Some questions are asked repeatedly, and in order to save time and wasteful effort, automated systems of information retrieval have been setup for use in #debian.

DpkgBot is a bot running in #debian on Freenode IRC (irc.freenode.net) and OFTC (irc.oftc.net). The bot's nickname is dpkg. It is a blootbot that stores and retrieves factoids and answers to frequently asked questions.

The dpkg bot is an excellent resource. If your question does not pertain to a particularly specific problem, then it may fall under the FAQ category. For example, if you wish to know how to install Java Runtime Environment for Debian, instead of asking in the channel, you can type

/msg dpkg java OR /msg dpkg install java

The replies you recieve from dpkg will sometimes contain additional keywords you should look up as well. These keywords will appear in angle brackets <>.

For example, here is the output of <install java>

/msg dpkg install java

<dpkg> For the Java web browser plugin, install either the free icedtea-gcjwebplugin (Lenny) or icedtea6-plugin (Squeeze) package, or the <non-free> sun-java6-plugin package. For other Java programs, you can install the default-jre package to get a Java runtime; use "apt-cache search java-virtual-machine" to see other implementations. The best options are probably openjdk-6-jre or sun-java6-jre (non-free). See also <java alternatives>.

This contains the keywords <non-free> and upon asking dpkg we get

/msg dpkg non-free

<dpkg> [non-free] a component which contains software that does not comply with the <DFSG>, or are encumbered by patents or other legal issues. To add non-free packages to your packages index, ask me about <non-free sources>. To see which non-free packages are installed on your system, ask me about <vrms>. For the non-free tracking system, see http://nonfree.alioth.debian.org/

If you are not sure whether your question has already been covered by the FAQ or not, you can use the search functions.

/msg dpkg listkeys to search the keys part of the database

/msg dpkg listvals to search within the values of all keys

For more information on dpkg commands see the USAGE documentation included with the infobot source code.

There are times when the bot is experiencing network problems, for any number of reasons, and might be unavailable or offline. In instances like these, you can use the factoid database of backup bots.

These are the botnames of the backup bots, which operate just as dpkg does.

aptitude ( /msg aptitude keyword here ) This bot's factoid database is synced with the main bot's ( dpkg's ) database nightly.

ravenbird ( /msg ravenbird keyword here ) This bot's factoid database is not always upto date.

apt ( /msg apt keyword here ) This bot's factoid database is also not always upto date.

badgers ( /msg badgers keyword here ) This bot's factoid database is also not always upto date.

NOTE: The backup bots are NOT always online!

There are times when NONE of the bots are online. In a situation like this, you can get all your factoid information from the following website.

This website's factoid database is updated nightly. It provides a textbox control where you can enter search terms or queries including wildcards (*). It also allows you to search the factoid database like the bots do, that is, you can search by factoid name (key), or by the information contained in a particular factoid (val [value]), or by the nickname of the author who contributed a certain factoid.

A nightly dump of the factoid database is available from http://rzlab.ucr.edu/~dpkg/ Dumps from the last 18 days are also available.

Once again, we implore you to take the power into your own hands, search, read, learn, and investigate on your own. When you have exhausted every avenue and still are unable to find a solution to your problem, or you believe that your problem might NOT fall under the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) category, please feel free to ask in the #debian IRC channel on OFTC (irc.debian.org) or on Freenode IRC (irc.freenode.net).