Fact-Checking Policy

Every tutorial published on GoLinuxCloud documents real, executable steps that have been verified on the platforms and versions stated in the article. This page describes — in concrete terms — how that verification happens, what gets re-tested over time, and what we do when an upstream tool change breaks an older tutorial.

It is the technical complement to our Editorial Policy and our Corrections Policy.

Last reviewed: 30 May 2026.

1. Every command is executed before publication

Before a tutorial goes live, every command shown in a code block is run from a clean environment that matches the OS, distro, and tool versions stated in the article:

  • Linux tutorials are executed on the named distribution and major version — RHEL 8/9/10, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, Ubuntu LTS releases, Debian stable, openSUSE, Fedora — using either disposable virtual machines (KVM, Vagrant, or cloud) or rootless containers, whichever matches the scenario.
  • Kubernetes tutorials are executed on the cluster type the article specifies (k3s, kind, minikube, kubeadm, EKS, OpenShift), at the exact Kubernetes minor version named in the introduction.
  • Programming tutorials (Python, Go, Bash, Java, Laravel, etc.) are executed against the runtime version named, in a clean virtual environment or container so that we don't accidentally rely on system-wide packages.
  • Networking and security tutorials that interact with real services (DNS, TLS, OpenLDAP, OpenSSL, Wireshark captures) use isolated lab networks or known-safe public hosts.

Output that appears in code blocks is copy-pasted from the live terminal session — we do not hand-write fake output to match what we "expected" to see. When real output is too long for a tutorial, we truncate it explicitly with # ... or [...] markers, never by silently cutting lines.

Screenshots are taken from the actual UI of the actual session. We do not mock up dialog boxes or fabricate error messages.

2. Versions are pinned in the introduction

Every tutorial states up front, in the introduction or the first heading, exactly what it was tested on. Where relevant we name:

  • Operating system, distribution, and kernel version
  • Language runtime version (Python 3.x, Go 1.x, Node.js x, Java JDK x)
  • Tool / framework version (Kubernetes vX.Y, Docker / Podman / containerd vX, Ansible core vX, Terraform vX, kubectl vX)
  • Cloud SDK / CLI version when AWS / Azure / GCP commands are shown

If your version is different and the steps don't behave identically, the tutorial either tells you the diff to apply or links to the version-specific replacement tutorial. The goal: you should never have to guess whether a tutorial is current for the version on your laptop.

3. Primary sources

When a tutorial cites a fact — a default value, a standard, a vendor's stated behavior, a benchmark number — we link to the primary source, not to an aggregator:

Topic Primary source we link to
Linux kernel features kernel.org documentation
RHEL / OpenShift behavior access.redhat.com docs
Kubernetes API kubernetes.io reference docs
Python language / stdlib docs.python.org
Go language go.dev/doc and pkg.go.dev
Docker / containerd docs.docker.com and containerd.io
Cloud APIs (AWS, Azure, GCP) the vendor's official docs
Internet standards datatracker.ietf.org (RFCs) and POSIX
Security advisories NVD / vendor advisories, never news write-ups
Open source projects the project's own README or release notes

If a third party's blog post is the cleanest explanation we can find, we link to it and to the underlying primary source, and we make clear which is which.

4. Security-sensitive content gets a second reviewer

Tutorials that touch any of the following get a peer review before publication:

  • Authentication, authorization, IAM, sudo, SELinux, AppArmor
  • TLS, certificate management, OpenSSL
  • Firewalls (iptables, nftables, firewalld, Security Groups, NSGs)
  • Secrets management, environment variables containing credentials
  • Cryptography (hashing, signing, key derivation)
  • Container escape vectors, capabilities, namespaces
  • Kubernetes RBAC, Pod Security, network policies
  • SSH configuration, sshd hardening

A second engineer reads the draft end-to-end, looking specifically for: a command that disables a security mechanism without explanation, an example that copy-pastes a credential into version control, a config file that loosens defaults silently, a recipe that would work now but rot into a CVE when a dependency updates.

We never publish a command that disables a security mechanism (chmod 777, setenforce 0, --insecure-skip-tls-verify, --no-verify-ssl, curl … | bash, set GIT_SSL_NO_VERIFY=true) without an inline call-out explaining when and why a reader should not do that on production, plus a link to the secure alternative.

5. Regression checks and re-verification

A tutorial that was correct when written can become wrong when the tool underneath it changes. Two mechanisms address that:

  1. Automated link-check. A scheduled job sweeps the site for broken internal and external links roughly every quarter. Broken links are either fixed (target moved) or replaced (target dead).
  2. Triggered re-test sweeps. Major upstream events trigger a re-test of the affected tutorials:
    • A new major OS release (RHEL N, Ubuntu LTS) — within ~60 days.
    • A Kubernetes API removal or deprecation — within one minor release.
    • A Python / Go / Node / PHP major bump — within ~30 days.
    • A security advisory affecting a tool we feature heavily — within 7 days.
  3. High-traffic refresh. The top-50 most-trafficked tutorials are revisited roughly every six months, regardless of upstream events, to make sure the example output and screenshots still match what a fresh installation produces.

When a re-test fails, the article is either updated in place (with a bumped dateModified and an inline "Updated" note) or, if it can no longer be made correct without confusing readers, withdrawn per the procedure in our Corrections Policy.

6. AI assistance — explicit boundaries

Generative AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, Perplexity) are used as research aids during article preparation. They are never trusted as a source of truth.

In practice, this means:

  • Allowed: Asking an AI for the name of a command, flag, or technique. Asking it to summarize what a vendor's documentation says so we know where to read in detail. Drafting an initial article outline that the author then reorders, rewrites, and grounds in their own first-hand work. Polishing already-written prose for grammar or readability.
  • Not allowed: Treating an AI's output as authoritative. Publishing a command an AI produced without running it ourselves on the stated version. Publishing AI-generated screenshots. Publishing AI-generated terminal output. Publishing a paragraph an AI wrote without the author rewriting it in their own voice with a worked example they actually ran.

Every code block on the site has been executed by a human author on the stated version, regardless of whether an AI assistant was used during research. If you ever see output in a code block that doesn't match what your own terminal produces on the same version, tell us — that's exactly the failure mode we're guarding against.

7. Conflict of interest

GoLinuxCloud is funded by advertising, affiliate links, and reader tips (see the disclosures in our Editorial Policy, §9). To prevent funding from corrupting the technical content:

  • No advertiser preview. Advertisers do not see articles before they publish and cannot request edits.
  • No "best of" lists for advertisers. If we publish a comparison or "best X for Y" article, advertisers in that category are disclosed explicitly inline.
  • Negative reviews are allowed. If a tool we have an affiliate relationship with breaks badly or ships an insecure default, the affiliate link is removed and the article says so.
  • Sponsored content is segregated. Paid placements live under /sponsored/ and are not editorial.

8. Mistakes happen — how to report one

If you find a tutorial that's wrong, please tell us. The full reporting workflow, the response timeline, and the public log of significant corrections are documented in our Corrections Policy.

9. Contact

  • Technical accuracy reports: [email protected], subject [Correction]
  • Security-sensitive content reports: same address, subject [Security Correction]
  • General contact: /contact-us/