Some Rules

There are a few ground rules for participation in forums. Please respect these rules, and each other.

PLEASE BE CIVIL.

No personal attacks. Do not feel compelled to defend your honor in public. Posts containing personal attacks will be removed at the moderators discresion.

BE KIND TO NEWCOMERS.

Newcomers can be annoying. They will ask the wrong questions, including ones that seem obvious (or whose answers seem easy to find). But lots of valued contributors started out this way, and treating newcomers kindly makes them more likely to turn into the valuable community members we all know and love (and cut some slack when they mess up).

So while you don't have to humor them or suffer them gladly, and it's fine to point out when they make mistakes, point newcomers in the right direction in addition to turning them away from the wrong ones, and be kind to them in the process of correcting their transgressions.

IGNORE SPAMMERS.

Spam is a blight upon the face of the net. Nobody likes it. However, it is hard to avoid. Despite our best efforts, you will occasionally see spam. If you feel the need to flame the spammer, do not CC the list. Complaining about spam in public increases noise, but not signal. It may make you feel better, but it doesn't help. (For info on fighting spam effectively, check out spam.abuse.net.)

TRIM YOUR FOLLOW-UPS.

Do not quote the entire content of the message to which you are replying. Include only as much as is necessary for context. Remember that if someone wants to read the original message, they can; it is easily accessible. A good rule of thumb is, don't include more quoted text than new text.

There is always a need for some trimming - either a salutation, a signature, some blank lines or whatever. If you are doing no trimming whatsoever of the quoted text, then you aren't trimming enough.

TOP-POSTING VS BOTTOM-POSTING.

Some people like to put reply after the quoted text, some like it the other way around, and still some prefer interspersed style. Debates about which posting style is better have led to many flame wars in the forums. To keep forum discussion friendly, please do interspersion with trimming (see above for trimming rules). For a simple reply, this is equivalent bottom-posting. So, remove extraneous material, and place your comments in logical order, after the text you are commenting upon. The only exceptions are the accessibility forums, which are top-posting.

Forum Member Accounts

Please limit your forum membership to one account only. Having multiple accounts is an unnecessary use of resources. Further, it may be interpreted as trolling behavior.

No Trolling

A troll is a person who intentionally attempts to disrupt, cause controversy, incite an argument, and/or receive negative attention by deliberately posting provocative content.
Trolls are generally deceitful and often use ambivalence as a method of covertly insulting, intimidating, or inciting a person or persons for their own sadistic pleasure. They often pick their words very carefully and are therefore able to defend their masked attempts at creating unrest, frequently redirecting the blame onto the community and its supposed failure to understand them properly.

Avoid Controversy/Controversial Topics

There is no explicit list of topics considered to be 'trollish', controversial or provocative, but in the past, threads with posts pertaining to Religion, Sports, Race, Nationalism and Politics have invariably been closed. Therefore, specifically avoid these divisive topics on the Arch forums! This is a GNU/Linux distribution forum, and is not intended to facilitate such commentary nor the resulting unrest.

No Power-Posting/Empty Posts

Power-posting is best described as posting empty and worthless messages. It is not tolerated. People may have two reasons to do this: to increase their post count meaninglessly, or to lend support to an idea (as if it were a vote). Examples of power-posting include, but are not limited to, replying with '+1', 'lol', 'me too', 'I agree', or 'Smile'.
When posting or replying to messages, make sure you have something to say. These empty posts clutter up threads and discussion, invalidates the 'Show New Posts' function, and wastes bandwidth and server space.
Threads that degenerate into a series of '+1/-1' or 'me too/I agree/I disagree' with no content will be locked. Individual power posts may also be deleted.

Thread Hijacking

Thread hijacking is the process of replying to an existing thread with a different topic. This is generally discouraged. It is better to start a new thread if you have a problem that is related to an existing posted issue but clearly different. On the other hand, it is better to respond to the existing thread with additional information if you have what appears to be the same problem.
Posts that hijack a serious thread with off-topic discussion are also tolerated but generally discouraged.

Warnings, User Locking, Banning

If the Admin feels that a member's behavior is unacceptable and warrants intervention, a private warning will typically be issued (unless the occurrence is judged to be especially flagrant, in which case a ban may become imminent). Warnings will not be discussed on the Forums, IRC channels, or mailing lists by the Moderation Team. If the warning goes unheeded, further action will be taken. This may range from locking the offending user account, to deletion or banning of the user. Action is generally on a case-by-case basis.
If a user is apologetic, interested in a peaceful solution and wishes to have their account reinstated, a general consensus will be formed by the moderation team for, or against, such a request.

How to Post

Choose clear, informative subjects. This is more likely to elicit response from experienced users who have knowledge about that particular topic. It also makes the topic easy to reference and find in forum searches by future users with similar problems.
When asking questions, provide as much information as possible, including error messages, terminal output, logs, what you have previously tried, what documentation and searches you have attempted, and related configuration files. Read How To Ask Questions The Smart Way for more helpful advice.
Choose one topic per thread. Long threads are typically discouraged in the technical issue subforums. Try not to post multiple questions in a single topic -- this makes it difficult to search for specific problems.
Post your question in only one subforum; pick the most relevant, and post there.
When responding to an existing thread, always read the original post and attempt to focus on the original topic.
'Bumping' a thread is not allowed (see above). Use time wisely and update the thread by providing details of other steps you have taken to resolve the issue, rather than calling further attention to the thread without adding any further useful information.
Finally, prepend your thread as [SOLVED] by editing the original post title when a solution is found.
If a thread is marked as [SOLVED], do not reply stating the equivalent of "I am having a similar issue.."; start a new thread and link to the [SOLVED] thread, if relevant.

Legality

Criminal solicitation is strictly forbidden on this website. In this context, 'criminal solicitation' shall mean, "To actively or passively inform about, or facilitate, incite, move, or persuade others to some act of lawlessness or illegal activity."
Therefore, do not post discussions about or link to criminal solicitation in any form. This includes, but is not limited to, information or links to facilitate illegal drug use, theft, network intrusion, creation of malignant code, prohibited software copying, prohibited use of copyrighted/patented material, 'warez', or sites which provide torrents or links to such content. Illegal content will be removed swiftly and dealt with in full accordance with known applicable law.

Freedom of Speech

The free and open exchange of assistance, ideas, and opinions is highly regarded and encouraged on the forums, but it must be noted that the freedom granted to forum members is relative freedom. It exists within the boundaries and constraints of the above guidelines and principles. Complaints of 'censorship' are therefore baseless and unfounded, since this necessary framework must simultaneously provide reasonable limitations.