Subject: Email Support System Ready
From: [email-masked] (Ross Biro)
Date: Mon, 31 May 1993 21:02:40 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.announce,comp.os.linux

SAVE THIS! SAVE THIS! It contains important instructions.

	The Linux Email Support System is now ready for general use.
It is not bug free, and there will be delays and other teething
problems for a while.

Purpose:
	The purpose of the Linux Email Support System is to provide
a forum for people to ask questions without worrying about being
flamed for a non-Linux specific question or for asking a FAQ.

Who Should Use it?
	The Linux Email Support System is for anyone who is having
a problem with Linux.  It is not intended to replace comp.os.linux[.announce]
or the mailing lists, but rather to supplement them with a forum
designed specifically to deal with the volume of questions on
comp.os.linux which are easily answered.

Why Use It?
	If you send a question to the Linux Email Support System, it
will be routed to a single individual who will take responsibility for
answering it.  If that individual can't answer it, (s)he will forward
it to someone that may be able to.  Everyone is likely to benefit
because there will be less traffic in comp.os.linux, and each question
will get a single individual to deal with it, rather than many people
answering one question while a second question is ignored.

When Should I use It?
	This is a tough question, and is really a judgement call.  If
you believe your question is interesting or otherwise very current, you
should probably post it directly.  However if you are having problems
with a common program or subsystem, you should probably use the
Linux Email Support System based on the philosophy that if it really
worked that poorly, everyone would be screaming about it.  Also if you
don't have much experience with Unix in general you should read the
FAQ from comp.unix.questions and use the Linux Email Support System
until you feel more confident (or get asbestos under ware 8-).

How do I know the answer I got is correct?
	There is no guarantee of the correctness of any given answer.
However to help prevent the distribution of misinformation, all answers
(The first time they are answered only) are sent to the appropriate
channel of the mailing list.  That way many people see the answer, and
if it is incorrect, someone will probably say something.  You are
also free to ask the question again in a more public forum
such as comp.os.linux and point out why you think the answer as in error.

SAVE THIS PART !!!!

How do I use It?

	You just mail your question to [email-masked] (It
is not only for bugs, but any question.  We hope to have the
additional name linux-support@???? sometime soon.)  There is one
caveat; however, the Linux Email Support System has been designed to
be easy for the software maintainers and volunteers to use.  The net
affect is that there is a reasonably rigid format.  Every message must
contain the following fields.

Keywords:
Summary:
Program:
Kernel:
Hardware:
Description:
Expected:

The order is not important; but ALL the fields must be present in ALL
problem-reports, or the software will return the question to you.  The
format purpose of each of the fields is

Keywords:  Single line.
Used to try to see if this is a FAQ and can be auto answered
by machine.  Proper use of this field will greatly increase the number
of messages which can be handled per day.

Summary: Single Line.
Quick summary of the problem.  Also used by the software to see if
it's a FAQ.  And makes it easier for the Volunteer to answer it.

Program: Single Line. 
Program and Version number that is causing problems.  This should be
included whenever possible; even if you think it is a general problem
as it makes things easier to reproduce and track down.

Kernel: Multi Line. 
This is kernel version number and options configured in.  You should also
include where you got it (compiled it yourself, SLS, ...) in case it turns
out to be a kernel problem and a system map file is needed.

Hardware: Multi Line.
This is the hardware you are experiencing the problem on.  It is not
always relevant, but it is often hard to tell, and should be as complete
as possible.  Especially include things like the type of hard drive
controller etc.

Description: Multi Line.
This is a complete description of the problem; including how to reproduce
it.  Include transcripts generated via the script program, dejagnu scripts,
or xterm whenever possible.

Expected: Multi Line.
This is mostly for cases when something happens that is different from
what you expect; i.e. select alters the timeout value.  It should also
be included when you are asking about features that you don't think
are present in Linux, or need to be emulated.  If you can include a
portion of a man page or other documentation which backs up the
behavior you wish, it would be helpful.  You can also leave this field
blank in cases of programs simply crashing, or if you feel the Description is
enough.

Here is an example
------
mail [email-masked]
Subject: problem with gcc

Keywords: gcc link ld math library
Summary: Math externals not linked in.
Program: gcc -lm foo.c
Kernel: .99 pl9 from SLS with tcp/ip and ipc_delta patches
Hardware: 386-20 8M ram ESDI hard drive
Description: gcc -lm foo.c can't find floor.

Script started on Mon May 31 12:22:25 1993
gcc -lm foo.c
elaine30-[1> gcc -lm foo.c
foo.o: Undefined symbol _floor referenced from text segment
elaine30-[2> exit
exit

script done on Mon May 31 12:22:36 1993
--- foo.c --
#include <math.h>

main ()
{
  int x;
  x = floor (12.30);
}
--- end of foo.c ---

Expected:
.
-----
End Example.

This is great how can I help?
	If you would like to help, there are many things you can do.
If you feel capable, you can volunteer to answer questions.   You
can fix problems with the software.  Donating resources (hard drive
space etc.) might also be useful.  You could combine our scripts
with GNATS for an incredibly powerful bug tracking system.
If you would like to help mail [email-masked] and tell me
what you would like to do.

Who do we have to thank for this?
	You should thank all the volunteers as well as the sunsite admins,
especially [email-masked], and Ted.  Currently the volunteers are
(group by category they intend to answer questions about.)

Jacques Gelinas,[email-masked],Edward T. Shiobara,
Matthew D. Stock ,Michael K. Johnson, Peter F. Couvares,
Andrew Tridgell:,[email-masked],Eric Johnson,
John Turnbull,Brian E. Gallew,Joeri van Ruth,John Henders,
Matt Welsh,Philip Copeland,Richie Lai,Erik Troan,
Arnt Gulbrandsen,Mitchum Dsouza,Ross Biro,Jeff Grills,
Michael Oreilly,Darren Stadler?,Thomas Dunbar,Andreas Neubacher
Ian Jackson,Johannes Grosen,Nick Holloway,Onnei ?,Jeremy Bettis,
Paul Gover,David Hoelzer,H. Peter Anvin,Kevin Cummings,
Scott A. Laird.

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Ross Biro [email-masked] 
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