r/linux rules, stats, and what to post

r/linux is a community for sharing news about Linux, interesting developments, and press. The people posting there care about GNU, the Linux kernel, developers of open source software, and other applications on Linux. It is a news and discussion room, not a help desk. The description itself points anyone with a tech support question over to r/linux4noobs and r/linuxquestions, and the first rule repeats that this is not a support forum. If you build or write about open source software on Linux, this is your room. If you want to ask how to fix something, the friendly communities named in the description are the right door.

The first rule to understand is “r/linux is not a support forum”, which removes help requests and the common questions that look like discussion but get posted too often. “No spamblog submissions” requires the original source with the original title and bans blog spam, link aggregators, and low effort websites. “No memes, image macros, rage comics, overdone jokes” bans meme posts and even overdone joke chains in the comments. “Reddiquette, Trolling, *-isms, Poor Discussion or User Conduct” asks you to remember the human and also asks you to reply to a related story before making your own post. “Relevance to r/linux community / Promoting closed source applications over FOSS” keeps posts on GNU, the Linux kernel, open source developers, and applications on Linux. “Spamming self-promotion, surveys, crowdfunding” caps your own content at no more than ten percent of your posts and requires you to interact with the comments of your submission. “No misdirected links, login website, url shortener, and certain social media” bans links that do not go straight to the content, login walls, and url shorteners. “Non-useful Image Upload” discourages images of Linux in the wild, plushies, and Tux as top-level submissions. “NSFW Image, links” needs moderator approval for any NSFW content, which is unlikely to matter for a founder post.

A good post here is news or an original development, submitted from the original source with the original title. If you made something open source that runs on Linux, sharing your announcement can work, as long as your own content stays under ten percent of your posts and you stick around to answer comments. The rules explicitly welcome your own original content on those terms. Before you post, read the room and reply to a related story first, because the conduct rule asks for that. Write a plain, factual title that matches the source. If someone has already posted the story you want to share, add your link as a top-level comment on the existing discussion instead of a new post.

Do not post help requests or common tech support questions, they get removed. Do not submit re-hosted content, blog spam, or links through a url shortener or a login wall. Do not post memes, image macros, or overdone jokes, even in the comments. Do not flood the subreddit with your own content past the ten percent mark, and do not ignore the comments on your submission. Do not post surveys for your own use, they are not allowed. Do not post images of Tux, plushies, or Linux in the wild as top-level submissions. Do not troll, start flamewars, or forget the human, and reply to a related story before making your own post.

What strikes me most is rule four, which asks you to reply to a related story before making your own post. That single line tells you everything about the room, participation comes before posting. I also respect that the ten percent self promotion cap is written as a number, not a vibe, so you can actually measure whether you belong here yet.