Online documentation often comes in places we don't always think of looking under, in Linux. On the IRC server freenode, many distribution have their officiel channel. Many have configured a bot to answer frequently asked questions, and it is usually cutting edge information. #kanotix and #debian both have their bot. It is possible that other servers have channels with such bots too.

Usually, carefully reading the announcement at the top of the channel will give you information on how to consult the bot. Here are a few channels having bots:

• Kanotix: ask Sonya
• Ubuntu: ask ubotu, either with !name-of-the-topic, or with '/msg ubotu topic' (omit the quotes)
• Debian: ask with !name-of-the-topic. For help with the bot, here are 3 commands you can use by typing it/them in the IRC channel:

/msg dpkg help

/msg dpkg listkeys
/msg dpkg listvals

(don't hesitate to add any channel you know of with such useful bots)

For instance, in the case of the #debian channel, typing !drxx will result in the following answer from the bot¹⁾:

  <dpkg> somebody said drxx was dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86 
  [or xserver-xorg if you're using X.org]     # Run it as root! 
  if you have edited the X config files by hand or used a tool such
  as xf86config also ask me about <xmd5>

Typing !xmd5 will get you:

<dpkg> If you hand-edit your X configuration file, 
"dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86" will no longer work, which is bad. 
To see if this is the case, 
"md5sum /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 | diff -sq /var/lib/xfree86/XF86Config-4.md5sum -" 
- if the files differ, then it won't work. To fix this, 
"md5sum /etc/X11/XF86Config-4 > /var/lib/xfree86/XF86Config-4.md5sum" as root, 
then "dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xfree86", losing any manual changes you've made.

This is priceless information. Don't hesitate to use those sources for up-to-date tips on your distro.

— D. Raymond 2005/08/24 04:50