After a month of experimentation and discussion, we can announce that the *OFFICIAL* IRC channel for Gamers On Linux is at:

irc.oftc.net
#GamersOnLinux

Aremis has pitched in and will help supervise the channel, I'll be in there, and anyone else who wants to can drop by and have a bit of a chat with us. Beware of the time zones and don't get frustrated, thinking we are ignoring you: you might not get an answer right away until we have more participants lurking around. I'm in GMT +7, and Aremis is in GMT -6. If I'm sleeping, you'll see my name as 'thunderrd[away]', so you know I won't be back for some time. Aremis and I plan to be logged in 24/7, but of course, we aren't always available.

Like most things of this nature, popularity can develop slowly, so give it a try and see how you like it.

Just go in, ask away, and idle in the channel; hopefully if this thing gets rolling we can have some of our 'experts' around frequently. Make appointments with your mates if you want: a PM to the one you want to talk to like, "meet me at #gamersonlinux at 6" might be a way to make sure you're there at the same time. I'd like to ask that any/all of our regular posters and 'guidemeisters' get involved by keeping your clients logged in to the channel whenever you're online [the clients are all very light on resources, so there's no performance hit]. This gives an appearance that there is some activity in the channel, and it allows us to help others and each other as quickly as possible.

If IRC is new to you, you will find that it is quite simple, actually. First, you need a client. There are a bunch of good ones, and they will all do an adequate job. I use hexchat, which is a fork of the now-deprecated Xchat. Gizmo has told me that Pidgin has an IRC client or plugin, as well, if you use that for an IM app.

Install the client, and give yourself a nickname. Then, then find OFTC in the server list. Connect to it [normally through port 6667] and type:

/join #gamersonlinux

This will immediately place you in the channel. You will see your name in the current users field. This is where you can see who else is logged in to the channel. Then, just say hello!

If you have any requests for login /client help, feedback, suggestions, or other comments, post them in this thread.