If users post a bug or problem issue to an R-based news group (R-devel, R-help, BioC - though BioC is far more forgiving) they get yelled at for not reading the posting guide and FAQ.
"Please *_do_* read the FAQ, the posting guide, ..." the yellers do say. So I read the BioC FAQ and it says... http://www.bioconductor.org/docs/faq/ "Bug reports on packages should perhaps be sent to the package maintainer rather than to r-bugs." So I send email to a maintainer, who I believe rightly points out "best to send this kind of questions to the bioc mailing list, rather than to myself privately, because other people might (a) also have answers or (b) benefit from the questions & answers." Could the FAQ possibly be revised to some sensible combination that generates less finger pointing, such as "Bug reports on packages should be sent to the Bioconductor mailing list, and sent or copied to the package maintainer, rather than to r-bugs." or "Bug reports on packages should be sent to the package maintainer, and copied to the Bioconductor mailing list, rather than to r-bugs." Could the posting guides to R-help and R-devel do something similar? Sign me <Tired of all the finger pointing> http://www.r-project.org/posting-guide.html "If the question relates to a contributed package , e.g., one downloaded from CRAN, try contacting the package maintainer first. You can also use find("functionname") and packageDescription("packagename") to find this information. Only send such questions to R-help or R-devel if you get no reply or need further assistance. This applies to both requests for help and to bug reports." How about If the question relates to a contributed package , e.g., one downloaded from CRAN, email the list and be sure to additionally send to or copy to the package maintainer as well. You can use find("functionname") and packageDescription("packagename") to find this information. Only send such questions to one of R-help or R-devel. This applies to both requests for help and to bug reports. ______________________________________________ R-devel@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel