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Top | Up | Andrzej Filip | Mirror Sites | GnuPG Keys | New!My Postings | Journal | Showing GratitudeThe document is based on "Before You Ask" section of "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way" by Eric S. Raymond. It has been converted to news:comp.mail.sendmail specific form.
The document has not been finished yet. Do not hesitate to send your suggestions.
Before asking a question in comp.mail.sendmail do the following:
When you ask your question, display the fact that you have done these things first; this will help establish that you're not being a lazy sponge and wasting people's time. Better yet, display what you have learned from doing these things. We like answering questions for people who have demonstrated that they can learn from the answers.
Use tactics like doing a Google search on the text of whatever error message you get (and search Google groups as well as web pages). This might well take you straight to fix documentation or a mailing list thread that will answer your question. Even if it doesn't, saying "I googled on the following phrase but didn't get anything that looked useful" is a good thing to be able to put in email or news posting requesting help.
Prepare your question. Think it through. Hasty-sounding questions get hasty answers, or none at all. The more you do to demonstrate that you have put thought and effort into solving your problem before asking for help, the more likely you are to actually get help.
Beware of asking the wrong question. If you ask one that is based on faulty assumptions, J. Random Hacker is quite likely to reply with a uselessly literal answer while thinking "Stupid question...", and hoping that the experience of getting what you asked for rather than what you needed will teach you a lesson.
Never assume you are entitled to an answer. You are not; you aren't, after all, paying for the service. You will earn an answer, if you earn it, by asking a question that is substantial, interesting, and thought-provoking - one that implicitly contributes to the experience of the community rather than merely passively demanding knowledge from others.
On the other hand, making it clear that you are able and willing to help in the process of developing the solution is a very good start. "Would someone provide a pointer?", "What is my example missing?" and "What site should I have checked?" are more likely to get answered than "Please post the exact procedure I should use." because you're making it clear that you're truly willing to complete the process if someone can simply point you in the right direction.
Andrew's comments:
Try to include as much details as possible but try to keep size of or posting reasonable (10-50 lines). I am frequently scared off by huge posting. Simply indicate that you are ready to supply additional required information in a follow-up messages. But it is not "do it at any cost" suggestion - use your own good judgment.
It may help to put the problem in the context - "Why do you need it ?". People quite frequently ask how to implement "sub-optimal" solution without mentioning the "root problem" - better ways are not uncommon.
"Top 5" most frequently asked questions:
You can use Advanced Group Search provided by Google
Sendmail documentation is include in the distribution. Some more important files:
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