I am a moderator in a small open source project support forum completely unrelated to Linux Mint, so my below discussion is not about me whining over a ban, but a discussion about how unprofessional the Linux Mint IRC support channel is and the way the Linux Mint project has permitted a default tool in the OS to become captured by moderators engaged in what I view as very juvenile behavior.
In #linuxmint-help I was pinged by a user, and on discovery I reviewed the user's activity, and it was comprised primarily of pinging other users, including pinging users within seconds of the user's first posts and as the subsequent post.
I then posted to the channel:
User respawn is spamming. Please ban.
To which the moderator responded by banning my user with the following comment:
User banned per user request.
This is a snarky ban reason and it is provided without explanation to the user. I also interpret the moderator enjoys the employment of the ban tool, instead of viewing the ban tool as necessary under certain circumstances.
After being banned, I was pinged in #linuxmint-chat by the same moderator:
or maybe he's asking to get banned like that paul guy
The post I was pinged from was part of a discussion of moderators and other users are friendly with were mocking another recently banned user, and then began mocking me.
My tone with the moderators may be overly firm for a user not part of their clique, but as a somewhat experienced user I was very annoyed with their behavior (and was pinged into the discussion):
respawn pinged me. If you can't read your feed, you have no business moderating an IRC.
There are further posts and both threads can be viewed in the screencap I posted in Linuxmint GitHub[1], but another moderator chimes in:
who wants to kick or ban this wanker?
The combination of snarky reason for initial ban along with overy-chummy clique mocking banning of users is not the kind of tool I feel should be default in a highly visible user-facing open source project.
I recommend Mint to friends and help them migrate. When I help them migrate, I teach them about the IRC support that is default in the OS.
I do not want to have referred anyone to an IRC channel with moderators like the ones running #linuxmint-help.
I first posted to the Linux Mint forums, but my post was immediately removed by a forum moderator.
I decided to create the GitHub issue because I believe this is a development issue due to the fact that this channel is a default part of the OS.
The GitHub issue includes a user who has something to do with the IRC server. The user seems trying to manipulate the facts, but I make no assumptions on motive.
They leave out important information, there is a long discussion on topics not relevant to the discussion, they appear unfamiliar overall with IRC, and end the discussion when I point out these things.
The GitHub issue was not intended to sort out specifics of rules in IRC, but to discuss a default tool in the OS that I feel should be removed or changed.
The issue is closed with a link to the forum post on how to sort out issues with IRC, which is to contact the IRC moderators, whom I view as likely incapable of reasonable discussion. The issue is locked.
To me, this indicates that for whatever reason, the project is currently captured by people who are very unprofessional moderators, extending out across support options (GitHub, forums, and IRC), and likely this issue is difficult for inexperienced users to communicate and other more experienced users to discover.
So I am trying to find others who both agree and disagree with me, as I am blocked from discussing the issue with anyone outside of the IRC channels.
Again, I am not complaining about the rules. I am complaining about the behavior of moderators in a support channel that is default in the operating system.
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https://github.com/linuxmint/linuxmint/issues/518
I made a post regarding this issue to the Linux Mint Forums and it was removed with a message from a forum moderator that someone has contacted the IRC moderators, but I have no idea where that contact has been made or if it is in a public forum, which it should be in a public forum.
The forum moderator pointed me to a very informative post in the forums regarding IRC rules, that previously I was unaware of:
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=224270
A reasonable thumbrule for moderators should be when someone is not completely abusive and falling somewhat within a grey area, point them to rules. The instaban from the IRC with no explanation other than a snarky comment ("User banned per user request.") is not acceptable under any circumstance.
Further, the mocking of the event in the chat channel should be not be tolerated from a moderator. I have banned many, and I never used snark or mocked, not even when they taunted me.
Moderators should be held to high standards, especially for a project as visible as Linux Mint.
If the channel, itself, is outside the control of the project, then it should not be a default feature of the operating system.
Hi there! I'm an IRC-OP on the Spotchat network, an admin on the IRC network that hosts the LM channels.
According to the logs you provided, the user respawn talked in #linuxmint-help 5 times in the 13-minute window you provided. That doesn't seem like spam to me. The user respawn has been around for a long time, and is a long-time helper of the channel. The logs you provided showed they were directing people to #linuxmint-chat to chat instead of using the help channel to chat, as per the rules of the LM Channels.
Further, you were not banned, only kicked. A 'kick' in IRC is when an Op (or moderator in IRC lingo) temporarily removes a user from a channel. A ban is when an Op removes a user and prevents them from rejoining for a certain period of time (default time on the LM channels is 24 hours). You were only kicked, not banned, therefore you were able to rejoin after the kick.
I understand how this can be confusing for new users. Hope this helps!
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IT jobs are just an extension of chud culture, which is far right typically.
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Tech people are fringe weirdos from every direction
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JC is based af, and she’s a noticer. It’s not always what it seems.
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Yep, tech people are all over the place, from
to 
. Shits wild.
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It really is sort of wild. But for the most part they are the establishments golems and neo liberal to left wing.
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But I think we can all agree embedded folks are freaks
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Embedded
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Found the ISO 26262cel
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🤓
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Whats the stereotype for embedded people exactly?
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Symptoms of being an embedded developer include:
hallucinations – hearing or seeing things that do not exist outside of the mind
delusions – unusual beliefs not based on reality
muddled thoughts based on hallucinations or delusions
losing interest in everyday activities
not caring about your personal hygiene
wanting to avoid people, including friends
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Why do you think I'm here?
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No the real freaks are hard core comp sec fellas
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Least they're keeping themselves safe in their ivory towers proving and disproving endofunctor momdads or whatever the frick they do
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IRC is for p-dophiles. If you see an IRC client installed on someones computer, report them immediately to the FBI.
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You jest but the only p-do i know still uses IRC. weird because groomercord is a grooming capital
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Lmao idiot doesn't know how irc works, of course.
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But no!
He is an experienced user!
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Honestly who uses mint? It's just Ubuntu with a few nice cowtools and the cinnamon DE
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I installed it on my dad's laptop because it's more intuitive to use for someone less tech savvy. Also no snaps and easy backups and updates.
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Same, so I guess everyone's parents
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I feel like parents who don’t already use computers would be better with an iPad or Chromebook at this point.
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R-slurs, like the majority of the OSS community.
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We need this but with tux as the pearl
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Isn't it everyone's first gnu/linux OS nowadays? I installed it on my old laptop just to try out linux
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Mint doesn't ship with the Snap nonsense.
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this is some highly specific IRC drama, as all IRC drama is
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Snapshots:
archive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
ghostarchive.org (click to archive)
https://github.com/linuxmint/linuxmint/issues/518:
archive.org
archive.ph (click to archive)
ghostarchive.org (click to archive)
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Which Tanner stage?
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Jesus, these fricking nerds go off with "the discussion" like it's the roman senate.
Banning them must be fun.
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\o/
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