Linux.Community

Linux.Chat Communities was launched on 16 June 2023 as a Lemmy instance for people who are passionate about, support, or work with Linux®. Our community discussions aren’t limited to just Linux®-related or opensource-related topics, but we do require a reasonable ratio of content to be on-topic.

COMMUNITY CODE OF CONDUCT

This service is maintained by Linux.Chat with equipment, hosting and object storage sponsored by Conarx, Ltd located at OVH.

Please contact @admin@Linux.Community or email us on admin@Linux.Community with any moderation or administrative concerns. Additional information about reporting concerns related to the Community Code of Conduct can be found below.

For media and press-related topics please use contact@Linux.Community.

Privacy Policy

This privacy policy describes how Linux.social (“Linux.social”, “we”, “us”) collects, protects and uses the personally identifiable information you may provide through the Linux.social website or its API. The policy also describes the choices available to you regarding our use of your personal information and how you can access and update this information. This policy does not apply to the practices of companies that Linux.social does not own or control, or to individuals that Linux.social does not employ or manage.

What information do we collect?

  • Basic account information: If you register on this server, you may be asked to enter a username, an e-mail address and a password. You may also enter additional profile information such as a display name and biography, and upload a profile picture and header image. The username, display name, biography, profile picture and header image are always listed publicly.
  • Posts, following and other public information: The list of people you follow is listed publicly, the same is true for your followers. When you submit a message, the date and time is stored as well as the application you submitted the message from. Messages may contain media attachments, such as pictures and videos. Public and unlisted posts are available publicly. When you feature a post on your profile, that is also publicly available information. Your posts are delivered to your followers, in some cases it means they are delivered to different servers and copies are stored there. When you delete posts, this is likewise delivered to your followers. The action of reblogging or favouriting another post is always public.
  • Direct and followers-only posts: All posts are stored and processed on the server. Followers-only posts are delivered to your followers and users who are mentioned in them, and direct posts are delivered only to users mentioned in them. In some cases it means they are delivered to different servers and copies are stored there. We make a good faith effort to limit the access to those posts only to authorized persons, but other servers may fail to do so. Therefore it’s important to review servers your followers belong to. You may toggle an option to approve and reject new followers manually in the settings. Please keep in mind that the operators of the server and any receiving server may view such messages, and that recipients may screenshot, copy or otherwise re-share them. Do not share any sensitive information over Mastodon.
  • IPs and other metadata: When you log in, we record the IP address you log in from, as well as the name of your browser application. All the logged in sessions are available for your review and revocation in the settings. The latest IP address used is stored for up to 12 months. We also may retain server logs which include the IP address of every request to our server.

What do we use your information for?

Any of the information we collect from you may be used in the following ways:

  • To provide the core functionality of . You can only interact with other people’s content and post your own content when you are logged in. For example, you may follow other people to view their combined posts in your own personalized home timeline.
  • To aid moderation of the community, for example comparing your IP address with other known ones to determine ban evasion or other violations.
  • The email address you provide may be used to send you information, notifications about other people interacting with your content or sending you messages, and to respond to inquiries, and/or other requests or questions.

How do we protect your information?

We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you enter, submit, or access your personal information. Among other things, your browser session, as well as the traffic between your applications and the API, are secured with SSL, and your password is hashed using a strong one-way algorithm. You may enable two-factor authentication to further secure access to your account.

What is our data retention policy?

We will make a good faith effort to:

  • Retain server logs containing the IP address of all requests to this server, in so far as such logs are kept, no more than 90 days.
  • Retain the IP addresses associated with registered users no more than 12 months after last access of the account.

You can request and download an archive of your content, including your posts, media attachments, profile picture, and header image.

You may irreversibly delete your account at any time.

Do we use cookies?

Yes. Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow). These cookies enable the site to recognize your browser and, if you have a registered account, associate it with your registered account.

We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits.

Do we disclose any information to outside parties?

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information. This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our site, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others rights, property, or safety.

Your public content may be downloaded by other servers in the network. Your public and followers-only posts are delivered to the servers where your followers reside, and direct messages are delivered to the servers of the recipients, in so far as those followers or recipients reside on a different server than this.

When you authorize an application to use your account, depending on the scope of permissions you approve, it may access your public profile information, your following list, your followers, your lists, all your posts, and your favourites. Applications can never access your e-mail address or password.

Site usage by children

If this server is used in the EU or the EEA: Our site, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 16 years old. If you are under the age of 16, per the requirements of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), you are not permitted to use this site.

If this server is used in the USA: Our site, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 13 years old. If you are under the age of 13, per the requirements of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act), you are not permitted to use this site.

If this server is used in other jurisdictions: Privacy and legal requirements may differ if this server is used in other jurisdictions. For this reason our site, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 21 years old. If you are under the age of 21, ensure that you are familiar with your local legislation and that you are permitted to use this site. If not, you are not permitted to use this site.

Attribution

This document is CC-BY-SA. Originally adapted from the Discourse privacy policy, further adapted by mastodon.social and further adapted by Linux.Chat.

New Accounts

All new accounts require an application to be submitted with a reason/motivation for requesting the account. Single word or low quality reasons/motivation will be rejected.

Examples of low quality reasons and motivations:

  • “yes”
  • “because i want one”
  • “testing”
  • “i’m curious”

Examples of high quality reasons and motivations:

  • “I’m a Linux® user for the last 1 year and I’m looking for a community where I can learn and make friends”
  • “I wish to create a community myopensourcesoftware”
  • “I’m a member of #linux on Libera.Chat with nickname examplecom”
  • “I’m a Linux® sysadmin and want to register an account and join the community”

These are just examples, as long as your reason/motivation is reasonable it should be accepted.

If one disagrees with this requirement, there are many Lemmy instances which have open registration and your ability to browse our content and interact with our community is not hindered.

Communities

We encourage the forming of new communities, however please remember this instance is Linux® and opensource software themed.

  • Communities should be Linux® or opensource software related.
  • Communities are required to have at least 2 active moderators.
  • Community moderators are required to adhere to and enforce our Code of Conduct.

Unmoderated communities or communities with inactive moderators may be disabled/restricted/removed or re-assigned.