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Connect with the GNOME Community on Matrix or IRC
IRC is the historical communication channel used by the GNOME community to chat. Element is also hosting a Matrix instance that is bridged to the historical IRC channels. It is possible to join the same channels either from Matrix or IRC. Matrix or IRC channels are a great place to hang out if you want to contribute to the GNOME project, want to see what the developers are talking about, or you're just looking to connect with other GNOME users.
Matrix or IRC channels are also a good place to ask for help, but when you do, try to provide as much detail as you can. For example, if you have a build problem you can put the error message into an online pastebin and post the link in the channel along with your question. And don't be discouraged if you don't get an answer right away, your fellow contributors may simply be busy at the moment, so be patient.
Follow the steps below to get started chatting with others in the GNOME community.
Step 1: Choose a messaging Application
To use Matrix or IRC you need a Matrix or IRC client, or application. If you want to use Matrix, you can either use Element (was: Riot) or the GNOME Matrix client Fractal. If you want to use IRC, you can use the GNOME app Polari.
Step 2: Register on IRC to prevent kicks
Flood is a real problem on IRC, and to protect from it the IRC moderators sometimes prevent anyone who is not registered from joining a channel. The only way to work around that is to register against the IRC server (even if you come from Matrix).
Registering against IRC
If you're on Matrix type
/msg @_gimpnet_NickServ:gnome.org REGISTER your_password you@mail.org
or on IRC, type
/msg NickServ REGISTER yourpassword you@mail.org
Confirming your email
You will receive an email with a confirmation code. To tell the IRC server you received the code and prove you actually own
If you're on Matrix type
/msg @_gimpnet_NickServ:gnome.org CONFIRM the_code_you_received
or on IRC, type
/msg NickServ CONFIRM the_code_you_received
Allowing Matrix to auto-connect to IRC
Finally, if you're on Matrix you need to enter a final command to make sure the bridge will remember your IRC password to impersonate yourself properly on IRC from the Matrix side. You if you use Matrix and performed the two commands above, you absolutely need to type in that one as well.
/msg @gimpnet-irc:gnome.org !storepass your_password
Step 3: Join a Channel
Think of Matrix or IRC channels like chat rooms. You can list all the rooms either by exploring the Matrix directory if you use Matrix, or connecting to irc.gnome.org server, also known as GIMPNet if you use IRC.
Two good channels to start with with are #gnome (Matrix or irc) for general help and talking about GNOME, and #newcomers (Matrix or irc) for getting started with contributing to GNOME.
While using Polari or any other IRC client, do -
/join #gnome
OR
/join #newcomers
While using a Matrix client like Element or Fractal, you need to use names like -
#gnome:gnome.org
OR
#newcomers:gnome.org
Element supports the /join command with these expanded names; in Fractal you need to use the menus to join rooms.
Here are other channels you may be interested in joining -- feel free to join as many as you'd like, or start new ones and add them here so others can join:
Community & Core Experience
#i18n (Matrix or irc) - the channel for the GNOME Translation Project
#bugs (Matrix or irc) - the channel used by the GNOME Bugsquad
#docs (Matrix or irc) - for the GNOME Documentation Project
#engagement (Matrix or irc) - used by the GNOME Engagement Team
#foundation (Matrix or irc) - the channel used by the GNOME Foundation
#gnome (Matrix or irc) - the channel for general help and talking about GNOME
#gnome-design (Matrix or irc) - the channel used by the GNOME Design Team
#gnome-hackers (Matrix or irc) - general GNOME Development talk
#gnome-os (Matrix or irc) - discussion about GNOME as an Operating System
#gnome-shell (Matrix or irc) - the channel to discuss running, developing, or designing for the GNOME-Shell
#gnome-women (Matrix or irc) - the channel used by GNOME Women
#guadec (Matrix or irc) - a channel for the GNOME Users And Developers European Conference
#newcomers (Matrix or irc) - the channel for getting started with contributing to GNOME
#release-team (Matrix or irc) - the Gnome Release Team channel
#soc (Matrix or irc) - the channel for Google Summer of Code applicants and participants
#travel (Matrix or irc) - the channel for contacting the Travel Committee with any questions about the GNOME travel policy or help with your sponsorship requests.
Software Specific Channels
#c++ (https://matrix.to/#/#c++:gnome.org or irc) - GNOME Developers C++ bindings channel
#contacts (Matrix or irc) - GNOME Contacts and libfolks channel
#empathy (Matrix or irc) - channel for the Empathy messenging program
#evince (Matrix or irc) - channel for the Evince document viewer
#epiphany (Matrix or irc) - channel for the Epiphany Web browser
#gdm (Matrix or irc) - channel for GNOME Display Manager (gdm)
#geary (Matrix or irc) - channel for Geary, the simple mail client
#glade3 (Matrix or irc)- channel for the Glade user interface designer
#introspection (Matrix or irc) - GObject Introspection channel
#nautilus (Matrix or irc) - channel for the default GNOME file browser - Nautilus
#python (Matrix or irc) - GNOME Developers Python bindings channel
#rust (Matrix or irc) - GNOME Developers Rust bindings and applications channel
#seahorse (Matrix or irc) - Seahorse (Passwords & Keys) channel
Servers & Web
Regional Groups
#gnome-br (Matrix or irc) - GNOME Brasil - Brazilian channel
#gnomefr (Matrix or irc) - French - GnomeFR (http://www.gnomefr.org)
#gnome-hispano (Matrix or irc)- Canal de GNOME en lengua castellan - GNOME Hispano (http://www.es.gnome.org/)
#gnome-india (Matrix or irc) - Users, Contributors and GNOME lovers from India
#gnome-nl (Matrix or irc) - GNOME Nederlands (http://nl.gnome.org/)
irc://irc.ozinger.org/gnome - Korean users and hackers (http://www.gnome.or.kr)
Others
irc://irc.oftc.net/debian-gnome - Official Debian GNOME channel
irc://irc.freenode.net/gnome - Unofficial GNOME support channel on freenode
See Also