What are the do's and don'ts when trying to find help for your Linux problems?

1. Get a clue Every time a problem occurs, make first sure that you know what you're doing, and that you know what exactly you wanted to do. Describe the problem in a concise and unambiguous way. In what circumstances does it show up? What error messages do you get? Did it start happening after you changed some configurations or installed new versions of software? Did you experienced some anomalous behaviour before?

2. Find the right information The better you can describe what help you need, the higher the chance that you'll find it. But where should you look for help? Every software package is released with some sort of documentation. Take a look at the files in the /usr/doc directory of your Linux system, or read the related HOWTOs. By doing a sincere effort to look for the missing information yourself first, you will learn a lot. Not only about the particular problem at hand, but also about other programs, tools, terminology, documentation, keywords... that will turn out to be of use sooner or later.

3. Find the right information (part 2) If you couldn't find the needed information on your own, take a look at our Links section. Maybe it has a reference to a site that carries more information about your problem.

4. Use the Net, Luke! You still didn't find an answer? That can happen ;-) But there must be some people somewhere who have had similar problems? So why not look at their solutions? Both Deja and Altavista News have archives of almost ten years of people helping others on the UseNet news groups. Search for messages with the same error message, hardware, or symptoms!

5. With a modem, you're never on your own! So you searched through documentation, HOWTOs and a whole archive of problems, and still you need someone with a clear mind and some spare time to help you move on. Then it's time to try out your luck on the be.comp.os.linux (bcol) newsgroup! But beware, do not just start complaining, rather ask if someone knows where you can read more about your problem. (And don't forget to present the problem in a clear and concise way!) Written documentation usually has an extensive, in-depth explanation of your problem, and you shouldn't expect other people on bcol to reproduce the whole thing in one single e-mail at 2am in the morning ;-) Moreover, people are more willing to help if you show you're really interested to learn more about it...

6. I need help and I need it now! If you're lucky, someone with a solution is online right now! Try #linux.be on IRCNet, usually some people are discussing some things there and are willing to help you. But don't expect they help you right away: some people don't check the channel continuously, and they need time to understand your problem. So, don't quit after one minute, but wait, say, ten minutes or so.