The philosophy of IRC and of collaborative projects in general seems to mesh:
*“Catalysts try to resolve problems, not through the use of authority and special [[privilege]], but by fostering [[consensus]], gently nudging participants in the direction of more appropriate behavior and by generally reducing the level of confrontation rather than confronting users with problems…[while] Channel and network administrators may be catalysts…[a]n important characteristic of successful catalysts is the infrequency with which they wear authority or invoke special privilege.” [http://blog.freenode.net/ (February 23rd, 2007 by Donna "SportChick" Crawford)] See <ref>http://blog.freenode.net/catalysts.shtml2007/02/the-heart-and-mind-of-a-catalyst</ref>
==Etiquette==
* Never ask before [[pming]] a staffer - you'll run out of allowed questions too quickly.
* Don't enter a channel, ask a question, then give up and leave a minute later. Wait around a while, since users often idle in channels; your question will be seem and hopefully answered eventually.
[[Image:Mircscreenshot.jpg|400px|thumb|right|The graphical user interface of ''MIRC'', the most popular Internet Relay Chat client.]]
* [[Instant messaging]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External Links==
http://freenode.net/catalysts.shtml
[[Category:Information technology]]