From owner-freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Mar 26 23:54:39 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 3A521106564A for ; Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:54:39 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from a.j.werven@student.utwente.nl) Received: from smtp.utwente.nl (unknown [IPv6:2001:610:1908:1000:204:23ff:feb5:7e66]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 690FE8FC2D for ; Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:54:38 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from a.j.werven@student.utwente.nl) Received: from [127.0.0.1] (vpn181210.student.utwente.nl [130.89.181.210]) by smtp.utwente.nl (8.12.10/SuSE Linux 0.7) with ESMTP id m2QNmXZJ007120; Thu, 27 Mar 2008 00:48:35 +0100 Message-ID: <47EAE0D3.8010202@student.utwente.nl> Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:48:35 +0000 From: "Alphons \"Fonz\" van Werven" User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.12 (Windows/20080213) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Passive PROFITS References: <203129.47088.qm@web35603.mail.mud.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <203129.47088.qm@web35603.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-UTwente-MailScanner-Information: Scanned by MailScanner. Contact servicedesk@icts.utwente.nl for more information. X-UTwente-MailScanner: Found to be clean X-UTwente-MailScanner-From: a.j.werven@student.utwente.nl X-Spam-Status: No Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Newbie Question - about newbie user support X-BeenThere: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Non technical items related to the community List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:54:39 -0000 Passive PROFITS wrote: > Alphons ... a.k.a. 'Fonz' in the future? (Let me know!) My skydiving friends (yes, I have other hobbies besides computer stuff) usually call me Fonz, but either name will do. A word of warning though: 1) Whereas -chat is (somewhat to my surprise) a relatively low-traffic list, -questions covers a broad range of topics. So be prepared to receive many messages, most of which are of absolutely no interest to you (or me, for that matter). 2) Because of the higher traffic, it's important to carefully compose your messages so that the right people notice them and feel compelled to respond. Look for the weekly post by "grog" (Greg Lehey) about getting the best out of freebsd-questions (it can also be found in the online archives), it's quite useful. 3) If you ask a broad question, people will most likely just refer you to the documentation. This is not necessarily a bad thing, because instead of just saying RTFM (Read The F***ing Manual) they will actually tell you exactly which documentation you should read and FreeBSD is one of the best- documented systems I've seen so far. If you need more specific help, you need to ask more specific questions. 4) I might be opening a can of worms here, but I think it's best not to mention Windows or Microsoft on -questions if you can avoid it. For some people those names work kinda like a red rag on a bull and they prefer bitching about Windows/Microsoft over actually answering your question. Not everybody is like that, but we do have a few of those people on -questions. And they are occasionally told off about that, but still... 5) There are many national FreeBSD lists which may or may not be of help, depending on the amount of traffic. For example, I live just across the pond in Holland. The Dutch FreeBSD lists still exist but seem to have sort of died. However, just a couple of years ago the lists were quite active and often very helpful. Also, being able to use their native language might be a benefit for some people if English ain't their strong suit. But in our case, that probably won't be an issue ;-) Fonz -- All right, that does it Bill [Donahue]. I'm pretty sure that killing Jesus is not very Christian. -- pope Benedict XVI, South Park episode #158