be the same as second, but with a 24 hour tempban period.

if the undesirable behavior continues, further methods (up to and including a permanent ban) will be discussed among the oper team.

if you have something that requires oper attention, please send an email to opers at tilde dot chat.

Shared Strike Policy

Channels participating will share moderation records of warnings/kicks/bans. Users' continuing problematic behavior that has been previously addressed will share their Strikes between channels.

This means that:

• User warned about bad behavior in one chan
  • User can be kicked in chan two when continuing behavior there
• User received a 1 hour ban in one chan
  • User can earn an increased ban (say 2hr) in chan two when repeating said behavior there
• A user is permabanned (ex. harassment, continual arguing, persistent trolling, etc.)
  • When continuing behavior in a second chan, they can be permabanned there also

Enforcement

The Moderators of participating channels (see list below) will have the discretion to utilize this Shared Strike Policy. The intent of this policy is to ease the burden moderating known bad-actors/trolls/toxic users, as well as to simplify holding such individuals accountable for their behavior.

Share Strike Participating Channels include: #aussie, #club, #helpdesk, #institute, #meta, #politics, #team, and #tilderadio.