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<chapter id="questions">
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<title>Asking Questions</title>
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<para>To get an appropriate answer to questions requires asking a clear
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question in a manner that motivates people to help. Writing questions that
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appear to be rude, lazy, or uses bad or unclear language likely will result
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in your question being ignored.</para>
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<qandaset>
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<qandaentry>
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<question><para>What do I do before I ask?</para></question>
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<answer><para>Read the documentation and &FAQ; for the application. There is
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a wealth of &tde; documentation availible both in the help center and
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online. A lot of time and effort has gone into this documentation, and
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often the answer to your question is there. The general &tde; userguide
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can be found by typing <userinput><command>help:/khelpcenter/userguide</command></userinput>
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into the &konqueror; address bar or <userinput><command>
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khelpcenter help:/khelpcenter/userguide with the minicli</command></userinput>.</para>
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<para>Search the web: Usually searching for a specific error message or
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searching mailing list archives will find a solution.</para>
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<para>Try it and see! Look through all the application options, read the
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What's this? and tooltips for the ones you're not sure about. If you're
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really unsure about an option save your data and then try. As long as you
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use common sense you are unlikely to break anything by experimenting.</para>
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<para>Don't be lazy. If you show the people who you are asking
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that you are able to troubleshoot and research in a logical manner, you're
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showing them you're a reasonable person who is worth their time to
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help. It's your problem and not theirs so the legwork is yours to do. Save
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your helpers as much time as you can.</para> </answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question><para>Where do I ask?</para></question>
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<answer><para>Usually the best place to ask a question is on the
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<acronym>IRC</acronym> channels and mailing lists devoted to user
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questions. Don't post simple questions about using &tde; to the devel
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channels and mailing lists, these are for technical discussions. Some good
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places are chat.freenode.net, channel: #trinity-desktop, and the &tde; <ulink
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url="http://www.trinitydesktop.org/mailinglist.php">mailing
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lists</ulink>.
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</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question><para>How do I ask?</para></question>
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<answer><para>Try to word your questions in a manner that gives the most
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information possible and is polite and courteous. Don't ask to ask, just
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ask!</para>
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<para>Q: &tde; sucks, it's slow</para>
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<para>Is not a question that is likely to get you a useful answer. It does
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not give any useful information about troubleshooting the problem, and it
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starts out attacking the software in a way that isn't productive.</para>
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<para>Q: Since updating &tde; on Slackware &Linux; using sources, I have
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noticed it's being really slow — sometimes
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applications take up to 20 seconds to launch. I am using the same user
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configuration as I had with the previous version. I have tried as a new
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user. I can't find anything about this on the mailing lists or by a web
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search. Could anyone point me to some information that could help?</para>
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<para>This question is polite, contains information to help people
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troubleshoot the problem and shows your helpers what avenues you have
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already tried.</para>
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<para>Don't presume automatically that the problem is the fault of
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&tde;. Otherwise you likely will annoy people.</para>
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<para>Use clear language with correct spelling. Watch out for any
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ambiguities and make sure you think about what you say before you write
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it. If you are asked for clarification, give it as best you can. &tde; is a
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project where many of the users and developers are not native english
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speakers and if you don't use correct english, misunderstandings might
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ensue. Be patient. Use the language appropriate to the channel or mailing list you are
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in — if you don't, people who might have been able to help you might
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ignore your message because it is not in a language they understand.</para>
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<para>Include all information that could be relevant, even when you're not
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sure. Have you updated other software or hardware on your system,
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particularly system libraries or a new kernel? These things could affect how
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&tde; performs. Even when you cannot see a connecting cause, someone else might.</para>
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<para>Don't paraphrase error messages. Paste in the exact error, and if it's
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more than a line or two don't paste them directly into an
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<acronym>IRC</acronym> channel. Use an online paste service. If you
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must type the messages by hand, be sure you are accurate. When you provide
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faulty information, your helpers cannot help you as easily.</para>
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<para>Follow through on your solution! Tell people when the solution worked, or when you have
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solved the problem yourself. This helps everybody involved know when
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solutions work and helps other users who might be searching for a similar
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solution to the problem.</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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<qandaentry>
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<question><para>What do I do when told to look elsewhere?</para></question>
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<answer><para>Possibly you have not followed the above
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advice. You've not done your research, and the solution probably is one the
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helper knows very well to be easy to find. When provided a web link to an
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<acronym>FAQ</acronym> or documentation don't say, <quote>No, I don't
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want to have to read this I want you to just tell me</quote>. That response
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is considered bad manners. People who don't provide effort to learn often
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find others have little incentive to help.</para>
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</answer>
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</qandaentry>
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</qandaset>
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<para>Use common courtesy. &tde; users and developers volunteer their time
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out of an already very busy schedule, and like to
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know that you are appreciating they are helping you for free. Be
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polite, say please and thank you, be constructive, and try to be pleasant and
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friendly.</para>
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<para> Does this seem like a lot of trouble to ask a question? If you want
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to be able to feel that people owe you an answer or support, then you're
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quite welcome to pay for commercial support from companies that support
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&tde; on &UNIX; platforms. If you don't want to pay money, then pay the
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people who do this for free with your politeness and appreciation. :-)</para>
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<para>If you think the answer to your question should be included in the
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&tde; &FAQ; please feel free to submit any patches or suggestions to the
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&tde; &FAQ; Maintainer, at <email>devels@trinitydesktop.org</email></para>
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</chapter>
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