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authorBenedict Reuschling <bcr@FreeBSD.org>2019-09-06 13:58:37 +0000
committerBenedict Reuschling <bcr@FreeBSD.org>2019-09-06 13:58:37 +0000
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tree6c2b425a51f5a431ae7b03ece16ec8e23e809274 /en_US.ISO8859-1/articles
parent7b115da2624b36b3e81599ce08cd6eb8986900a5 (diff)
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Cleanup this article from most (but not all) igor warnings:
- wrap long lines - use tabs instead of spaces - space after content (inserting a &nbsp;) - capitalization - use two spaces at sentence start Event: vBSDcon 2019
Notes
Notes: svn path=/head/; revision=53380
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--- a/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/freebsd-questions/article.xml
+++ b/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/freebsd-questions/article.xml
@@ -1,14 +1,24 @@
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//FreeBSD//DTD DocBook XML V5.0-Based Extension//EN"
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/XML/share/xml/freebsd50.dtd">
-<article xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" version="5.0" xml:lang="en">
- <info><title>How to get best results from the FreeBSD-questions mailing
- list</title>
-
-
- <author><personname><firstname>Greg</firstname><surname>Lehey</surname></personname><affiliation>
- <address><email>grog@FreeBSD.org</email></address>
- </affiliation></author>
+<article xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+ xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" version="5.0"
+ xml:lang="en">
+ <info>
+ <title>How to get Best Results from the FreeBSD-questions Mailing
+ List</title>
+
+ <author>
+ <personname>
+ <firstname>Greg</firstname>
+ <surname>Lehey</surname>
+ </personname>
+ <affiliation>
+ <address>
+ <email>grog@FreeBSD.org</email>
+ </address>
+ </affiliation>
+ </author>
<legalnotice xml:id="trademarks" role="trademarks">
&tm-attrib.freebsd;
@@ -23,89 +33,100 @@
<releaseinfo>$FreeBSD$</releaseinfo>
<abstract>
- <para>This document provides useful information for people looking to
- prepare an e-mail to the FreeBSD-questions mailing list. Advice and
- hints are given that will maximize the chance that the reader will
- receive useful replies.</para>
+ <para>This document provides useful information for people
+ looking to prepare an e-mail to the FreeBSD-questions mailing
+ list. Advice and hints are given that will maximize the
+ chance that the reader will receive useful replies.</para>
- <para>This document is regularly posted to the FreeBSD-questions mailing
- list.</para>
+ <para>This document is regularly posted to the FreeBSD-questions
+ mailing list.</para>
</abstract>
</info>
<sect1>
<title xml:id="Introduction">Introduction</title>
- <para><literal>FreeBSD-questions</literal> is a mailing list maintained by
- the FreeBSD project to help people who have questions about the normal
- use of FreeBSD. Another group, <literal>FreeBSD-hackers</literal>,
- discusses more advanced questions such as future development
- work.</para>
+ <para><literal>FreeBSD-questions</literal> is a mailing list
+ maintained by the FreeBSD project to help people who have
+ questions about the normal use of FreeBSD. Another group,
+ <literal>FreeBSD-hackers</literal>, discusses more advanced
+ questions such as future development work.</para>
<note>
- <para>The term <quote>hacker</quote> has nothing to do with breaking
- into other people's computers. The correct term for the latter
- activity is <quote>cracker</quote>, but the popular press has not found
- out yet. The FreeBSD hackers disapprove strongly of cracking
- security, and have nothing to do with it. For a longer description of
- hackers, see Eric Raymond's <link xlink:href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html">How To Become
- A Hacker</link></para>
+ <para>The term <quote>hacker</quote> has nothing to do with
+ breaking into other people's computers. The correct term for
+ the latter activity is <quote>cracker</quote>, but the popular
+ press has not found out yet. The FreeBSD hackers disapprove
+ strongly of cracking security, and have nothing to do with it.
+ For a longer description of hackers, see Eric Raymond's <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/hacker-howto.html">How
+ To Become A Hacker</link></para>
</note>
- <para>This is a regular posting aimed to help both those seeking advice
- from FreeBSD-questions (the <quote>newcomers</quote>), and also those
- who answer the questions (the <quote>hackers</quote>).</para>
-
- <para>Inevitably there is some friction, which stems from the different
- viewpoints of the two groups. The newcomers accuse the hackers of being
- arrogant, stuck-up, and unhelpful, while the hackers accuse the
- newcomers of being stupid, unable to read plain English, and expecting
- everything to be handed to them on a silver platter. Of course, there is
- an element of truth in both these claims, but for the most part these
- viewpoints come from a sense of frustration.</para>
-
- <para>In this document, I would like to do something to relieve this
- frustration and help everybody get better results from
- FreeBSD-questions. In the following section, I recommend how to submit
- a question; after that, we will look at how to answer one.</para>
+ <para>This is a regular posting aimed to help both those seeking
+ advice from FreeBSD-questions (the <quote>newcomers</quote>),
+ and also those who answer the questions (the
+ <quote>hackers</quote>).</para>
+
+ <para>Inevitably there is some friction, which stems from the
+ different viewpoints of the two groups. The newcomers accuse
+ the hackers of being arrogant, stuck-up, and unhelpful, while
+ the hackers accuse the newcomers of being stupid, unable to read
+ plain English, and expecting everything to be handed to them on
+ a silver platter. Of course, there is an element of truth in
+ both these claims, but for the most part these viewpoints come
+ from a sense of frustration.</para>
+
+ <para>In this document, I would like to do something to relieve
+ this frustration and help everybody get better results from
+ FreeBSD-questions. In the following section, I recommend how to
+ submit a question; after that, we will look at how to answer
+ one.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1>
- <title xml:id="subscribe">How to subscribe to FreeBSD-questions</title>
+ <title xml:id="subscribe">How to Subscribe to
+ FreeBSD-questions</title>
- <para>FreeBSD-questions is a mailing list, so you need mail access. Point
- your WWW browser to the <link xlink:href="&a.questions.url;">information page of the FreeBSD-questions mailing list</link>.
- In the section titled <quote>Subscribing to freebsd-questions</quote> fill
- in the <quote>Your email address</quote> field; the other fields are optional.
- </para>
+ <para>FreeBSD-questions is a mailing list, so you need mail
+ access. Point your WWW browser to the <link
+ xlink:href="&a.questions.url;">information page of the
+ FreeBSD-questions mailing list</link>. In the section titled
+ <quote>Subscribing to freebsd-questions</quote> fill
+ in the <quote>Your email address</quote> field; the other fields
+ are optional.</para>
<note>
- <para>The password fields in the subscription form provide only mild
- security, but should prevent others from messing with your
- subscription. <emphasis>Do not use a valuable password</emphasis> as
- it will occasionally be emailed back to you in cleartext.</para>
+ <para>The password fields in the subscription form provide only
+ mild security, but should prevent others from messing with
+ your subscription. <emphasis>Do not use a valuable
+ password</emphasis> as it will occasionally be emailed back
+ to you in cleartext.</para>
</note>
<para>You will receive a confirmation message from
- <application>mailman</application>; follow the included instructions
- to complete your subscription.</para>
-
- <para>Finally, when you get the <quote>Welcome</quote> message from
- <application>mailman</application> telling you the details of the list
- and subscription area password, <emphasis>please save it</emphasis>.
- If you ever should want to leave the list, you will need the information
- there. See the next section for more details.</para>
+ <application>mailman</application>; follow the included
+ instructions to complete your subscription.</para>
+
+ <para>Finally, when you get the <quote>Welcome</quote> message
+ from <application>mailman</application> telling you the details
+ of the list and subscription area password, <emphasis>please
+ save it</emphasis>. If you ever should want to leave the
+ list, you will need the information there. See the next section
+ for more details.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1>
- <title xml:id="unsubscribe">How to unsubscribe from FreeBSD-questions</title>
+ <title xml:id="unsubscribe">How to Unsubscribe from
+ FreeBSD-questions</title>
- <para>When you subscribed to FreeBSD-questions, you got a welcome message
- from <application>mailman</application>. In this message, amongst
- other things, it told you how to unsubscribe. Here is a typical
- message:</para>
+ <para>When you subscribed to FreeBSD-questions, you got a welcome
+ message from <application>mailman</application>. In this
+ message, amongst other things, it told you how to unsubscribe.
+ Here is a typical message:</para>
- <literallayout class="monospaced">Welcome to the freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list!
+ <literallayout class="monospaced">Welcome to the
+ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list!
To post to this list, send your email to:
@@ -139,162 +160,175 @@ prefer. This reminder will also include instructions on how to
unsubscribe or change your account options. There is also a button on
your options page that will email your current password to you.</literallayout>
- <para>From the URL specified in your <quote>Welcome</quote> message you
- may visit the <quote>Account management page</quote> and enter a request
- to <quote>Unsubscribe</quote> you from FreeBSD-questions mailing
- list.</para>
+ <para>From the URL specified in your <quote>Welcome</quote>
+ message you may visit the <quote>Account management page</quote>
+ and enter a request to <quote>Unsubscribe</quote> you from
+ FreeBSD-questions mailing list.</para>
<para>A confirmation message will be sent to you from
- <application>mailman</application>; follow the included instructions
- to finish unsubscribing.</para>
+ <application>mailman</application>; follow the included
+ instructions to finish unsubscribing.</para>
- <para>If you have done this, and you still can not figure out what
+ <para>If you have done this, and you still cannot figure out what
is going on, send a message to
- <email>freebsd-questions-request@FreeBSD.org</email>, and they will
- sort things out for you. <emphasis>Do not</emphasis> send a message to
- FreeBSD-questions: they can not help you.</para>
+ <email>freebsd-questions-request@FreeBSD.org</email>, and they
+ will sort things out for you. <emphasis>Do not</emphasis> send
+ a message to FreeBSD-questions: they cannot help you.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1>
- <title xml:id="askwho">Should I ask <literal>-questions</literal> or
- <literal>-hackers</literal>?</title>
+ <title xml:id="askwho">Should I ask <literal>-questions</literal>
+ or <literal>-hackers</literal>?</title>
<para>Two mailing lists handle general questions about FreeBSD,
<literal>FreeBSD-questions</literal> and
- <literal>FreeBSD-hackers</literal>. In some cases, it is not really
- clear which group you should ask. The following criteria should help
- for 99% of all questions, however:</para>
+ <literal>FreeBSD-hackers</literal>. In some cases, it is not
+ really clear which group you should ask. The following criteria
+ should help for 99% of all questions, however:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>If the question is of a general nature, ask
- <literal>FreeBSD-questions</literal>. Examples might be questions
- about installing FreeBSD or the use of a particular &unix;
- utility.</para>
+ <literal>FreeBSD-questions</literal>. Examples might be
+ questions about installing FreeBSD or the use of a
+ particular &unix; utility.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>If you think the question relates to a bug, but you are not sure,
- or you do not know how to look for it, send the message to
- <literal>FreeBSD-questions</literal>.</para>
+ <para>If you think the question relates to a bug, but you are
+ not sure, or you do not know how to look for it, send the
+ message to <literal>FreeBSD-questions</literal>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>If the question relates to a bug, and you are
- <emphasis>sure</emphasis> that it is a bug (for example, you can
- pinpoint the place in the code where it happens, and you maybe have
- a fix), then send the message to
+ <emphasis>sure</emphasis> that it is a bug (for example, you
+ can pinpoint the place in the code where it happens, and you
+ maybe have a fix), then send the message to
<literal>FreeBSD-hackers</literal>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>If the question relates to enhancements to FreeBSD, and you
- can make suggestions about how to implement them, then send the
- message to <literal>FreeBSD-hackers</literal>.</para>
+ <para>If the question relates to enhancements to FreeBSD, and
+ you can make suggestions about how to implement them, then
+ send the message to
+ <literal>FreeBSD-hackers</literal>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
- <para>There are also a number of other
- <link xlink:href="&url.books.handbook;/eresources-mail.html">specialized mailing lists</link>,
- which caters to more specific interests.
- The criteria above still apply, and
- it is in your interest to stick to them, since you are more likely to get
- good results that way.</para>
+ <para>There are also a number of other <link
+ xlink:href="&url.books.handbook;/eresources-mail.html">specialized
+ mailing lists</link>, which caters to more specific interests.
+ The criteria above still apply, and it is in your interest to
+ stick to them, since you are more likely to get good results
+ that way.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1>
- <title xml:id="before">Before submitting a question</title>
+ <title xml:id="before">Before Submitting a Question</title>
- <para>You can (and should) do some things yourself before asking a question
- on one of the mailing lists:</para>
+ <para>You can (and should) do some things yourself before asking a
+ question on one of the mailing lists:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
- <para>Try solving the problem on your own. If you post a question which
- shows that you have tried to solve the problem, your question will
- generally attract more positive attention from people reading it.
- Trying to solve the problem yourself will also enhance your understanding
- of FreeBSD, and will eventually let you use your knowledge to help others
- by answering questions posted to the mailing lists.
- </para>
+ <para>Try solving the problem on your own. If you post a
+ question which shows that you have tried to solve the
+ problem, your question will generally attract more positive
+ attention from people reading it. Trying to solve the
+ problem yourself will also enhance your understanding of
+ FreeBSD, and will eventually let you use your knowledge to
+ help others by answering questions posted to the mailing
+ lists.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Read the manual pages, and the FreeBSD documentation (either
- installed in <filename>/usr/doc</filename> or accessible via WWW at
- <uri xlink:href="http://www.FreeBSD.org">http://www.FreeBSD.org</uri>), especially the
- <link xlink:href="&url.books.handbook;/index.html">handbook</link>
- and the <link xlink:href="&url.books.faq;/index.html">FAQ</link>.
- </para>
+ <para>Read the manual pages, and the FreeBSD documentation
+ (either installed in <filename>/usr/doc</filename> or
+ accessible via WWW at <uri
+ xlink:href="http://www.FreeBSD.org">http://www.FreeBSD.org</uri>),
+ especially the <link
+ xlink:href="&url.books.handbook;/index.html">handbook</link>
+ and the <link
+ xlink:href="&url.books.faq;/index.html">FAQ</link>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Browse and/or search the archives for the mailing list, to see if your
- question or a similar one has been asked (and possibly answered) on the
- list. You can browse and/or search the mailing list archives
- at <uri xlink:href="https://www.FreeBSD.org/mail">https://www.FreeBSD.org/mail</uri>
- and <uri xlink:href="https://www.FreeBSD.org/search/search.html#mailinglists">https://www.FreeBSD.org/search/search.html#mailinglists</uri>
- respectively. This can be done at other WWW sites as well, for example
- at <uri xlink:href="http://marc.theaimsgroup.com">http://marc.theaimsgroup.com</uri>.
- </para>
+ <para>Browse and/or search the archives for the mailing list,
+ to see if your question or a similar one has been asked (and
+ possibly answered) on the list. You can browse and/or
+ search the mailing list archives at <uri
+ xlink:href="https://www.FreeBSD.org/mail">https://www.FreeBSD.org/mail</uri>
+ and <uri
+ xlink:href="https://www.FreeBSD.org/search/search.html#mailinglists">https://www.FreeBSD.org/search/search.html#mailinglists</uri>
+ respectively. This can be done at other WWW sites as well,
+ for example at <uri
+ xlink:href="http://marc.theaimsgroup.com">http://marc.theaimsgroup.com</uri>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Use a search engine such as <link xlink:href="http://www.google.com">Google</link>
- or <link xlink:href="http://www.yahoo.com">Yahoo</link> to find answers to your question.
- </para>
+ <para>Use a search engine such as <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.google.com">Google</link>
+ or <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.yahoo.com">Yahoo</link> to find
+ answers to your question.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect1>
<sect1>
- <title xml:id="submit">How to submit a question</title>
+ <title xml:id="submit">How to Submit a Question</title>
- <para>When submitting a question to FreeBSD-questions, consider the
- following points:</para>
+ <para>When submitting a question to FreeBSD-questions, consider
+ the following points:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Remember that nobody gets paid for answering a FreeBSD
- question. They do it of their own free will. You can influence this
- free will positively by submitting a well-formulated question
- supplying as much relevant information as possible. You can
- influence this free will negatively by submitting an incomplete,
- illegible, or rude question. It is perfectly possible to send a
- message to FreeBSD-questions and not get an answer even if you
- follow these rules. It is much more possible to not get an answer if
- you do not. In the rest of this document, we will look at how to get
- the most out of your question to FreeBSD-questions.</para>
+ question. They do it of their own free will. You can
+ influence this free will positively by submitting a
+ well-formulated question supplying as much relevant
+ information as possible. You can influence this free will
+ negatively by submitting an incomplete, illegible, or rude
+ question. It is perfectly possible to send a message to
+ FreeBSD-questions and not get an answer even if you follow
+ these rules. It is much more possible to not get an answer
+ if you do not. In the rest of this document, we will look
+ at how to get the most out of your question to
+ FreeBSD-questions.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Not everybody who answers FreeBSD questions reads every message:
- they look at the subject line and decide whether it interests them.
- Clearly, it is in your interest to specify a subject. <quote>FreeBSD
- problem</quote> or <quote>Help</quote> are not enough. If you provide no subject at
- all, many people will not bother reading it. If your subject is not
- specific enough, the people who can answer it may not read
- it.</para>
+ <para>Not everybody who answers FreeBSD questions reads every
+ message: they look at the subject line and decide whether it
+ interests them. Clearly, it is in your interest to specify
+ a subject. <quote>FreeBSD
+ problem</quote> or <quote>Help</quote> are not enough. If
+ you provide no subject at all, many people will not bother
+ reading it. If your subject is not specific enough, the
+ people who can answer it may not read it.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Format your message so that it is legible, and
- PLEASE DO NOT SHOUT!!!!!. We appreciate that a lot of people do not
- speak English as their first language, and we try to make
- allowances for that, but it is really painful to try to read a
- message written full of typos or without any line breaks.</para>
-
- <para>Do not underestimate the effect that a poorly formatted mail
- message has, not just on the FreeBSD-questions mailing list.
- Your mail message is all people see of you, and if it is poorly
- formatted, one line per paragraph, badly spelt, or full of
- errors, it will give people a poor impression of you.</para>
-
- <para>A lot of badly formatted messages come from
- <link xlink:href="http://www.lemis.com/email.html">bad mailers or badly
- configured mailers</link>. The following mailers are known to
- send out badly formatted messages without you finding out about
- them:</para>
+ <para>Format your message so that it is legible, and
+ PLEASE DO NOT SHOUT!!!!!. We appreciate that a lot of
+ people do not speak English as their first language, and we
+ try to make allowances for that, but it is really painful to
+ try to read a message written full of typos or without any
+ line breaks.</para>
+
+ <para>Do not underestimate the effect that a poorly formatted
+ mail message has, not just on the FreeBSD-questions mailing
+ list. Your mail message is all people see of you, and if it
+ is poorly formatted, one line per paragraph, badly spelt, or
+ full of errors, it will give people a poor impression of
+ you.</para>
+
+ <para>A lot of badly formatted messages come from <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.lemis.com/email.html">bad
+ mailers or badly configured mailers</link>. The following
+ mailers are known to send out badly formatted messages
+ without you finding out about them:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
@@ -320,86 +354,92 @@ your options page that will email your current password to you.</literallayout>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Make sure your time and time zone are set correctly. This may
- seem a little silly, since your message still gets there, but many
- of the people you are trying to reach get several hundred messages a
- day. They frequently sort the incoming messages by subject and by
- date, and if your message does not come before the first answer, they
- may assume they missed it and not bother to look.</para>
+ <para>Make sure your time and time zone are set correctly.
+ This may seem a little silly, since your message still gets
+ there, but many of the people you are trying to reach get
+ several hundred messages a day. They frequently sort the
+ incoming messages by subject and by date, and if your
+ message does not come before the first answer, they may
+ assume they missed it and not bother to look.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Do not include unrelated questions in the same message. Firstly,
- a long message tends to scare people off, and secondly, it is more
- difficult to get all the people who can answer all the questions to
- read the message.</para>
+ <para>Do not include unrelated questions in the same message.
+ Firstly, a long message tends to scare people off, and
+ secondly, it is more difficult to get all the people who can
+ answer all the questions to read the message.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Specify as much information as possible. This is a difficult
- area, and we need to expand on what information you need to submit,
- but here is a start:</para>
+ <para>Specify as much information as possible. This is a
+ difficult area, and we need to expand on what information
+ you need to submit, but here is a start:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
- <para>In nearly every case, it is important to know the version of
- FreeBSD you are running. This is particularly the case for
- FreeBSD-CURRENT, where you should also specify the date of the
- sources, though of course you should not be sending questions
- about -CURRENT to FreeBSD-questions.</para>
+ <para>In nearly every case, it is important to know the
+ version of FreeBSD you are running. This is
+ particularly the case for FreeBSD-CURRENT, where you
+ should also specify the date of the sources, though of
+ course you should not be sending questions about
+ -CURRENT to FreeBSD-questions.</para>
</listitem>
- <listitem><para>With any problem which <emphasis>could</emphasis> be
- hardware related, tell us about your hardware. In case of
- doubt, assume it is possible that it is hardware. What kind of
- CPU are you using? How fast? What motherboard? How much
- memory? What peripherals?</para>
-
- <para>There is a judgement call here, of course, but the output of
- the &man.dmesg.8; command can frequently be very useful, since it
- tells not just what hardware you are running, but what version of
- FreeBSD as well.</para>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>With any problem which <emphasis>could</emphasis> be
+ hardware related, tell us about your hardware. In case
+ of doubt, assume it is possible that it is hardware.
+ What kind of CPU are you using? How fast? What
+ motherboard? How much memory? What peripherals?</para>
+
+ <para>There is a judgement call here, of course, but the
+ output of the &man.dmesg.8; command can frequently be
+ very useful, since it tells not just what hardware you
+ are running, but what version of FreeBSD as well.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>If you get error messages, do not say <quote>I get error
- messages</quote>, say (for example) <quote>I get the error
- message 'No route to host'</quote>.</para>
+ <para>If you get error messages, do not say <quote>I get
+ error messages</quote>, say (for example) <quote>I get
+ the error message 'No route to host'</quote>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>If your system panics, do not say <quote>My system
- panicked</quote>, say (for example) <quote>my system panicked
- with the message 'free vnode isn't'</quote>.</para>
+ panicked</quote>, say (for example) <quote>my system
+ panicked with the message 'free vnode
+ isn't'</quote>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>If you have difficulty installing FreeBSD, please tell us
- what hardware you have. In particular, it is important to know
- the IRQs and I/O addresses of the boards installed in your
- machine.</para>
+ <para>If you have difficulty installing FreeBSD, please
+ tell us what hardware you have. In particular, it is
+ important to know the IRQs and I/O addresses of the
+ boards installed in your machine.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>If you have difficulty getting PPP to run, describe the
- configuration. Which version of PPP do you use? What kind of
- authentication do you have? Do you have a static or dynamic IP
- address? What kind of messages do you get in the log
- file?</para>
+ <para>If you have difficulty getting PPP to run, describe
+ the configuration. Which version of PPP do you use?
+ What kind of authentication do you have? Do you have a
+ static or dynamic IP address? What kind of messages do
+ you get in the log file?</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>A lot of the information you need to supply is the output of
- programs, such as &man.dmesg.8;, or console messages, which usually
- appear in <filename>/var/log/messages</filename>. Do not try to copy
- this information by typing it in again; it is a real pain, and you are
- bound to make a mistake. To send log file contents, either make a
- copy of the file and use an editor to trim the information to what
- is relevant, or cut and paste into your message. For the output of
- programs like &man.dmesg.8;, redirect the output to a file and
- include that. For example,</para>
+ <para>A lot of the information you need to supply is the
+ output of programs, such as &man.dmesg.8;, or console
+ messages, which usually appear in
+ <filename>/var/log/messages</filename>. Do not try to copy
+ this information by typing it in again; it is a real pain,
+ and you are bound to make a mistake. To send log file
+ contents, either make a copy of the file and use an editor
+ to trim the information to what is relevant, or cut and
+ paste into your message. For the output of programs like
+ &man.dmesg.8;, redirect the output to a file and include
+ that. For example,</para>
<screen>&prompt.user; <userinput>dmesg &gt; /tmp/dmesg.out</userinput></screen>
@@ -408,21 +448,22 @@ your options page that will email your current password to you.</literallayout>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>If you do all this, and you still do not get an answer, there
- could be other reasons. For example, the problem is so complicated
- that nobody knows the answer, or the person who does know the answer
- was offline. If you do not get an answer after, say, a week, it
- might help to re-send the message. If you do not get an answer to
- your second message, though, you are probably not going to get one
- from this forum. Resending the same message again and again will
- only make you unpopular.</para>
+ <para>If you do all this, and you still do not get an answer,
+ there could be other reasons. For example, the problem is
+ so complicated that nobody knows the answer, or the person
+ who does know the answer was offline. If you do not get an
+ answer after, say, a week, it might help to re-send the
+ message. If you do not get an answer to your second
+ message, though, you are probably not going to get one
+ from this forum. Resending the same message again and again
+ will only make you unpopular.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
- <para>To summarize, let's assume you know the answer to the following
- question (yes, it is the same one in each case).
- You choose which of these two questions you would be more prepared to
- answer:</para>
+ <para>To summarize, let's assume you know the answer to the
+ following question (yes, it is the same one in each case).
+ You choose which of these two questions you would be more
+ prepared to answer:</para>
<example>
<title>Message 1</title>
@@ -437,7 +478,7 @@ so why don't you guys tell me what I doing wrong.</literallayout>
<example>
<title>Message 2</title>
- <literallayout class="monospaced">Subject: Problems installing FreeBSD
+ <literallayout class="monospaced">Subject: Problems installing FreeBSD
I've just got the FreeBSD 2.1.5 CDROM from Walnut Creek, and I'm having a lot
of difficulty installing it. I have a 66 MHz 486 with 16 MB of
@@ -449,29 +490,31 @@ fine, but when I try to reboot the system, I get the message
</sect1>
<sect1>
- <title xml:id="followup">How to follow up to a question</title>
+ <title xml:id="followup">How to Follow up to a Question</title>
- <para>Often you will want to send in additional information to a question
- you have already sent. The best way to do this is to reply to your
- original message. This has three advantages:</para>
+ <para>Often you will want to send in additional information to a
+ question you have already sent. The best way to do this is to
+ reply to your original message. This has three
+ advantages:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
- <para>You include the original message text, so people will know what
- you are talking about. Do not forget to trim unnecessary text out,
- though.</para>
+ <para>You include the original message text, so people will
+ know what you are talking about. Do not forget to trim
+ unnecessary text out, though.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>The text in the subject line stays the same (you did remember to
- put one in, did you not?). Many mailers will sort messages by
- subject. This helps group messages together.</para>
+ <para>The text in the subject line stays the same (you did
+ remember to put one in, did you not?). Many mailers will
+ sort messages by subject. This helps group messages
+ together.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>The message reference numbers in the header will refer to the
- previous message. Some mailers, such as
- <link xlink:href="http://www.mutt.org/">mutt</link>, can
+ <para>The message reference numbers in the header will refer
+ to the previous message. Some mailers, such as <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.mutt.org/">mutt</link>, can
<emphasis>thread</emphasis> messages, showing the exact
relationships between the messages.</para>
</listitem>
@@ -479,114 +522,122 @@ fine, but when I try to reboot the system, I get the message
</sect1>
<sect1>
- <title xml:id="answer">How to answer a question</title>
-
+ <title xml:id="answer">How to Answer a Question</title>
- <para>Before you answer a question to FreeBSD-questions, consider:</para>
+ <para>Before you answer a question to FreeBSD-questions,
+ consider:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
- <para>A lot of the points on submitting questions also apply to
- answering questions. Read them.</para>
+ <para>A lot of the points on submitting questions also apply
+ to answering questions. Read them.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Has somebody already answered the question? The easiest way to
- check this is to sort your incoming mail by subject: then
- (hopefully) you will see the question followed by any answers, all
- together.</para>
-
- <para>If somebody has already answered it, it does not automatically
- mean that you should not send another answer. But it makes sense to
- read all the other answers first.</para>
+ <para>Has somebody already answered the question? The easiest
+ way to check this is to sort your incoming mail by subject:
+ then (hopefully) you will see the question followed by any
+ answers, all together.</para>
+
+ <para>If somebody has already answered it, it does not
+ automatically mean that you should not send another answer.
+ But it makes sense to read all the other answers
+ first.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Do you have something to contribute beyond what has already been
- said? In general, <quote>Yeah, me too</quote> answers do not help
- much, although there are exceptions, like when somebody is
- describing a problem they are having, and they do not know whether it is
- their fault or whether there is something wrong with the hardware or
- software. If you do send a <quote>me too</quote> answer, you should
+ <para>Do you have something to contribute beyond what has
+ already been said? In general, <quote>Yeah, me too</quote>
+ answers do not help much, although there are exceptions,
+ like when somebody is describing a problem they are having,
+ and they do not know whether it is their fault or whether
+ there is something wrong with the hardware or software. If
+ you do send a <quote>me too</quote> answer, you should
also include any further relevant information.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Are you sure you understand the question? Very frequently, the
- person who asks the question is confused or does not express themselves
- very well. Even with the best understanding of the system, it is
- easy to send a reply which does not answer the question. This
- does not help: you will leave the person who submitted the question
- more frustrated or confused than ever. If nobody else answers, and
- you are not too sure either, you can always ask for more
+ <para>Are you sure you understand the question? Very
+ frequently, the person who asks the question is confused or
+ does not express themselves very well. Even with the best
+ understanding of the system, it is easy to send a reply
+ which does not answer the question. This does not help: you
+ will leave the person who submitted the question more
+ frustrated or confused than ever. If nobody else answers,
+ and you are not too sure either, you can always ask for more
information.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Are you sure your answer is correct?
- If not, wait a day or so. If nobody else comes up with a
- better answer, you can still reply and say, for example, <quote>I
- do not know if this is correct, but since nobody else has
- replied, why don't you try replacing your ATAPI CDROM with
- a frog?</quote>.</para>
+ <para>Are you sure your answer is correct? If not, wait a day
+ or so. If nobody else comes up with a better answer, you
+ can still reply and say, for example, <quote>I do not know
+ if this is correct, but since nobody else has replied, why
+ don't you try replacing your ATAPI CDROM with a
+ frog?</quote>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, reply to the
- sender and to FreeBSD-questions. Many people on the
- FreeBSD-questions are <quote>lurkers</quote>: they learn by reading
- messages sent and replied to by others. If you take a message which
- is of general interest off the list, you are depriving these people
- of their information. Be careful with group replies; lots of people
- send messages with hundreds of CCs. If this is the case, be sure to
- trim the Cc: lines appropriately.</para>
+ <para>Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, reply to
+ the sender and to FreeBSD-questions. Many people on the
+ FreeBSD-questions are <quote>lurkers</quote>: they learn by
+ reading messages sent and replied to by others. If you take
+ a message which is of general interest off the list, you are
+ depriving these people of their information. Be careful
+ with group replies; lots of people send messages with
+ hundreds of CCs. If this is the case, be sure to trim the
+ Cc: lines appropriately.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Include relevant text from the original message. Trim it to the
- minimum, but do not overdo it. It should still be possible for
- somebody who did not read the original message to understand what
- you are talking about.</para>
+ <para>Include relevant text from the original message. Trim
+ it to the minimum, but do not overdo it. It should still be
+ possible for somebody who did not read the original message
+ to understand what you are talking about.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Use some technique to identify which text came from the original
- message, and which text you add. I personally find that prepending
- <quote><literal>&gt; </literal></quote> to the original message
- works best. Leaving white space after the
- <quote><literal>&gt; </literal></quote> and leave empty lines
- between your text and the original text both make the result more
- readable.</para>
+ <para>Use some technique to identify which text came from the
+ original message, and which text you add. I personally find
+ that prepending <quote><literal>&gt;&nbsp;</literal></quote>
+ to the original message works best. Leaving white space
+ after the <quote><literal>&gt;&nbsp;;</literal></quote> and
+ leave empty lines between your text and the original text
+ both make the result more readable.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Put your response in the correct place (after the text to which
- it replies). It is very difficult to read a thread of responses
- where each reply comes before the text to which it replies.</para>
+ <para>Put your response in the correct place (after the text
+ to which it replies). It is very difficult to read a thread
+ of responses where each reply comes before the text to which
+ it replies.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Most mailers change the subject line on a reply by prepending a
- text such as <quote>Re: </quote>. If your mailer does not do it
- automatically, you should do it manually.</para>
+ <para>Most mailers change the subject line on a reply by
+ prepending a text such as <quote>Re: </quote>. If your
+ mailer does not do it automatically, you should do it
+ manually.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>If the submitter did not abide by format conventions (lines too
- long, inappropriate subject line), <emphasis>please</emphasis> fix
- it. In the case of an incorrect subject line (such as
- <quote>HELP!!??</quote>), change the subject line to (say)
- <quote>Re: Difficulties with sync PPP (was: HELP!!??)</quote>. That
- way other people trying to follow the thread will have less
+ <para>If the submitter did not abide by format conventions
+ (lines too long, inappropriate subject line)
+ <emphasis>please</emphasis> fix it. In the case of an
+ incorrect subject line (such as <quote>HELP!!??</quote>),
+ change the subject line to (say) <quote>Re: Difficulties
+ with sync PPP (was: HELP!!??)</quote>. That way other
+ people trying to follow the thread will have less
difficulty following it.</para>
- <para>In such cases, it is appropriate to say what you did and why you
- did it, but try not to be rude. If you find you can not answer
- without being rude, do not answer.</para>
+ <para>In such cases, it is appropriate to say what you did and
+ why you did it, but try not to be rude. If you find you can
+ not answer without being rude, do not answer.</para>
- <para>If you just want to reply to a message because of its bad
- format, just reply to the submitter, not to the list. You can just
- send him this message in reply, if you like.</para>
+ <para>If you just want to reply to a message because of its
+ bad format, just reply to the submitter, not to the list.
+ You can just send him this message in reply, if you
+ like.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</sect1>