# SOME DESCRIPTIVE TITLE # Copyright (C) YEAR The FreeBSD Project # This file is distributed under the same license as the FreeBSD Documentation package. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: FreeBSD Documentation VERSION\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2025-11-08 16:17+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Title = #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:1 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:11 #, no-wrap msgid "How to get Best Results from the FreeBSD-questions Mailing List" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:44 msgid "Abstract" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:47 msgid "" "This document provides useful information for people looking to prepare an e-" "mail to the FreeBSD-questions mailing list. Advice and hints are given that " "will maximize the chance that the reader will receive useful replies." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:49 msgid "" "This document is regularly posted to the FreeBSD-questions mailing list." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:51 msgid "'''" msgstr "" #. type: Title == #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:54 #, no-wrap msgid "Introduction" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:58 msgid "" "`FreeBSD-questions` is a mailing list maintained by the FreeBSD project to " "help people who have questions about the normal use of FreeBSD. Another " "group, `FreeBSD-hackers`, discusses more advanced questions such as future " "development work." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:65 msgid "" "The term \"hacker\" has nothing to do with breaking into other people's " "computers. The correct term for the latter activity is \"cracker\", but the " "popular press has not found out yet. The FreeBSD hackers disapprove " "strongly of cracking security, and have nothing to do with it. For a longer " "description of hackers, see Eric Raymond's http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/" "hacker-howto.html[How To Become A Hacker]" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:68 msgid "" "This is a regular posting aimed to help both those seeking advice from " "FreeBSD-questions (the \"newcomers\"), and also those who answer the " "questions (the \"hackers\")." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:72 msgid "" "Inevitably there is some friction, which stems from the different viewpoints " "of the two groups. The newcomers accuse the hackers of being arrogant, " "stuck-up, and unhelpful, while the hackers accuse the newcomers of being " "stupid, unable to read plain English, and expecting everything to be handed " "to them on a silver platter. Of course, there is an element of truth in " "both these claims, but for the most part these viewpoints come from a sense " "of frustration." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:75 msgid "" "In this document, I would like to do something to relieve this frustration " "and help everybody get better results from FreeBSD-questions. In the " "following section, I recommend how to submit a question; after that, we will " "look at how to answer one." msgstr "" #. type: Title == #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:76 #, no-wrap msgid "How to Subscribe to FreeBSD-questions" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:82 msgid "" "FreeBSD-questions is a mailing list, so you need mail access. Point your " "WWW browser to the {freebsd-questions}. In the section titled \"Subscribe " "or unsubscribe online\" fill in the \"Your email address\" field and hit " "\"Subscribe\". Or send an email to freebsd-questions+subscribe@freebsd.org." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:84 msgid "" "You will receive a confirmation message from mlmmj; follow the included " "instructions to complete your subscription." msgstr "" #. type: Title == #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:85 #, no-wrap msgid "How to Unsubscribe from FreeBSD-questions" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:90 msgid "" "Point your WWW browser to the {freebsd-questions}. In the section titled " "\"Subscribe or unsubscribe online\" fill in the \"Your email address\" field " "and hit \"Unsubscribe\". Or send an email to freebsd-" "questions+unsubscribe@freebsd.org." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:92 msgid "" "A confirmation message will be sent to you from mlmmj; follow the included " "instructions to finish unsubscribing." msgstr "" #. type: Title == #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:93 #, no-wrap msgid "Should I ask `-questions` or `-hackers`?" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:98 msgid "" "Two mailing lists handle general questions about FreeBSD, `FreeBSD-" "questions` and `FreeBSD-hackers`. In some cases, it is not really clear " "which group you should ask. The following criteria should help for 99% of " "all questions, however:" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:100 msgid "" "If the question is of a general nature, ask `FreeBSD-questions`. Examples " "might be questions about installing FreeBSD or the use of a particular " "UNIX(R) utility." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:101 msgid "" "If you think the question relates to a bug, but you are not sure, or you do " "not know how to look for it, send the message to `FreeBSD-questions`." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:102 msgid "" "If the question relates to a bug, and you are _sure_ that it is a bug (for " "example, you can pinpoint the place in the code where it happens, and you " "maybe have a fix), then send the message to `FreeBSD-hackers`." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:103 msgid "" "If the question relates to enhancements to FreeBSD, and you can make " "suggestions about how to implement them, then send the message to `FreeBSD-" "hackers`." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:106 msgid "" "There are also a number of other extref:{handbook}eresources[specialized " "mailing lists, eresources-mail], which caters to more specific interests. " "The criteria above still apply, and it is in your interest to stick to them, " "since you are more likely to get good results that way." msgstr "" #. type: Title == #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:107 #, no-wrap msgid "Before Submitting a Question" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:110 msgid "" "You can (and should) do some things yourself before asking a question on one " "of the mailing lists:" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:112 msgid "" "Try solving the problem on your own. If you post a question which shows that " "you have tried to solve the problem, your question will generally attract " "more positive attention from people reading it. Trying to solve the problem " "yourself will also enhance your understanding of FreeBSD, and will " "eventually let you use your knowledge to help others by answering questions " "posted to the mailing lists." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:113 msgid "" "Read the manual pages, and the FreeBSD documentation (either installed in " "[.filename]#/usr/doc# or accessible via WWW at http://www.FreeBSD.org[http://" "www.FreeBSD.org]), especially the extref:{handbook}[handbook] and the extref:" "{faq}[FAQ]." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:114 msgid "" "Browse and/or search the archives for the mailing list, to see if your " "question or a similar one has been asked (and possibly answered) on the " "list. You can browse and/or search the mailing list archives at https://" "www.FreeBSD.org/mail[https://www.FreeBSD.org/mail] and https://" "www.FreeBSD.org/search/#mailinglists[https://www.FreeBSD.org/search/" "#mailinglists] respectively." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:115 msgid "" "Use a search engine such as http://www.google.com[Google] or http://" "www.yahoo.com[Yahoo] to find answers to your question." msgstr "" #. type: Title == #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:116 #, no-wrap msgid "How to Submit a Question" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:119 msgid "" "When submitting a question to FreeBSD-questions, consider the following " "points:" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:121 msgid "" "Remember that nobody gets paid for answering a FreeBSD question. They do it " "of their own free will. You can influence this free will positively by " "submitting a well-formulated question supplying as much relevant information " "as possible. You can influence this free will negatively by submitting an " "incomplete, illegible, or rude question. It is perfectly possible to send a " "message to FreeBSD-questions and not get an answer even if you follow these " "rules. It is much more possible to not get an answer if you do not. In the " "rest of this document, we will look at how to get the most out of your " "question to FreeBSD-questions." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:122 msgid "" "Not everybody who answers FreeBSD questions reads every message: they look " "at the subject line and decide whether it interests them. Clearly, it is in " "your interest to specify a subject. \"FreeBSD problem\" or \"Help\" are not " "enough. If you provide no subject at all, many people will not bother " "reading it. If your subject is not specific enough, the people who can " "answer it may not read it." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:123 msgid "" "Format your message so that it is legible, and PLEASE DO NOT SHOUT!!!!!. We " "appreciate that a lot of people do not speak English as their first " "language, and we try to make allowances for that, but it is really painful " "to try to read a message written full of typos or without any line breaks." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:126 msgid "" "Do not underestimate the effect that a poorly formatted mail message has, " "not just on the FreeBSD-questions mailing list. Your mail message is all " "people see of you, and if it is poorly formatted, one line per paragraph, " "badly spelt, or full of errors, it will give people a poor impression of you." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:129 msgid "" "A lot of badly formatted messages come from http://www.lemis.com/" "email.html[bad mailers or badly configured mailers]. The following mailers " "are known to send out badly formatted messages without you finding out about " "them:" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:131 msgid "exmh" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:132 msgid "Microsoft(R) Exchange" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:133 msgid "Microsoft(R) Outlook(R)" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:135 msgid "" "Try not to use MIME: a lot of people use mailers which do not get on very " "well with MIME." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:136 msgid "" "Make sure your time and time zone are set correctly. This may seem a little " "silly, since your message still gets there, but many of the people you are " "trying to reach get several hundred messages a day. They frequently sort the " "incoming messages by subject and by date, and if your message does not come " "before the first answer, they may assume they missed it and not bother to " "look." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:137 msgid "" "Do not include unrelated questions in the same message. Firstly, a long " "message tends to scare people off, and secondly, it is more difficult to get " "all the people who can answer all the questions to read the message." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:138 msgid "" "Specify as much information as possible. This is a difficult area, and we " "need to expand on what information you need to submit, but here is a start:" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:140 msgid "" "In nearly every case, it is important to know the version of FreeBSD you are " "running. This is particularly the case for FreeBSD-CURRENT, where you should " "also specify the date of the sources, though of course you should not be " "sending questions about -CURRENT to FreeBSD-questions." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:141 msgid "" "With any problem which _could_ be hardware related, tell us about your " "hardware. In case of doubt, assume it is possible that it is hardware. What " "kind of CPU are you using? How fast? What motherboard? How much memory? What " "peripherals?" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:143 msgid "" "There is a judgement call here, of course, but the output of the " "man:dmesg[8] command can frequently be very useful, since it tells not just " "what hardware you are running, but what version of FreeBSD as well." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:144 msgid "" "If you get error messages, do not say \"I get error messages\", say (for " "example) \"I get the error message 'No route to host'\"." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:145 msgid "" "If your system panics, do not say \"My system panicked\", say (for example) " "\"my system panicked with the message 'free vnode isn't'\"." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:146 msgid "" "If you have difficulty installing FreeBSD, please tell us what hardware you " "have. In particular, it is important to know the IRQs and I/O addresses of " "the boards installed in your machine." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:147 msgid "" "If you have difficulty getting PPP to run, describe the configuration. Which " "version of PPP do you use? What kind of authentication do you have? Do you " "have a static or dynamic IP address? What kind of messages do you get in the " "log file?" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:149 msgid "" "A lot of the information you need to supply is the output of programs, such " "as man:dmesg[8], or console messages, which usually appear in [.filename]#/" "var/log/messages#. Do not try to copy this information by typing it in " "again; it is a real pain, and you are bound to make a mistake. To send log " "file contents, either make a copy of the file and use an editor to trim the " "information to what is relevant, or cut and paste into your message. For the " "output of programs like man:dmesg[8], redirect the output to a file and " "include that. For example," msgstr "" #. type: delimited block . 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:153 #, no-wrap msgid "% dmesg > /tmp/dmesg.out\n" msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:156 msgid "This redirects the information to the file [.filename]#/tmp/dmesg.out#." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:157 msgid "" "If you do all this, and you still do not get an answer, there could be other " "reasons. For example, the problem is so complicated that nobody knows the " "answer, or the person who does know the answer was offline. If you do not " "get an answer after, say, a week, it might help to re-send the message. If " "you do not get an answer to your second message, though, you are probably " "not going to get one from this forum. Resending the same message again and " "again will only make you unpopular." msgstr "" #. type: Plain text #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:160 msgid "" "To summarize, let's assume you know the answer to the following question " "(yes, it is the same one in each case). You choose which of these two " "questions you would be more prepared to answer:" msgstr "" #. type: Block title #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:161 #, no-wrap msgid "Message 1" msgstr "" #. type: delimited block . 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:171 #, no-wrap msgid "" "Subject: HELP!!?!??\n" "I just can't get hits damn silly FereBSD system to\n" "workd, and Im really good at this tsuff, but I have never seen\n" "anythign sho difficult to install, it jst wont work whatever I try\n" "so why don't you guys tell me what I doing wrong.\n" msgstr "" #. type: Block title #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:174 #, no-wrap msgid "Message 2" msgstr "" #. type: delimited block . 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:180 #, no-wrap msgid "Subject: Problems installing FreeBSD\n" msgstr "" #. type: delimited block . 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:187 #, no-wrap msgid "" "I've just got the FreeBSD 2.1.5 CDROM from Walnut Creek, and I'm having a lot\n" "of difficulty installing it. I have a 66 MHz 486 with 16 MB of\n" "memory and an Adaptec 1540A SCSI board, a 1.2GB Quantum Fireball\n" "disk and a Toshiba 3501XA CDROM drive. The installation works just\n" "fine, but when I try to reboot the system, I get the message\n" "Missing Operating System.\n" msgstr "" #. type: Title == #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:190 #, no-wrap msgid "How to Follow up to a Question" msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:195 msgid "" "Often you will want to send in additional information to a question you have " "already sent. The best way to do this is to reply to your original " "message. This has three advantages:" msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:197 msgid "" "You include the original message text, so people will know what you are " "talking about. Do not forget to trim unnecessary text out, though." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:198 msgid "" "The text in the subject line stays the same (you did remember to put one in, " "did you not?). Many mailers will sort messages by subject. This helps group " "messages together." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:199 msgid "" "The message reference numbers in the header will refer to the previous " "message. Some mailers, such as http://www.mutt.org/[mutt], can _thread_ " "messages, showing the exact relationships between the messages." msgstr "" #. type: Title == #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:200 #, no-wrap msgid "How to Answer a Question" msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:203 msgid "Before you answer a question to FreeBSD-questions, consider:" msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:205 msgid "" "A lot of the points on submitting questions also apply to answering " "questions. Read them." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:206 msgid "" "Has somebody already answered the question? The easiest way to check this is " "to sort your incoming mail by subject: then (hopefully) you will see the " "question followed by any answers, all together." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:209 msgid "" "If somebody has already answered it, it does not automatically mean that you " "should not send another answer. But it makes sense to read all the other " "answers first." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:210 msgid "" "Do you have something to contribute beyond what has already been said? In " "general, \"Yeah, me too\" answers do not help much, although there are " "exceptions, like when somebody is describing a problem they are having, and " "they do not know whether it is their fault or whether there is something " "wrong with the hardware or software. If you do send a \"me too\" answer, you " "should also include any further relevant information." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:211 msgid "" "Are you sure you understand the question? Very frequently, the person who " "asks the question is confused or does not express themselves very well. Even " "with the best understanding of the system, it is easy to send a reply which " "does not answer the question. This does not help: you will leave the person " "who submitted the question more frustrated or confused than ever. If nobody " "else answers, and you are not too sure either, you can always ask for more " "information." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:212 msgid "" "Are you sure your answer is correct? If not, wait a day or so. If nobody " "else comes up with a better answer, you can still reply and say, for " "example, \"I do not know if this is correct, but since nobody else has " "replied, why don't you try replacing your ATAPI CDROM with a frog?\"." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:213 msgid "" "Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, reply to the sender and to " "FreeBSD-questions. Many people on the FreeBSD-questions are \"lurkers\": " "they learn by reading messages sent and replied to by others. If you take a " "message which is of general interest off the list, you are depriving these " "people of their information. Be careful with group replies; lots of people " "send messages with hundreds of CCs. If this is the case, be sure to trim the " "Cc: lines appropriately." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:214 msgid "" "Include relevant text from the original message. Trim it to the minimum, but " "do not overdo it. It should still be possible for somebody who did not read " "the original message to understand what you are talking about." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:215 msgid "" "Use some technique to identify which text came from the original message, " "and which text you add. I personally find that prepending \"`>`\" to the " "original message works best. Leaving white space after the \"`> ;`\" and " "leave empty lines between your text and the original text both make the " "result more readable." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:216 msgid "" "Put your response in the correct place (after the text to which it replies). " "It is very difficult to read a thread of responses where each reply comes " "before the text to which it replies." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:217 msgid "" "Most mailers change the subject line on a reply by prepending a text such as " "\"Re: \". If your mailer does not do it automatically, you should do it " "manually." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:218 msgid "" "If the submitter did not abide by format conventions (lines too long, " "inappropriate subject line) _please_ fix it. In the case of an incorrect " "subject line (such as \"HELP!!??\"), change the subject line to (say) \"Re: " "Difficulties with sync PPP (was: HELP!!??)\". That way other people trying " "to follow the thread will have less difficulty following it." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:221 msgid "" "In such cases, it is appropriate to say what you did and why you did it, but " "try not to be rude. If you find you can not answer without being rude, do " "not answer." msgstr "" #. type: delimited block = 4 #: documentation/content/en/articles/freebsd-questions/_index.adoc:223 msgid "" "If you just want to reply to a message because of its bad format, just reply " "to the submitter, not to the list. You can just send him this message in " "reply, if you like." msgstr ""