[cobalt-users] MetaFaq

[Thom LaCosta <baltimoremd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The Cobalt Users Mailing List meta-FAQ, Version 0.21
====================================================

Not so much an FAQ but a guide to how to get your FAQs and IAQs
answered.

0.  Do not be afraid to ask questions.  There are helpful people here.
Nobody was born with this knowledge - and we are all still learning.

1.  There's ways of annoying those helpful people, and there's ways of
getting the most from them.  This is what this guide is primarily about.

2.  If you can, read the list for a while (days, weeks, months even)
before posting to it.  This will give you a feel for it.

3.  The chances are that you are not the first person to have asked your
question.  In the case of Cobalt's products, the answers are archived in
the Knowledge Base and in the mailing list archives.  To check those
resources go to http://list.cobalt.com/mailman/listinfo/cobalt-users,
and learn to search the Web for answers on non-Cobalt specific
questions.
http://www.mail-archive.com/index.php3?hunt=cobalt is an alternative.

3.1 But remember that not everything you read is correct!  Read all the
way through an archived thread before doing anything.

3.2 When you post, consider indicating that you have tried these
avenues, particularly if you are new to the list: people are much more
willing to help those who try to help themselves first.

3.3 Invest in some books; and don't expect the list to do your job for
you.

4.  When you post, observe some "rules".

4.1. Give a meaningful subject, including the precise product.  E.g.
"[RaQ 3] Strange error in web log".  In the body of your post, include
enough information that people will understand your problem and be able
to help.  But don't include 500 lines of logfile of which only one is
relevant.

4.2. If it's a fresh subject, then make a fresh post, don't "reply" to
an existing message.  Even if you change the subject line, for many
people your post will be threaded under the original thread.  (Which
they may have chosen to disregard in the meantime.  You *do* want
people to read and respond, don't you?)

4.3. Do not post in HTML (sometimes called Rich Text).  This really
winds some people up.  There are many reasons, not least of which is
that for people subscribed to the list digest, it appears as raw HTML,
and in other words is practically unreadable.  If people can't read it,
they certainly won't reply to it.

4.4. Do not top-post.  That is to say, when replying to a post, give
context to your post in the form of just enough quoted material, and
put your responses *after* the quoted material.  Put a space between
the quoted material and your response, and again before the next section
of quoted material.

4.4.1 Again, consider the effect top-posting has on the digest form
of the list, and consider how when you were searching the archives
(as you were, remember?) the most useful replies were the ones that
came *after* the question.  Further argument about this point can be
referred to RFC 1855 and just about every guide to newsgroup and
mailing list etiquette ever written.
It is not a "personal preference".  It is a standard.

4.5. Keep your line lengths short, less than 80 characters.  Otherwise,
many people will see your post with some badly-mangled formatting,
and be less inclined to read it.

4.6. Read your post through before sending, and check for spelling,
grammar, and layout.  The easier it is to read, the more likely people
are to respond. Check you've given enough information to give
people a clue.

4.7. Don't criticise someone else's spelling and grammar.  In fact, in
general, do not flame.  If you wouldn't make the same comment
face-to-face with someone twice your size, don't say it.

4.8. Keep your signature short - four lines is reckoned to be plenty.
Use the correct sig separator: "-- " on a line by itself.  Some mail
software will then be able to strip it automatically.

4.9  Do not repost your question before a number of days (a week maybe?)
have elapsed.  If you do not receive a prompt reply, it's probably
because your post was not well written in the first place, the question
has been answered several times already (check the archives), the gurus
of the list are behind on reading posts, or there's nobody on the list
that can answer your question.  If you wish to repost your question
after said amount of time, be sure to include any additional information
you may have gathered since your last post which would help someone
respond.  Reposting your question multiple times within a short time
period (i.e.: daily) will likely ensure you are /dev/null'd
(redirected to the bit bucket, however you wish to phrase it).

5. Do not post the following:
5.1 binaries or attachments of any sort.
5.2 advertising, "make money fast" (a.k.a. "lose account fast") etc.
5.3 way off-topic questions - like setting up a video card in Windows.

5.4 If it's not Cobalt-specific then consider directing your question
to a Linux (or other appropriate) forum.  But people do understand that
particularly for newbies it's not obvious if something is
Cobalt-specific.
If you get the urge to start an off-topic thread, it is best to put
that in the subject line.

5.5 You will find that threads veer off onto totally unrelated subjects.
People have way more tolerance for this than they do for threads that
start off off-topic.  Don't criticise people in such a thread for being
off-topic.  Do, if contributing, consider changing the subject line, and
adding "[OT]", or similar.

6.  Do not assume that everybody lives in the same country; if you are
looking for a service, then say where you are situated.  Try to avoid
regional words and phrases that not everybody will understand.

7.  "Relaying denied" / "POP before SMTP" - RTFA, that is to say, Read
The Fine Archives.

8.  Although the list is hosted by Cobalt, they do not maintain an
"official" presence on the list.  Some Cobalt engineers do contribute,
but they do so of their own volition.  Do not take your frustrations
out on them.

8.1 If you wish to get the attention of the list maintainer (if for
example an invalid address needs to be unsubscribed) do so by sending
mail to the address listed at the bottom of
http://list.cobalt.com/mailman/listinfo/cobalt-users ;
Don't do it on-list.

9. Vacation messages: if you want thousands of people to curse the day
you were born, be sure to set up a vacation auto-responder that replies
to every single post to the list.

10. Learn about the following commands: type "man xx" at the command
line to learn about xx, then use the arrow keys to scroll, and hit "q"
to quit. apropos, ls, cd, mv, ln, cp, locate, find, xargs, grep, less,
cat, chown, chmod, pwd, diff, rm, rmdir, df, du, ftp, tar, su, gzip,
telnet, ping, who, uptime, top, ps, traceroute, strings, rpm, cron.

11. List Administration.