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<chapter id="introduction"> 
<title> Introduction</title> 
<anchor id="anc-introduction"/> 

<para>&knode; is an easy-to-use, convenient newsreader; it is intended
to allow even newbies to use a newsreader under &kde;, but it also
offers advanced features appealing to experienced users. &knode; is a
online-reader but could work together with a newsserver like
<application>leafnode</application> as an offline-reader.</para>

<para>As of version 0.4 &knode; complies with all the requirements of
the <glossterm>GNKSA</glossterm>.</para>

<para>If you have problems or questions about this program, please
contact the mailing list for &kde; users (for subscription, see<ulink
url="http://www.kde.org/contact.html">Homepage of the &kde; mailing
lists</ulink> ) or one of the &kde; newsgroups:</para>

<simplelist>
<member>comp.windows.x.kde</member>
<member>de.comp.os.unix.apps.kde (german)</member>
</simplelist>

<para>If you have found a bug or have suggestions regarding the
functionality of &knode; please report them via the 
<menuchoice><guimenu>Help</guimenu><guimenuitem>Report
bug...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu.</para>

<para>Please make sure when asking questions in the newsgroups and
mailing lists mentioned above that the question you are asking
is not answered in this manual.</para>

<para>For those new to reading news and posting articles, the
<link linkend="knode-journey">A journey through
Usenet</link> chapter is recommended; it is not so much about &knode; as how to
move about in the Usenet with its help. In general, it is not
sufficient to just master a news reader for writing news
articles: imagine a car driver who masters his car perfectly but does
not know about the traffic rules or signs; do you want to encounter
such a driver when out in traffic? So please take your time to learn
at least a little about the <quote>traffic rules</quote> of the
Usenet; the other participants will thank you.</para>

<tip>
<para>&knode; supports you in many cases with hints and warnings: if
you do not simply ignore them you will avoid many beginners'
mistakes; but, do not exclusively depend on them either.</para>
</tip>

<para>Please address suggestions and criticisms at the author or at the
responsible translator for your language.</para>

</chapter>

