From owner-freebsd-current  Tue Oct 12  8: 8:59 1999
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From: Michael Lucas <mwlucas@blackhelicopters.org>
Message-Id: <199910121508.LAA44474@blackhelicopters.org>
Subject: Request for Flames
To: current@freebsd.org
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 1999 11:08:50 -0400 (EDT)
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Folks,

I'm writing a series of web pages on how to ask for help on the
FreeBSD mailing lists.

From time to time, some innocent newbie wanders in here asking a
question with far too little information.  ("CVSup/pn0/sio.c doesn't
work. Why not?")

On occasion, you folks have taken the time to write detailed notes
describing the exact information you need to solve these problems.
(On other occasions, said newbie is seen around town: a little bit
here, a little bit there... but that's another problem.)

I'me searched the mail archives looking for these messages, and am
having difficulty finding them.  (It's difficult to search for "That
message where Bill Paul told a newbie in excruciating detail what he
needed to fix the problem, and what would happen to the next newbie
who asked this question without providing this information.") Lots of
questions, very few detailed answers.

If any of you have copies of messages that you have previously sent,
describing what information you need to solve a particular problem, I
would appreciate it if you would forward these to me.  I'll use this
information to write another guide.

For an example of what I'm trying to do, take a look at:

http://www.blackhelicopters.org/~dispatch/report/nic.html

My eventual goal is to have something like this for every troublesome
part of the system.  Hopefully newbies will either read these and give
the proper information, or go away and leave us alone.  ;)

Thanks,
==ml


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