Linux.org.ru
| Web address | http://linux.org.ru |
|---|---|
| Commercial? | No |
|
Type of site
|
News and forum |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available in | Russian |
| Created by | Maxim Valyanskiy (maxcom) |
| Launched | October 1998 |
| Revenue | Advertisement |
|
Alexa rank
|
 8,768 (April 2014[update])[1] |
| Current status | Active |
Linux.org.ru, commonly abbreviated as LOR, is a Russian website about free and open source software. It was launched in October 1998 and since then has become the most visited[2] Russian website about Linux-based, BSD-based and other Unix-like operating systems and their userland. The site targets Russian-speaking audience from different countries of the former Soviet Union as well as all over the world.
Contents
Organisation of the site
Linux.org.ru can be roughly 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also includes other less lively sections, like documentation, polls and links, but the majority of it is rather outdated.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. Common discussion topics include operating systems, Linux distributions, programming languages, 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.
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 moderator, 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 solving different troubles with free software and GNU/Linux. At technical forums anybody 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.
