date: 2009-01-30 19:41:25+00:00
slug: the-beauty-of-freenode
title: 'The Beauty of #freenode'
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+#freenode channel, as it currently exists, is a veritable work of art - people who come to the channel are nearly always provided help or referred somewhere for the answer. The really beautiful thing about #freenode, though, is that at least 50% of the help provided comes from network users (rather than freenode staff).
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+Almost two years ago, the channel #freenode was recreated with new guidelines and philosophy consistent with freenode's. The ideas weren't that new - they had already been (somewhat) in use in the old #tapthru channel. The activity in #freenode is generally within the channel guidelines, which may be found at http://freenode.net/poundfreenode.shtml and is highly recommended for anyone planning to participate in the channel.
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Whilst many help channels utilize specialized staff to answer questions, one of the most refreshing things about #freenode is that anyone who knows the answer to a question can, and often does, provide the answer or help to the user in need - regardless of status or staff-ness. Numerous users lurk in the channel, either to learn from others' questions, help other users through their queries or generally just to take up space :)
Some of the more common questions can be, and are, answered by a multitude of people. Keep in mind that being on staff is not a prerequisite to having the correct answer to your question! Here are some common questions:
projects / irc / freenode / web-7.0.git / blobdiff