suggestion for mailing list

[David Timms]

Manuel Arostegui Ramirez wrote:
> El Lunes, 11 de Junio de 2007 20:52, Les escribió:
>> Hi, everyone,
>> 	I remember the welcome message from older bulletin boards, which gave
>> you some info about the board and its uses/customs/guidelines.  It seems
>> to me that we could do new posters a favor by sending them such a
>> message when they join the list.  The subject line should be something
>> like Getting the most out of fedora-list.
>>
>> 	Text something like:
>>
>> 	Basics:
>>   This list is meant to help you get the best from your fedora
>> installation.  People here will help you find and fix problems, guide
>> you to best practices, and generally share their knowledge with you.  In
>> return you should contribute what you learn.  As you become comfortable
>> with fedora, it is desirable to add to the information used to improve
>> and maintain the system through bugzilla (this should be a link to a
>> document describing how to setup bugzilla and how to report bugs).
>>
>> 	When you have a problem with fedora here is a simple process to help
>> you find the problem:
>>
>> 	1.  What were you doing?  The program you started, the action you were
>> taking (as best
>>                  you can remember it), and what happened.
>> 	2.  Record the error message(s) that you get on screen.
>> 	3.  Look in the log files (list here)
>> 	4.  Search the mailing list (link here) for the error message.  If it
>> is found, read that thread.  Search the mailing list for the program you
>> were running and the last action you did.  Read that thread.
>> 	5.  Search the mailing list for the errors from the log files and read
>> those threads.
>> 	6.  If this doesn't help, post a message to the group with the subject
>> line:
>> 		programname errormessage problemtitle
>> 	    In the message put the brief description of what you were doing,
>> what logs you have read and any error messages.  Describe any steps you
>> took from the mailing list and mention that you read several threads by
>> thread subject.  This will help the list and you by reducing the search
>> time for your problem.
>> 	7.  Do exactly what you are told by the list members and email them the
>> results.
>> 	8.  When the problem is fixed post a final message with "solved"
>> appended to the subject and in the message describe the step that solved
>> the issue.
>>
>> 	This will help you and the list immensely.  We want you to be a happy
>> and productive member of our community.
>>
>> Regards,
>> The Fedora list
>> (address here)
>> (unsubscribe link here)
>>
>> What do you all think?
>>
>> Regards,
>> Les H
> 
> I totally agree, but I wonder who's gonna read all that stuff.
> I hope that will not turn to be like all the "license" no one reads when 
> installing a new program just accept it

I think it is a good idea - perhaps it should be part of the 
once-a-month list membership email that goes out as well. Les if you 
have a wiki account, you could begin construction of a wiki page - this 
lets other contributors provide their input easily.

We would need to simplify: I reckon some people see more than 2 steps 
and abort mission...

One thing I wonder is: how do I search the list ?
If you keep list email you can do it in your email package, but 
otherwise gmane.org is one of the better ways to search the list: the 
redhat list search is kin' o' crap. One of the fedoraX web sites does 
have a forum structure connected up to lists, yet I like the proper 
threading structure that is shown by thunderbird or gmane.

Perhaps there would be some call for a fedora-beginners-list or 
fedora-advanced-list or fedora-third-party {ie 3d drivers, programs with 
non-free licences etc}. This might be a little confusing at first - 
which list should I join, but may help to reduce the traffic in any one 
list to reasonable levels.

A requirement might be to provide a smolt hardware id {, and maybe a 
list of installed packages from outside fedora repos }?

DaveT.