479 lines
9.4 KiB
HTML
479 lines
9.4 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
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<HTML
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><HEAD
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><TITLE
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>How To Get Further Assistance</TITLE
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><META
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NAME="GENERATOR"
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CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.7"><LINK
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TITLE="The Linux FAQ"
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TITLE="Online Resources"
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HREF="online-resources.html"><LINK
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TITLE="GNU Free Documentation License"
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><TR
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><TH
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COLSPAN="3"
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ALIGN="center"
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>The Linux FAQ</TH
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></TR
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><TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="10%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="bottom"
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><A
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HREF="online-resources.html"
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ACCESSKEY="P"
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>Prev</A
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WIDTH="80%"
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>Next</A
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><HR
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ALIGN="LEFT"
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WIDTH="100%"></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect1"
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><H1
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CLASS="sect1"
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><A
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NAME="further-assistance"
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></A
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>19. How To Get Further Assistance</H1
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect2"
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><H2
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CLASS="sect2"
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><A
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NAME="still-havent-answered"
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></A
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>19.1. If this Document Still Hasn't Answered Your Question....</H2
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><P
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>Please read all of this answer before posting. I know it's a bit long,
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but you may be about to make a fool of yourself in front of 50,000
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people and waste hundreds of hours of their time. Don't you think it's
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worth spending some of your time to read and follow these
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instructions?
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</P
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><P
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>If you think an answer is incomplete or inaccurate, please e-mail
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David Merrill. See <A
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HREF="intro.html#feedback"
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><I
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>Asking Questions and Sending Comments</I
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></A
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>.
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</P
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><P
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>Read the appropriate Linux Documentation Project books.
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Refer to <A
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HREF="online-resources.html#howtos-and-other-documentation"
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><I
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>Where Is the Documentation?</I
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></A
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>.
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</P
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><P
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>If you're a Unix or Linux newbie, read the FAQ for
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<A
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HREF="news:comp.unix.questions"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>news:comp.unix.questions</I
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></A
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>,
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<A
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HREF="news:news.announces.newusers"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>news:news.announces.newusers</I
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></A
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>, and those for any of
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the other <A
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HREF="news:comp.unix"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>news:comp.unix</I
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></A
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> groups
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that may be relevant.
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</P
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><P
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>Linux has so much in common with commercial unices, that almost
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everything you read there will apply to Linux. The FAQ's, like all
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FAQ's, be found on <A
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HREF="ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/</I
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></A
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> (the
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<A
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HREF="mailto:mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu</I
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></A
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> can send
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you these files, if you don't have FTP access). There are mirrors of
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<TT
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CLASS="literal"
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>rtfm</TT
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>'s FAQ archives on various sites. Check the
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Introduction to *.answers posting, or look in
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<TT
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CLASS="filename"
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>news-answers/introduction</TT
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> in the directory above.
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</P
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><P
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>Check the relevant HOWTO for the subject in question, if there is one,
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or an appropriate old style sub-FAQ document. Check the FTP sites.
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</P
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><P
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>Try experimenting - that's the best way to get to know Unix and Linux.
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</P
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><P
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>Read the documentation. Check the manual pages (type <TT
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CLASS="literal"
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>man man</TT
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> if
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you don't know about manual pages. Also try
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<TT
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CLASS="literal"
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>man -k subject</TT
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> and <TT
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CLASS="literal"
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>apropos subject</TT
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>. They
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often list useful and relevant, but not very obvious, manual pages.
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</P
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><P
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>Check the Info documentation (type
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<B
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CLASS="keycap"
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>F1</B
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>-<B
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CLASS="keycap"
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>i</B
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>,
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i.e. the <B
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CLASS="keycap"
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>F1</B
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> function key followed by "i"
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in Emacs). This isn't just for Emacs. For example, the GCC
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documentation lives here as well.
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</P
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><P
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>There will also often be a <TT
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CLASS="filename"
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>README</TT
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> file with a package that gives
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installation and/or usage instructions.
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</P
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><P
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>Make sure you don't have a corrupted or out-of-date copy of the
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program in question. If possible, download it again and re-install
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ityou probably made a mistake the first time.
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</P
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><P
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>Read <A
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HREF="news:comp.os.linux.announce"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>news:comp.os.linux.announce</I
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></A
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>. It often
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contains very important information for all Linux users.
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</P
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><P
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>General X Window System questions belong in
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<A
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HREF="news:comp.windows.x.i386unix"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>news:comp.windows.x.i386unix</I
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></A
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>,
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not in <A
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HREF="news:comp.os.linux.x"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>news:comp.os.linux.x</I
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></A
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>.
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But read the group first (including the FAQ),
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before you post.
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</P
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><P
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>Only if you have done all of these things and are still stuck, should
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you post to the appropriate <A
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HREF="news:comp.os.linux"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>news:comp.os.linux</I
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></A
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>
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newsgroup. Make sure you
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read the next question first. "( What to put in a request for
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help. )"
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</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect2"
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><H2
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CLASS="sect2"
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><A
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NAME="what-in-request-help"
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></A
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>19.2. What to Put in a Request for Help</H2
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><P
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>Please read the following advice carefully about how to write your
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posting or E-mail. Making a complete posting will greatly increase the
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chances that an expert or fellow user reading it will have enough
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information and motivation to reply.
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</P
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><P
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>This advice applies both to postings asking for advice and to personal
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E-mail sent to experts and fellow users.
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</P
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><P
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>Make sure you give full details of the problem, including:
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</P
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><P
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></P
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><UL
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><LI
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><P
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>What program, exactly, you are having problems with. Include the
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version number if known and say where you got it. Many standard
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commands tell you their version number if you give them a
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<TT
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CLASS="literal"
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>--version</TT
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> option.
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</P
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></LI
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><LI
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><P
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>Which Linux release you're using (Red Hat, Slackware, Debian, or
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whatever) and what version of that release.
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</P
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></LI
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><LI
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><P
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>The exact and complete text of any error messages printed.
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</P
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></LI
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><LI
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><P
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>Exactly what behavior you expected, and exactly what behavior you
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observed. A transcript of an example session is a good way to show
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this.
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</P
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></LI
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><LI
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><P
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>The contents of any configuration files used by the program in
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question and any related programs.
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</P
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></LI
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><LI
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><P
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>What version of the kernel and shared libraries you have
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installed. The kernel version can be found by typing
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<TT
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CLASS="literal"
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>uname -a</TT
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>, and
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the shared library version by typing
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<TT
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CLASS="literal"
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>ls -l /lib/libc*</TT
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>.
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</P
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></LI
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><LI
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><P
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>Details of what hardware you're running on, if it seems
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appropriate.
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</P
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></LI
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></UL
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><P
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>You are in little danger of making your posting too long unless you
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include large chunks of source code or uuencoded files, so err on the
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side of giving too much information.
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</P
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><P
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>Use a clear, detailed Subject line. Don't put things like "doesn't
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work", "Linux", "help", or "question" in it — we already know that.
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Save the space for the name of the program, a fragment of an error
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message, or summary of the unusual behavior.
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</P
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><P
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>Put a summary paragraph at the top of your posting.
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</P
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><P
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>At the bottom of your posting, ask for responses by email and say
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you'll post a summary. Back this up by using
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<TT
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CLASS="literal"
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>Followup-To: poster</TT
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>.
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Then, actually post the summary in a few days or a week or so. Don't
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just concatenate the replies you received, summarize them. Putting the word
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"SUMMARY" in your summary's Subject line is also a good idea. Consider
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submitting the summary to <A
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HREF="news:comp.os.linux.announce"
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TARGET="_top"
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><I
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CLASS="citetitle"
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>news:comp.os.linux.announce</I
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></A
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>.
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</P
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><P
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>Make sure your posting doesn't have an inappropriate References:
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header line. This marks your article as part of the thread of the
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article referred to, which will often cause it to be junked by
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readers, along with the rest of a boring thread.
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</P
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><P
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>You might like to say in your posting that you've read this FAQ and
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the appropriate HOWTO'sthis may make people less likely to skip your
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posting.
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</P
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><P
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>Remember that you should not post E-mail sent to you personally without
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the sender's permission.
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</P
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="sect2"
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><H2
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CLASS="sect2"
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><A
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NAME="mail-someone-about-problem"
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></A
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>19.3. How To Email Someone about Your Problem</H2
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><P
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>Try to find the author or developer of whatever program or component
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is causing you difficulty. If you have a contact point for your Linux
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distribution, you should use it.
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</P
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><P
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>Please put everything in your E-mail message that you would put in a
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posting asking for help.
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</P
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><P
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>Finally, remember that, despite the fact that most of the Linux
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community are very helpful and responsive to E-mailed questions,
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you're likely asking for help from unpaid volunteers, so you have no
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right to expect an answer.
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</P
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></DIV
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></DIV
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><DIV
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CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
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SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="top"
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HREF="online-resources.html"
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ACCESSKEY="P"
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>Prev</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="34%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="index.html"
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ACCESSKEY="H"
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>Home</A
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></TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="top"
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><A
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HREF="fdl.html"
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ACCESSKEY="N"
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>Next</A
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></TD
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></TR
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><TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="left"
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VALIGN="top"
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>Online Resources</TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="34%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="top"
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> </TD
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WIDTH="33%"
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="top"
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>GNU Free Documentation License</TD
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