319 lines
7.9 KiB
HTML
319 lines
7.9 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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>Newsgroups and Mailing Lists</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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REL="HOME"
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TITLE="Linux System Administrators Guide"
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HREF="index.html"><LINK
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REL="UP"
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TITLE="Finding Help"
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HREF="finding-help.html"><LINK
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REL="PREVIOUS"
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TITLE="Finding Help"
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HREF="finding-help.html"><LINK
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REL="NEXT"
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TITLE="IRC"
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HREF="irc.html"></HEAD
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><BODY
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CLASS="SECT1"
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BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
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TEXT="#000000"
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LINK="#0000FF"
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VLINK="#840084"
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ALINK="#0000FF"
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><DIV
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CLASS="NAVHEADER"
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><TABLE
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SUMMARY="Header navigation table"
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WIDTH="100%"
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BORDER="0"
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CELLPADDING="0"
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CELLSPACING="0"
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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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>Linux System Administrators Guide: </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="finding-help.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="80%"
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ALIGN="center"
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VALIGN="bottom"
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>Chapter 18. Finding Help</TD
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><TD
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WIDTH="10%"
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ALIGN="right"
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VALIGN="bottom"
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><A
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HREF="irc.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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></TABLE
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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="NEWSGROUPS-MAILLING-LISTS"
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></A
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>18.1. Newsgroups and Mailing Lists</H1
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><P
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> This guide cannot teach you everything about Linux. There
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just isn't enough space. It is almost inevitable that at some point
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you will find something you need to do, that isn't covered in
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this (or any other) document at the LDP.
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</P
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><P
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> One of the nicest things about Linux is the large number of forums
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devoted to it. There are forums relating to almost all facets of
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Linux ranging from newbie FAQs to in depth kernel development issues.
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To receive the most from them, there are a few things you can do.
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</P
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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="RIGHT-FORUM"
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></A
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>18.1.1. Finding The Right Forum</H2
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><P
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> The first thing to do is to find an appropriate forum. There are many
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newsgroups and mailing lists devoted to Linux, so try to find and use
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the one which most closely matches your question. For example, there
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isn't much point in you asking a question about sendmail in a forum
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devoted to Linux kernel development. At best the people there will
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think you are stupid and you will get few responses, at worst you may
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receive lots of highly insulting replies (flames). A quick look
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through the newsgroups available finds comp.mail.sendmail, which
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looks like an appropriate place to ask a sendmail question. Your news
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client probably has a list of the newsgroups available to you, but if
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not then a full list of newsgroups is available at <A
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HREF="http://groups.google.com/groups?group=*"
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TARGET="_top"
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> http://groups.google.com/groups?group=*</A
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>.
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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="BEFORE-YOU-POST"
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></A
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>18.1.2. Before You Post</H2
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><P
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> Now that you have found your appropriate forum, you may think you are
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ready to post your question. Stop. You aren't ready yet. Have you already
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looked for the answer yourself? There are a huge number of HOWTOs and
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FAQs available, if any of them relate to the thing you are having a
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problem with then <EM
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>read them first</EM
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>. Even if they
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don't contain the answer to your problem, what they will do is give you a
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better understanding of the subject area, and that understanding will
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allow you to ask a more informed and sensible question. There are also archives
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of newsgroups and mailing lists and it is entirely possible that your
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question has been asked and answered previously. <A
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HREF="http://www.google.com"
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TARGET="_top"
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>http://www.google.com</A
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> or a similar
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search engine should be something you try <EM
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>before</EM
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>
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posting a question.
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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="WRITING-YOUR-POST"
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></A
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>18.1.3. Writing Your Post</H2
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><P
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>Okay, you have found your appropriate forum, you have read the
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relevant HOWTOs and FAQs, you have searched the web, but you still
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have not found the answer you need. Now you can start writing your post.
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It is always a good idea to make it clear that you already have read
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up on the subject by saying something like ``I have read the
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Winmodem-HOWTO and the PPP FAQ, but neither contained what I was looking for,
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searching for `Winmodem Linux PPP Setup' on google didn't return
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anything of use either''. This shows you to be someone who is willing to make
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an effort rather than a lazy idiot who requires spoonfeeding. The former
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is likely to receive help if anyone knows the answer, the latter
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is likely to meet with either stony silence or outright
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derision.</P
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><P
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>Write in clear, grammatical and correctly spelt English. This
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is incredibly important. It marks you as a precise and considered
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thinker. There are no such words as ``u'' or ``b4.'' Try to make yourself look
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like an educated and intelligent person rather than an idiot. It will
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help. I promise.</P
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><P
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>Similarly do not type in all capitals LIKE THIS. That is
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considered shouting and looks very rude.</P
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><P
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>Provide clear details stating what the problem is and what you
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have already tried to do to fix it. A question like ``My linux has stopped
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working, what can I do?'' is totally useless. Where has it stopped
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working? In what way has it stopped working? You need to be as
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precise as possible. There are limits however. Try not to include irrelevant
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information either. If you are having problems with your mail client
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it is unlikely that a dump of your kernel boot log
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(<B
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CLASS="COMMAND"
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>dmesg</B
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>) would be of help.</P
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><P
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>
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</P
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><P
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>Don't ask for replies by private email. The point of most Linux
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forums is that everybody can learn something from each other. Asking
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for private replies simply removes value from the newsgroup or mailing
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list.</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="FORMATTING-YOUR-POST"
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></A
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>18.1.4. Formatting Your Post</H2
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><P
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> Do not post in HTML. Many Linux users have mail clients which
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can't easily read HTML email. Whilst with some effort, they
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<EM
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>can</EM
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> read HTML email, they usually don't. If you
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send them HTML mail it often gets deleted unread. Send plain text
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emails, they will reach a wider audience that way.</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="FOLLOW-UP"
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></A
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>18.1.5. Follow Up</H2
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><P
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>After your problem has been solved, post a short followup
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explaining what the problem was and how you solved it. People will
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appreciate this as it not only gives a sense of closure about the
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problem but also helps the next time someone has a similar question. When they
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look at the archives of the newsgroup or mailing list, they will see
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you had the same problem, the discussion that followed your question and
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your final solution.</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="GETTING-HELP-MORE-INFO"
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></A
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>18.1.6. More Information</H2
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><P
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>This short guide is simply a paraphrase
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and summary of the excellent (and more detailed) document ``How To
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Ask Questions The Smart Way'' by Eric S Raymond. <A
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HREF="http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"
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TARGET="_top"
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> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html</A
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>. It is
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recommend that you read it before you post anything. It will help
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you formulate your question to maximize your
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chances of getting the answer you are looking for.</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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><HR
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ALIGN="LEFT"
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WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
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SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
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WIDTH="100%"
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BORDER="0"
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CELLPADDING="0"
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CELLSPACING="0"
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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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><A
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HREF="finding-help.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="irc.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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><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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>Finding Help</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="finding-help.html"
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ACCESSKEY="U"
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>Up</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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>IRC</TD
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></TR
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></TABLE
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></DIV
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></BODY
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></HTML
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> |