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diff --git a/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-askquestion.html b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-askquestion.html new file mode 100644 index 00000000000..f2f9211afd8 --- /dev/null +++ b/Master/texmf-dist/doc/generic/FAQ-en/html/FAQ-askquestion.html @@ -0,0 +1,61 @@ +<head> +<title>UK TeX FAQ -- question label askquestion</title> +</head><body> +<h3>How to ask a question</h3> +<p/>You want help from the community at large; you’ve decided where you’re +going to <a href="FAQ-gethelp.html">ask your question</a>, but how do you +phrase it? +<p/>Excellent “general” advice (how to ask questions of anyone) is +contained in + +<a href="http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html">Eric Raymond’s article on the topic</a>. +Eric’s an extremely self-confident person, and this comes through in +his advice; but his guidelines are very good, even for us in the +un-self-confident majority. It’s important to remember that you don’t +have a right to advice from the world, but that if you express +yourself well, you will usually find someone who will be pleased to +help. +<p/>So how do you express yourself in the (La)TeX world? There aren’t +any comprehensive rules, but a few guidelines may help in the +application of your own common sense. +<ul> +<li> Make sure you’re asking the right people. Don’t ask in a TeX + forum about printer device drivers for the <i>Foobar</i> + operating system. Yes, TeX users need printers, but no, TeX + users will typically <em>not</em> be <i>Foobar</i> systems + managers. +<p/> Similarly, avoid posing a question in a language that the majority + of the group don’t use: post in Ruritanian to + <i>de.comp.text.tex</i> and you may have a long wait before a + German- and Ruritanian-speaking TeX expert notices your + question. +<li> If your question is (or may be) TeX-system-specific, report + what system you’re using, or intend to use: “I can’t install + TeX” is as good as useless, whereas “I’m trying to install the + <i>mumbleTeX</i> distribution on the <i>Grobble</i> + operating system” gives all the context a potential respondent + might need. Another common situation where this information is + important is when you’re having trouble installing something new in + your system: “I want to add the <i>glugtheory</i> package to my + <i>mumbleTeX v12.0</i> distribution on the <i>Grobble 2024</i> + operating system”. +<li> If you need to know how to do something, make clear what your + environment is: “I want to do <em>x</em> in Plain TeX”, or “I + want to do <em>y</em> in LaTeX running the <i>boggle</i> + class”. If you thought you knew how, but your attempts are + failing, tell us what you’ve tried: “I’ve already tried installing + the <i>elephant</i> in the <i>minicar</i> directory, and it + didn’t work, even after refreshing the filename database”. +<li> If something’s going wrong within (La)TeX, pretend you’re + <a href="FAQ-latexbug.html">submitting a LaTeX bug report</a>, + and try to generate a <a href="FAQ-minxampl.html">minimum failing example</a>. + If your example + needs your local <i>xyzthesis</i> class, or some other resource + not generally available, be sure to include a pointer to how the + resource can be obtained. +<li> Be as succinct as possible. Your helpers don’t usually need to + know <em>why</em> you’re doing something, just <em>what</em> you’re + doing and where the problem is. +</ul> +<p/><p>This question on the Web: <a href="http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=askquestion">http://www.tex.ac.uk/cgi-bin/texfaq2html?label=askquestion</a> +</body> |