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Chapter 18. Asking Questions

To get an appropriate answer to questions requires asking a clear + +question in a manner that motivates people to help. Writing questions that + +appear to be rude, lazy, or uses bad or unclear language likely will result + +in your question being ignored.

+

18.1. What do I do before I ask?
18.2. Where do I ask?
18.3. How do I ask?
18.4. What do I do when told to look elsewhere?
18.1.

What do I do before I ask?

Read the documentation and FAQ for the application. There is + +a wealth of TDE documentation availible both in the help center and + +online. A lot of time and effort has gone into this documentation, and + +often the answer to your question is there. The general TDE userguide + +can be found by typing help:/khelpcenter/userguide + +into the Konqueror address bar or + +khelpcenter help:/khelpcenter/userguide with the minicli.

Search the web: Usually searching for a specific error message or + +searching mailing list archives will find a solution.

Try it and see! Look through all the application options, read the + +What's this? and tooltips for the ones you're not sure about. If you're + +really unsure about an option save your data and then try. As long as you + +use common sense you are unlikely to break anything by experimenting.

Don't be lazy. If you show the people who you are asking + +that you are able to troubleshoot and research in a logical manner, you're + +showing them you're a reasonable person who is worth their time to + +help. It's your problem and not theirs so the legwork is yours to do. Save + +your helpers as much time as you can.

18.2.

Where do I ask?

Usually the best place to ask a question is on the + +IRC channels and mailing lists devoted to user + +questions. Don't post simple questions about using TDE to the devel + +channels and mailing lists, these are for technical discussions. Some good + +places are chat.freenode.net, channel: #trinity-desktop, and the TDE mailing + +lists. + +

18.3.

How do I ask?

Try to word your questions in a manner that gives the most + +information possible and is polite and courteous. Don't ask to ask, just + +ask!

Q: TDE sucks, it's slow

This is not a question that is likely to get you a useful answer. It does + +not give any useful information about troubleshooting the problem, and it + +starts out attacking the software in a way that isn't productive.

Q: Since updating TDE on Slackware Linux using sources, I have + +noticed it's being really slow sometimes + +applications take up to 20 seconds to launch. I am using the same user + +configuration as I had with the previous version. I have tried as a new + +user. I can't find anything about this on the mailing lists or by a web + +search. Could anyone point me to some information that could help?

This question is polite, contains information to help people + +troubleshoot the problem and shows your helpers what avenues you have + +already tried.

Don't presume automatically that the problem is the fault of + +TDE. Otherwise you likely will annoy people.

Use clear language with correct spelling. Watch out for any + +ambiguities and make sure you think about what you say before you write + +it. If you are asked for clarification, give it as best you can. TDE is a + +project where many of the users and developers are not native english + +speakers and if you don't use correct english, misunderstandings might + +ensue. Be patient. Use the language appropriate to the channel or mailing list you are + +in if you don't, people who might have been able to help you might + +ignore your message because it is not in a language they understand.

Include all information that could be relevant, even when you're not + +sure. Have you updated other software or hardware on your system, + +particularly system libraries or a new kernel? These things could affect how + +TDE performs. Even when you cannot see a connecting cause, someone else might.

Don't paraphrase error messages. Paste in the exact error, and if it's + +more than a line or two don't paste them directly into an + +IRC channel. Use an online paste service. If you + +must type the messages by hand, be sure you are accurate. When you provide + +faulty information, your helpers cannot help you as easily.

Follow through on your solution! Tell people when the solution worked, or when you have + +solved the problem yourself. This helps everybody involved know when + +solutions work and helps other users who might be searching for a similar + +solution to the problem.

18.4.

What do I do when told to look elsewhere?

Possibly you have not followed the above + +advice. You've not done your research, and the solution probably is one the + +helper knows very well to be easy to find. When provided a web link to an + +FAQ or documentation don't say, No, I don't + +want to have to read this I want you to just tell me. That response + +is considered bad manners. People who don't provide effort to learn often + +find others have little incentive to help.

Use common courtesy. TDE users and developers volunteer their time + +out of an already very busy schedule, and like to + +know that you are appreciating they are helping you for free. Be + +polite, say please and thank you, be constructive, and try to be pleasant and + +friendly.

Does this seem like a lot of trouble to ask a question? If you want + +to be able to feel that people owe you an answer or support, then you're + +quite welcome to pay for commercial support from companies that support + +TDE on Unix-like platforms. If you don't want to pay money, then pay the + +people who do this for free with your politeness and appreciation. :-)

If you think the answer to your question should be included in the + +TDE FAQ please feel free to submit any patches or suggestions to the + +TDE FAQ Maintainer, at

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