AIX > Tips & Techniques > Miscellaneous

Usenet, IRC are Problem-Solving Resources

I'm stumped. I tried everything. I looked in a book. I looked at man pages. I googled until I ran out of keywords. I still can't find the answer I'm looking for. Now what?

It's time to pull out the big guns, the oldies but goodies of the Internet. Some say that the signal-to-noise ratio has gotten too bad on Usenet and Internet relay chat (IRC) to make them worthwhile sources of information. I disagree. Although it can be messy, when I have a difficult problem to solve, putting a question out on Usenet or IRC can often produce the nugget of information I need.

A server is the first place to start with Usenet. Many ISPs have access to Usenet servers; usenet.com and supernews.com are Web sites to look at if your ISP doesn't offer Usenet access. An FAQ defines Usenet as a "worldwide distributed discussion system." Usenet may contain newsgroups for various topics on which members can send and receive messages that are distributed to everyone on the newsgroup. Some newsgroups have moderators to keep discussions on topic; others don't and may leave members open to deliberately inflammatory message threads.

You need to know which Usenet server you have access through, and you need to use a client to connect to Usenet. Some people use Netscape or Outlook, others use tin or trn. I've had the best luck using Google to find Usenet clients. Clients will run on most operating systems. For AIX questions, I've found that comp.unix.aix is a good newsgroup.

Read the posts for awhile so that you can get a feel for the flavor of the discussion before you jump in with your question. Read the group's archives. Many times I've found my answers there. Then, when you're comfortable, plunge in and start asking questions. You'll find others asking questions that you can answer. Feel free to speak up and help out. As people begin to know who you are, they'll begin to answer your questions more quickly.

IRC is a haven for script kiddies, virus writers and bots. Some of the Trojans and viruses that are written have back doors that connect to IRC so that people in IRC channels can control them. Surprisingly, it's also a great place to get real-time help. Depending on which network you choose (efnet, undernet, dalnet, freenode) you can find many channels (which are typically preceded with the # sign) dedicated to #linux, #redhat, #aix, #fedora and #debian, to name a few.

A good starting place for information is the IRC help archive. Unlike Usenet, IRC provides worldwide, real-time communication to users who connect to a server through a program run on their machine. Each IRC server runs on an IRC network that has channels devoted to various topics and allows for public and private conversations.

Again, I recommend checking around until you find clients, servers and channels you prefer. By asking questions and helping others, you can get a reputation as a regular, and then when you find yourself in a pinch, you can quickly ask for and receive the help that you need.

Between Usenet and IRC, I'm usually able to supplement the man pages and documentation at my disposal. I've met interesting people from around the world through both technologies, and more than once have quickly gotten the answers that I needed.

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