-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 September 21, 2003 01:37 am, Anne Wilson wrote: > On Sunday 21 Sep 2003 4:25 am, Michael Adams wrote: > > On Sat, 20 Sep 2003 15:36:47 -0700 > > > > James Sparenberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > On Sat, 2003-09-20 at 13:32, Eric Huff wrote: > > > > http://mandrake.vmlinuz.ca/bin/view/Main/MandrakeMailingListEti > > > >quette > > > > > > > > > Would a link to one of the many copies of RFC 1855 such as > > > > > this one be relevant here? It could be quoted as a more > > > > > thorough authority. > > > > > > > > > > HTML > > > > > http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/rfc1855.html#3 > > > > > > > > > > Plain Text > > > > > http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc1855.html > > > > > > > > Yeah, good idea. > > > > > > Not to be a spoil sport but isn't this a bit much? 6 or 7 points > > > and requests from my peers is sufficient to guide me. An RFC is > > > a magnet for all kinds of List Nazi action, debates on > > > interpretation etc. Besides this RFC is after all a Request for > > > Comment, not a law. My comment since it was requested is, the > > > document is pompous in it's pretensions and a lot more than is > > > needed in this environment. Let's not go overboard with this. > > > > > > james > > > > That's just the point. Rules get broken, but a mailing lists run > > smoother when they are adhered to. I reckon that if people are made > > aware of this, and then are given the opportunity to choose on a > > list by list basis how much it applies. I remember taking some > > really hard hits when i went for advice on IRC, before finding > > newbie. They didn't follow the RFC either, they just wouldn't > > listen to anything from newbies, hell just lurking to see what > > conversation there was could get you kicked. > > > > I found a really good history of RFC's one day while i was looking > > for ARPANET history. Sidetracked me for about 3 hours while i was > > absorbed in the whole thing. They came about from an excess of > > politeness where people were highly reluctant to step on the toes > > of others. > > I'm in two minds. Personally I prefer the informal, but there are > those who only defer to authority. I don't mind either way. Give it > today to get some opinions, then I'll go with the majority. > > Anne
Hi all; This is something that I add to all systems that I help new converts with. Along with subscription instructions to the appropriate mailing list and links to a few basic help sites. It seems to work and hasn't seemed to offend anyone, yet. <g> If any of it's useful feel free etc., I always found requests from someone 'known' to be much preferable to RFC documents. The entire text of the file I park on the persons desktop (bar most of the links) is posted below. C. To all new "refugees" from Windows: Your new "List Mates" would prefer that you; should you desire to receive help from any of the _volunteers_ on this, or any other MandrakeSoft sponsored mail list, follow a few simple rules: 1a.) Post in plain text only, no HTML, and *never* set a "Reply To:" in your e-mail client. The reasons for this have been discussed on these lists and elsewhere ad nauseum. Since that is the case here's a link to a very good archive of all the messages ever posted here: http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=mandrake-expert&r=1&w=2 Please use it whenever possible since your question may have been previously answered. 1b.) Please don't be a hi-jacker. That is what happens when one clicks reply on any message to the list and changes the subject line then posts a question. Since the list server "threads" the message by ID numbers you will be posting the "new question" into an active thread. Instead post a new message to the mailing list with your question(s). You'll have a better possibility of a helpful response. Think courtesy; you probably *do* want to be courteous to people that are volunteering to _help you_ after all. 2.) Identify any hardware relevant to the problem, and what if any, error messages you have seen; verbatim if possible; 3.) Identify the application you're trying to use when you try to access the file you want to open/play/edit, and how you launched that app; 4.) Report the result of any of the suggestions you've tried with (again) any error messages, any warnings or anything that seems "strange" to you. I know that strange is subjective but believe it or not "I heard a strange whining sound from the speakers" corrected a long-standing no sound glitch for me back in Mandrake 7.1. "It didn't work" or "The mp3 would not play" isn't entirely helpful in diagnosing a problem. Details, details, and more details. 5.) _*Answer the questions you're asked!*_ I've seen quite a few posts recently asking the exact same question repeatedly without an appropriate response when anyone has tried asking for information so that they *could* help. That won't work. If you don't know how to answer the questions ask the list members that, someone will usually get you going. 6.) Forget anything you may have been accustomed to in Windows. In Windows if you clicked on an MP3 file for example, "the player" would have been the Windows Media Player by default unless you forced a different file association. Did you know how to that when you first used Windows? I thought not. <g> This is GNU/Linux; you'll have to tell the system not only what you want done, but in many instances *how.* The basics: Do you have any understanding yet how many different media players, office applications, editors, etc.; all capable of playing multiple sound file types, opening and manipulating text and document files, you actually got when you installed Mandrake Linux? Go back through the threads of any messages you've already initiated and start reading and responding to the responders questions. Those questions are intended to help you, not belittle you or anyone else. Give the information requested by a responder and any other information that you may think relevant to the situation. You'll have things working as you want them a lot faster that way. Above all don't expect point and click solutions and you'll be pleasantly surprised when it does occasionally happen. Good luck to you. Charlie - -- Edmonton,AB,Canada User 244963 at http://counter.li.org Cooker on kernel 2.4.22-10mdk 10:35:10 up 23:54, 2 users, load average: 0.00, 0.06, 0.15 "They know your name, address, telephone number, credit card numbers, who ELSE is driving the car "for insurance", ... your driver's license number. In the state of Massachusetts, this is the same number as that used for Social Security, unless you object to such use. In THAT case, you are ASSIGNED a number and you reside forever more on the list of "weird people who don't give out their Social Security Number in Massachusetts." - -- Arthur Miller -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQE/bdZzG11CaRuZZSIRAm3FAKCydUmR7qzDKlClad/YoGmDsbjuqACghBzb qnDbrItrC7a9ivWOI9Io76s= =3yg6 -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
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