Lately I have found myself hanging out at #ubuntu on irc.freenode.org, mostly listening and lending a helping hand whenver I can. It sort of reminds me of what I think Open Source and Community really means! I have personally gotten insulted in the past by some pretty lame IRC users who assume that everyone is an idiot and who can’t say anything helpfull but repeat “rtfm” to every enquire. But I will not go off on a tangent here and rant about all those “newbie basher” loosers out there. Somehow, the people at #ubuntu seem to have a different mentality and more willing to help even if the questions seem to be “too basic.” I think this is why I remotely connected to my box during lunch today and spent a good 30 minutes talking to some of the users. I really enjoy the feeling of being able to teach someone something new. I not only content myself with giving the answer but also try to provide more information so that the user can learn a bit more and understand why the given solution works. That sort of “teach a man how to fish” kind of thing. I also try to validate what I know by asking some of the veterans for their input as well. So far I’m really enjoying “hanging out” with the Ubuntu guys and am looking forward to helping and learning with this growing community.