diff --git a/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/Makefile b/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/Makefile index ffaf14cdaf..95a40d704b 100644 --- a/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/Makefile +++ b/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/Makefile @@ -1,45 +1,46 @@ # $FreeBSD$ SUBDIR = SUBDIR+= 5-roadmap SUBDIR+= checkpoint SUBDIR+= committers-guide SUBDIR+= console-server SUBDIR+= contributing SUBDIR+= contributors SUBDIR+= cvs-freebsd SUBDIR+= cvsup-advanced SUBDIR+= dialup-firewall SUBDIR+= diskless-x SUBDIR+= euro SUBDIR+= explaining-bsd SUBDIR+= fbsd-from-scratch SUBDIR+= filtering-bridges SUBDIR+= fonts SUBDIR+= formatting-media SUBDIR+= freebsd-questions SUBDIR+= hats SUBDIR+= hubs SUBDIR+= ipsec-must SUBDIR+= java-tomcat SUBDIR+= laptop +SUBDIR+= mailing-list-faq SUBDIR+= mh SUBDIR+= multi-os SUBDIR+= new-users SUBDIR+= pam SUBDIR+= pr-guidelines SUBDIR+= problem-reports SUBDIR+= pxe SUBDIR+= releng SUBDIR+= releng-packages SUBDIR+= serial-uart SUBDIR+= solid-state SUBDIR+= storage-devices SUBDIR+= vinum SUBDIR+= vm-design SUBDIR+= zip-drive # ROOT_SYMLINKS+= new-users DOC_PREFIX?= ${.CURDIR}/../.. .include "${DOC_PREFIX}/share/mk/doc.project.mk" diff --git a/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/mailing-list-faq/article.sgml b/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/mailing-list-faq/article.sgml new file mode 100644 index 0000000000..f57b2719ee --- /dev/null +++ b/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/mailing-list-faq/article.sgml @@ -0,0 +1,557 @@ + + + + +%man; + + +%freebsd; + + +%authors; + + +%teams; + + +%mailing-lists; + + +%trademarks; + + +%urls; +]> + +
+ + Frequently Asked Questions About The &os; Mailing Lists + + + + The &os; Documentation Project + + + + $FreeBSD$ + + + 2004 + The &os; Documentation Project + + + + This is the FAQ for the &os; mailing lists. If you are + interested in helping with this project, send email to the &a.doc;. + The latest version of this document is always available from the + &os; + World Wide Web server. It may also be downloaded as + one large HTML file with HTTP + or as plain text, PostScript, PDF, etc. from the &os; FTP + server. You may also want to Search the + FAQ. + + + + + Introduction + + As is usual with FAQs, this document aims to cover the + most frequently asked questions concerning the &os; mailing + lists (and of course answer them!). Although originally intended + to reduce bandwidth and avoid the same old questions being asked + over and over again, FAQs have become recognized as valuable + information resources. + + This document attempts to represent a community consensus, and + as such it can never really be authoritative. + However, if you find technical errors within this document, or + have suggestions about items that should be added, plase either + submit a PR, or email the &a.doc;. Thanks. + + + + + What is the purpose of the &os; mailing lists? + + + + The &os; mailing lists serve as the primary + communication channels for the &os; community, covering many + different topic areas and communities of interest. + + + + + + Who is the audience for the &os; mailing lists? + + + + This depends on charter of each individual list. Some + lists are more oriented to developers; some are more oriented + towards the &os; community as a whole. Please see this list + for the current summary. + + + + + + Are the &os; mailing lists open for anyone to participate? + + + + Again, this depends on charter of each individual list. + Please read the charter of a mailing list before you post to it, + and respect it when you post. This will help everyone to have + a better experience with the lists. + + If after reading the above lists, you still do not know + which mailing list to post a question to, you will probably + want to post to freebsd-questions (but see below, first). + + Also note that the mailing lists have traditionally + been open to postings from non-subscribers. This has + been a deliberate choice, to help make joining the &os; + community an easier process, and to encourage open sharing + of ideas. However, due to past abuse by some individuals, + certain lists now have a policy where postings from + non-subscribers must be manually screened to ensure that + they are appropriate. + + + + + + How can I subscribe? + + + + You can use + the Mailman web interface to subscribe to any + of the public lists. + + + + + + How can I unsubscribe? + + + + You can use the same interface as above; or, + you can follow the instructions that are at the + bottom of every mailing list message that is sent. + + Please do not send unsubscribe messages directly + to the public lists themselves. First, this will not + accomplish your goal, and second, it will irritate the + existing subscribers, and you will probably get flamed. + This is a classical mistake when using mailing lists; + please try to avoid it. + + + + + + Are archives available? + + + + Yes. Threaded archives are available + here. + + + + + + Are mailing lists available in a digest format? + + + + Yes. See + the Mailman web interface. + + + + + + + Mailing List Etiquette + + Participation in the mailing lists, like participation + in any community, requires a common basis for communication. + Please make only appropriate postings, and follow common + rules of etiquette. + + + + + What should I do before I post? + + + + You have already taken the most important step by + reading this document. However, if you are new to &os;, + you may first need to familiarize yourself with the + software, and all the social history around it, by + reading the numerous + books + and + articles + that are available. Items of particular interest + include the + &os; Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, + the + &os; Handbook, + and the articles + How to get best results from the FreeBSD-questions mailing list, + + Explaining BSD, + and + &os; First Steps. + + It is always considered bad form to ask a question that is + already answered in the above documents. This is not because + the volunteers who work on this project are particularly mean + people, but after a certain number of times answering the same + questions over and over again, frustration begins to set in. + This is particularly true if there is an existing answer to the + question that is already available. Always keep in mind that + almost all of the work done on &os; is done by volunteers, + and that we are only human. + + + + + + + What constitutes an inappropriate posting? + + + + + + Postings must be in accordance with the charter + of the mailing list. + + + + Personal attacks are discouraged. As good + net.citizens, we should try to hold ourselves to high + standards of behavior. + + + + Spam is not allowed, ever. The mailing lists are + actively processed to ban offenders to this rule. + + + + + + + + What is considered proper etiquette when posting + to the mailing lists? + + + + + + Please wrap lines at 75 characters, since not + everyone uses fancy GUI mail reading programs. + + + + Please respect that fact that bandwidth is not + infinite. Not everyone reads email through high-speed + connections, so if your posting involves something like + the content of config.log or an + extensive stack trace, please consider putting that + information up on a website somewhere and just provide + a URL to it. Remember, too, that these postings will + be archived indefinitely, so huge postings will simply + inflate the size of the archives long after their + purpose has expired. + + + + Format your message so that it is legible, and + PLEASE DO NOT SHOUT!!!!!. Do not underestimate the + effect that a poorly formatted mail message has, and not + just on the &os; mailing lists. Your mail message is + all that people see of you, and if it is poorly formatted, + badly spelled, full of errors, and/or has lots of exclamation + points, it will give people a poor impression of you. + + + + Please use an appropriate human language for a + particular mailing list. Many non-English mailing + lists are + + available. + + For the ones that are not, we do appreciate that many + people do not speak English as their first language, + and we try to make allowances for that. It is considered + particularly poor form to criticize non-native speakers + for spelling or grammatical errors. &os; has an + excellent track record in this regard; please, help us + to uphold that tradition. + + + + Please use a standards-compliant Mail User Agent (MUA). + A lot of badly formatted messages come from + bad mailers + or badly configured mailers. The following mailers + are known to send out badly formatted messages without you + finding out about them: + + + + cc:Mail + + + + &eudora; (older versions) + + + + exmh + + + + µsoft; Exchange + + + + µsoft; Internet Mail + + + + µsoft; &outlook; + + + + &netscape; (older versions) + + + + As you can see, the mailers in the Microsoft world + are frequent offenders. If at all possible, use a &unix; + mailer. If you must use a mailer under Microsoft + environments, make sure it is set up correctly. Try not + to use MIME: a lot of people use mailers + which do not get on very well with + MIME. + + + + 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 on these mailing lists + 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 that they missed it and not bother to look. + + + + 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 + /var/log/messages. Do not try to copy + this information by typing it in again; not only it is a + real pain, but 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 dmesg, redirect the output to a + file and include that. For example, + + &prompt.user; dmesg > /tmp/dmesg.out + + This redirects the information to the file + /tmp/dmesg.out. + + + + When using cut-and-paste, please be aware that some + such operations badly mangle their messages. This is of + particular concern when posting contents of + Makefiles, where tab + is a significant character. This is a very common, + and very annoying, problem with submissions to the + + GNATS Problem Reports database. + Makefiles with tabs changed to either + spaces, or the annoying =3B escape + sequence, create a great deal of aggravation for + committers. + + + + + + + + What are the special etiquette consideration when replying + to an existing posting on the mailing lists? + + + + + + Please 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. + + This is especially important for postings of the type + "yes, I see this too", where the initial posting was dozens + or hundreds of lines. + + + + Use some technique to identify which text came from + the original message, and which text you add. A common + convention is to prepend + > to the original + message. Leaving white space after the + > and leaving empty + lines between your text and the original text both make + the result more readable. + + + + Please ensure that the attributions of the text + you are quoting is correct. People can become offended + if you attribute words to them that they themselves did + not write. + + + + Please do not top post. By this, we + mean that if you are replying to a message, please put your + replies after the text that you copy in your reply. + + + + A: Because it reverses the logical flow of + conversation. + + + Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? + + + (Thanks to Randy Bush for the joke.) + + + + + + + + + Recurring Topics On The Mailing Lists + + Participation in the mailing lists, like participation + in any community, requires a common basis for communication. + Many of the mailing lists presuppose a knowledge of the + Project's history. In particular, there are certain topics + that seem to regularly occur to newcomers to the community. + It is the responsibility of each poster to ensure that + their postings do not fall into one of these categories. + By doing so, you will help the mailing lists to stay on-topic, + and probably save yourself being flamed in the process. + + The best method to avoid this is to familiarize yourself + with the + mailing list archives, + to help yourself understand the background of + what has gone before. In this, the + mailing list search interface + is invaluable. (If that method does not yield useful results, + please supplement it with a search with your favorite major + search engine). + + By familiarizing yourself with the archives, not only will + you learn what topics have been discussed before, but also how + discussion tends to proceed on that list, who the participants + are, and who the target audience is. These are always good things + to know before you post to any mailing list, not just a &os; + mailing list. + + There is no doubt that the archives are quite extensive, and + some questions recur more often than others, sometimes as followups + where the subject line no longer accurately reflects the new content. + Nevertheless, the burden is on you, the poster, to do your homework + to help avoid these recurring topics, and especially the dreaded + bikesheds. + + + + What Is A "Bikeshed"? + Literally, a bikeshed is a small outdoor + shelter into which one may store one's two-wheeled form of + transportation. However, in &os; parlance, the word is a + derogatory term that refers to any oft-recurring discussion + about a particular subject; in particular, it is most often used + to refer to a topic which has never reached a consensus within + the &os; community, and instead remains controversial. (The + genesis of this term is explained in more detail + in this document). You simply must have a working + knowledge of this concept before posting to any &os; mailing + list. + + More generally, a bikeshed is a topic that will tend to + generate immediate meta-discussions and flames if you have + not read up on their past history. + + Please help us to keep the mailing lists as useful for as + many people as possible by avoiding bikesheds whenever you can. + Thanks. + + + + Acknowledgments + + + + &a.grog; + + Original author of most of the material on mailing + list etiquette, taken from the article on + How to get best results from the FreeBSD-questions mailing list. + + + + + &a.linimon; + + Creation of the rough draft of this FAQ. + + + + + +