InstallGentoo Wiki:General rules

Please note that the guide is an official policy, which serves as a guiding rule for the wiki's activities, and as such, this page is subject to constant improvements. However, due to the nature of communities involved, some of our rules may not be suitable, and the community can make suggestions by utilizing the talk page. Because of the mechanism of MediaWiki (Special:RecentChanges), we won't have to announce any addition/deletion to the rules.

This, along with IG:TERMS, are official policies of this wiki and must be followed at all times as long as you are using this service.

This is the official rules of the wiki.

The article must be related to technology

Shortcut: IG:ABOUT

Head on over to https://8ch.net/tech/ and https://boards.4chan.org/g/ and take a look at the threads on there. The stupid questions threads are excellent for topics to write about. You can also find some needed articles on the list on the main page and in the list of wanted pages.

If, on a technology board, different people will ask the same things, or you've felt at some time or another that there should have been a guide for something, then you have pretty good indication that there should be an article on it.

Don't mislead people into false information

Shortcut: IG:FALSE

Remember, assume that everyone visit the wiki to find the right information. Because the administrators are unlikely to cover many topics at once, we cannot verify whether the content is true or not in an instant. Please do NOT mislead people into false information. The admins may ask general threads in corresponding imageboards to check whether your information is legitimate or misleading.

Don't use first-person remarks

Shortcut: IG:FIRSTPERSON

Avoid these words in a page: I, we, our, etc. Always use third-person remarks on any article. For guides, then you can use second-person remarks. However, you can use first-person remarks for section and sub-section titles (such as How should I write my article?).

Note: This rule does NOT affect the talk page and user page.

Don't shitpost with your own opinion unless you've got proof

Shortcut: IG:NOPROOF

Don't shitpost with your own opinion unless you've shown it to be true, and people generally agree with you (even if you have to convince them).

  Arch is a shitty distro that takes ages to set up and is crap because I haven't seen
  anything good come out of it. It's a waste of time too, so don't use it.

Neutrality

Shortcut: IG:NEUTRAL

All articles must be written from a neutral point of view, which means representing fairly, proportionately, and, as far as possible, without editorial bias, all of the significant views that have been published by reliable sources on a topic.

Achieving what the community understands as neutrality means carefully and critically analyzing a variety of reliable sources and then attempting to convey to the reader the information contained in them fairly, proportionately, and as far as possible without editorial bias. The wiki aims to describe disputes, but not engage in them (Remember, while the nature of /g/, /tech/ and other relevant boards are full of opinions, this wiki is aimed to give proper information without bias). Editors, while naturally having their own points of view, should strive in good faith to provide complete information, and not to promote one particular point of view over another. As such, the neutral point of view does not mean exclusion of certain points of view, but including all verifiable points of view which have sufficient due weight. Observe the following principles to achieve the level of neutrality that is appropriate:

• Avoid stating opinions as facts. Usually, articles will contain information about the significant opinions that have been expressed about their subjects. However, these opinions should not be stated in the wiki's voice. Rather, they should be attributed in the text to particular sources, or where justified, described as widespread views, etc. For example, an article should not state that "genocide is an evil action", but it may state that "genocide has been described by John X as the epitome of human evil."
• Avoid stating seriously contested assertions as facts. If different reliable sources make conflicting assertions about a matter, treat these assertions as opinions rather than facts, and do not present them as direct statements.
• Avoid stating facts as opinions. Uncontested and uncontroversial factual assertions made by reliable sources should normally be directly stated in The Wiki's voice. Unless a topic specifically deals with a disagreement over otherwise uncontested information, there is no need for specific attribution for the assertion, although it is helpful to add a reference link to the source in support of verifiability. Further, the passage should not be worded in any way that makes it appear to be contested.
• Prefer nonjudgmental language. A neutral point of view neither sympathizes with nor disparages its subject (or what reliable sources say about the subject), although this must sometimes be balanced against clarity. Present opinions and conflicting findings in a disinterested tone. Do not editorialize. When editorial bias towards one particular point of view can be detected the article needs to be fixed.
• Indicate the relative prominence of opposing views. Ensure that the reporting of different views on a subject adequately reflects the relative levels of support for those views, and that it does not give a false impression of parity, or give undue weight to a particular view.

Warning: Bias tendency, while mostly harmless, can lead to a breach of IG:FALSE, which may result in a ban.

Note: This rule does not affect user pages, which is your own user space, and talk pages, which discusses these kind of things.

How should I edit my article?

See Help:Editing and Help:Style.

User space

Shortcut: IG:USERSPACE

A userspace is basically your own page with its subpages, which has the prefix User:. This is your own personal space, you can write absolutely anything, as long as you do NOT break IG:TERMS, while it is encouraged to follow Help:Editing and Help:Style as your guide, it is not required because it's your safeuser space.

Keep in mind that you can only edit your own user (NOT user talk) page. Do NOT edit others' user page without their explicit permission.

Note: Your user space is not your personal sandbox. Use the Sandbox page if you want to test something.

Vandalism

Shortcut: IG:VANDALS

What constitutes vandalism are including the following, but not limited to:

1. Blanking any articles
2. Moving any page without any good reason
3. Deleting or editing the contents of other users' comments on a talk page
4. IG:USERSPACE violation
5. Spambotting
6. Edit-warring

Rule enforcement

Shortcut: IG:ENFORCE

The rules may or may not result in a ban, as such, it depends on the severity of the pages affected.

• Poor editing (not adhering to Help:Editing and Help:Style) will never result in a notice or a ban. But a breach to these guides must be fixed at once to preserve consistency, by admins or users.
• IG:ABOUT violation:
  • First time: Deletion of article
  • Second time: Deletion of article (and banning of involved user)
• IG:FALSE violation:
  • First time: Banning of involved user
  • Second time: Banning of involved user and disabling users' ability to edit talk page
• IG:NOPROOF violation:
  • First time: Asking for proof first, from reliable sources
  • Second time: Banning of involved user
  • Third time: Banning of involved user and disabling users' ability to edit talk page
• IG:VANDALS violation:
  • Number 1 and 2 violation:
    • First time: Reversion of article (and, use the talk page, really)
    • Second time: Reversion of article, permanent ban (user will be able to appeal)
    • Third time: Permanent ban (No appeal)
  • Number 4 violation:
    • First time: Permanent ban
    • Second time: Permanent ban (No appeal)
  • Number 5 violation:
    • Instant ban (I doubt bots will be able to appeal)
  • Number 6 violation:
    • Article lockdown, an admin will assess the situation in the talk page of the respective article.
• Breaking IG:TERMS will result in:
  • Termination of your InstallGentoo related service

If a new punishment method for a rule is issued, that rule will be effective immediately after an administrator edited this section.

If you are banned already, you can still make another account, but if the administrators ever discover you in your new account, you'll be banned permanently.

I know I am wrong, I want to be unbanned!

Good, while you are banned, you can still log in and edit your own talk page. Use it to appeal your ban.

If you abuse your talk page, your talk page will be protected in n month, raising by 1 everytime you abuse your own talk page. When the n reaches 5, you cannot appeal anymore.

Anything else?

• Provide examples
• Use infographics/images if possible
• Try not to use too much technical jargon unless you explain what it means. Assume that anyone coming looking for a topic here doesn't know anything about it. Your article should be as easy to understand as possible, and as quick to understand as possible.
• Learn how to spell and use proper grammar.
• Learn and use the wiki formatting markup here. Nicer looking pages are easier to read.
  • If you find a shitty article, please mark it with the {{Cleanup}} tag.
• Provide tips and tricks or advice you've learned to make things easier

Now, get out there and start being useful, you swine.