Linux.org.ru
Encyclopedia
Linux.org.ru, commonly abbreviated as LOR, is a Russia
n website about free and open source software
. It was launched in October 1998 and since then has become the most visited Russian website about Linux
-based, BSD-based and other Unix-like
operating system
s and their userland
. The site targets Russian
-speaking audience from different countries of the former Soviet Union as well as all over the world.
News articles are submitted by regular readers as the web-site doesn't employ any staff writers. Every submitted news article is placed into a somewhat hidden queue of unconfirmed materials, where moderators approve each article individually, after which the article appears on the front page of the site for a couple of days, until newer articles replace it. After the article is posted, any user can make comments of the topic, although offtopic discussions are quite common. The procedure for the screenshot submission is quite similar.
The web-site also includes other less lively sections, like documentation, polls and links, but the majority of it is rather outdated. The infamous poll on the main page has not been changed for almost 3 years, and now it is present mainly for historical reasons.
The news and forum sections of the web-site are extremely active and are the place of hot verbal battles between all kinds of Russian IT intelligentsia
. Common discussion topics include operating system
s, Linux distribution
s, programming language
s, science
, religion and politics.
The site was launched in October 1998 and originally ran on FreeBSD
. In December 2002, the web-site operating system was switched from FreeBSD to Fedora
operating system. As of 2011, the forum had more than 7 million posted messages.
Very important part of LOR subculture is cult of anonymous. This means that many members of LOR supports anonymous access for full featured using website and not glad if anonymous access is too limited.
Also at this site rather recently appeared wiki. In wiki placed articles about installation, configuration, administration of GNU/Linux and some interviews.
Every user of LOR can append information to LOR-wiki.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n website about free and open source software
Free and open source software
Free and open-source software or free/libre/open-source software is software that is liberally licensed to grant users the right to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code...
. It was launched in October 1998 and since then has become the most visited Russian website about Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
-based, BSD-based and other Unix-like
Unix-like
A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification....
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s and their userland
Userland
Userland may refer to:* Userland , operating system software that does not belong in the kernel* UserLand Software, a U.S. software company specializing in web applications* Radio UserLand, a computer program to aid maintaining blogs or podcasts...
. The site targets Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
-speaking audience from different countries of the former Soviet Union as well as all over the world.
Organisation of the site
Linux.org.ru can be roughly be divided into three most notable sections: news, screenshots and forum. Any reader can create discussion threads in any section of the site, although news and screenshot sections are pre-moderated whilst forum section is post-moderated. Only the creation of the threads is pre-moderated in some sections, but posting comments to any thread in any section of the site is always post-moderated, although the moderators may limit certain users from posting comments based on their score (see below).News articles are submitted by regular readers as the web-site doesn't employ any staff writers. Every submitted news article is placed into a somewhat hidden queue of unconfirmed materials, where moderators approve each article individually, after which the article appears on the front page of the site for a couple of days, until newer articles replace it. After the article is posted, any user can make comments of the topic, although offtopic discussions are quite common. The procedure for the screenshot submission is quite similar.
The web-site also includes other less lively sections, like documentation, polls and links, but the majority of it is rather outdated. The infamous poll on the main page has not been changed for almost 3 years, and now it is present mainly for historical reasons.
The news and forum sections of the web-site are extremely active and are the place of hot verbal battles between all kinds of Russian IT intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
. Common discussion topics include operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s, Linux distribution
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
s, programming language
Programming language
A programming language is an artificial language designed to communicate instructions to a machine, particularly a computer. Programming languages can be used to create programs that control the behavior of a machine and/or to express algorithms precisely....
s, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, religion and politics.
The site was launched in October 1998 and originally ran on FreeBSD
FreeBSD
FreeBSD is a free Unix-like operating system descended from AT&T UNIX via BSD UNIX. Although for legal reasons FreeBSD cannot be called “UNIX”, as the direct descendant of BSD UNIX , FreeBSD’s internals and system APIs are UNIX-compliant...
. In December 2002, the web-site operating system was switched from FreeBSD to Fedora
Fedora (operating system)
Fedora is a RPM-based, general purpose collection of software, including an operating system based on the Linux kernel, developed by the community-supported Fedora Project and sponsored by Red Hat...
operating system. As of 2011, the forum had more than 7 million posted messages.
Moderation
LOR user can become a moderator if he meets certain conditions. Moderators have rights to approve/delete news articles and screenshots, delete user comments which do not conform to the site rules. They can also ban users and set the score threshold (see below) for discussions. Recent deleted comments can be seen by registered users, with the information about who exactly deleted it. As moderators are themselves active users who often take part in heated discussions, they are often accused of being biased and subjective.Score system
Every LOR user has a score, which is visible only to himself or moderators. Score is awarded for participating in forums and adding news. If a moderator deletes one's comment, their score can decrease (depending on moderator's decision from 0 to 20). For every 100 points user is awarded a star which is shown next to the nickname. User, whose score is below the threshold set by mthis shooderator, cannot participate in the discussion. Very low score can lead to a ban. Score system is rather sophisticated and not directly related to the number of posts. This had led to some controversy, as active users often have a poor score.Subculture
LOR have very specific members that formed unusual subculure. Subculture of LOR have several elements such as trolling methods, phrases, traditions etc. Formation of subculture was in many events. For example massive flood with abuse words in subculture of LOR named «Toozeg Nights» from several nights where member with nickname Ty3uK (Тузик - Russian dog name like English «Fido») posted abusive many forum threads and comments that consists 90% cuss phrases and abuses. Also criticism of fonts in screenshots and websites may be observer as other example of LOR subculture elements.Very important part of LOR subculture is cult of anonymous. This means that many members of LOR supports anonymous access for full featured using website and not glad if anonymous access is too limited.
Information and help
LOR have technical forums for solve different troubles with free software and GNU/Linux. At technical forums all may ask for help (including anonymous) with condition of correct questions.Also at this site rather recently appeared wiki. In wiki placed articles about installation, configuration, administration of GNU/Linux and some interviews.
Every user of LOR can append information to LOR-wiki.