A quickie guide to #gimp irc jargon

With apologies to the FurryMUCK Jargon Glossary. Thanks to all #gimp irc folks who offered suggestions and comments.

More about XachBot

One thing that fascinates me about Xachbot is how useful the link database is. I asked Xach to put up a webpage with all of XachBot's links, and I find myself using it almost not at all. On the other hand, people use XachBot all the time.

Xachbot's link database is cooperatively maintained - there isn't a single person (or group) who's responsible. Yet, unlike most such cooperatively maintained Internet resources, XachBot's database is kept fresh and accurate.

Here's my theory about why it works so well - because most interactions with XachBot are public, they carry deeper meaning than simple machine queries. The person making the query publicly signals interest in the keyword. If the bot has a good answer, then it passes silently. On the other hand, if the bot is not helpful, the naturally helpful nature of people kicks in, and they give the answer. If it's something that really should have been in the database, it usually gets added.

Conversely, adding a url to XachBot is a good way to make a point, to emphasize "hey, this URL is potentially interesting or useful to lots of people, not just this one time."

The maintainers of these bots also keep a complete log of all that is said and done on #gimp, a very useful resource for historians, trivia buffs, and know-it-alls.

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