path: root/doc/faq/questions.docbook

<chapter id="questions">

<title>Asking Questions</title>

<para>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.</para>

<qandaset>
<qandaentry>

<question><para>What do I do before I ask?</para></question>

<answer><para>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 <userinput><command>help:/khelpcenter/userguide</command></userinput>
into the &konqueror; address bar or <userinput><command>
khelpcenter help:/khelpcenter/userguide with the minicli</command></userinput>.</para>

<para>Search the web: Usually searching for a specific error message or
searching mailing list archives will find a solution.</para>

<para>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.</para>

<para>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.</para> </answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>Where do I ask?</para></question>

<answer><para>Usually the best place to ask a question is on the
<acronym>IRC</acronym> 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; <ulink
url="http://www.trinitydesktop.org/mailinglist.php">mailing
lists</ulink>.
</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>How do I ask?</para></question>

<answer><para>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!</para>

<para>Q: &tde; sucks, it's slow</para>

<para>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.</para>

<para>Q: Since updating &tde; on Slackware &Linux; using sources, I have
noticed it's being really slow &mdash; 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?</para>

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

<para>Don't presume automatically that the problem is the fault of
&tde;. Otherwise you likely will annoy people.</para>

<para>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 &mdash; 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.</para>

<para>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.</para>

<para>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
<acronym>IRC</acronym> 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.</para>

<para>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.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question><para>What do I do when told to look elsewhere?</para></question>

<answer><para>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
<acronym>FAQ</acronym> or documentation don't say, <quote>No, I don't
want to have to read this I want you to just tell me</quote>. That response
is considered bad manners. People who don't provide effort to learn often
find others have little incentive to help.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
</qandaset>

<para>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.</para>

<para> 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; platforms. If you don't want to pay money, then pay the
people who do this for free with your politeness and appreciation. :-)</para>

<para>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 <email>[email protected]</email></para>

</chapter>