FreeBSD-newbies group is a compromise community.

[Randy Pratt]

On Sat, 20 Mar 2004 10:16:30 -0800 Sally wrote:
(reformatted to less than 72 characters per line)
> 
> I am receiving the -questions list. I delete the messages as they
> are too many, and too detailed for me. Not to mention that most are
> not relevant to any experience I am having.

Its not necessary to subscribe to any mailing list that you wish to
read.  You can view the current week's lists at:

	http://docs.freebsd.org/mail/current/

Once you find the lists you want to read, then you can make a
bookmark or document with a list of html links.  I read almost all
the lists online without piling up in my mailbox.  Its much easier
to be selective about what to read this way.

> How can I ask a question on the -questions list and get the
> response? I cannot read them all, they are too many for me. I would
> rather that  there was a "-newbies questions" list, where some more
> experienced folks are willing to take some time to explain simple
> questions and concepts to newbies. I know this will not happen,
> it is just my wish.

You do not have to subscribe to the freebsd-questions mailing list
in order to post a question.  Most people will CC: you on any
response, but it wouldn't hurt to remind them that you are not
subscribed and would appreciate a CC.

I'm fairly sure that if you post your questions that you would get
some reasonable pointers in the right directions.  The days of 
"RTFM" and "man foo" are pretty much gone and answers are more
complete.  Just take care to be polite, provide as much relevant
information as possible, and indicate what you've tried to solve
the problem.  People are much more willing to help someone who
demonstrates a willingness to learn how to solve their own issues.

> I know that the first thing to do is "read the manual", and I try.
> I need a list that will help me to understand what I read in the
> man pages.

That is an excellent start.  When you first start trying to learn
new things, its often necessary to build a foundation to work from.
Once you have that foundation, then things start to click and
those manual pages start to make sense.  They're not meant to be
tutorials, but references.

Also, don't forget the mailing list archives.  They are a gold mine
of information.  Chances are, that if you have a question, it has
been asked before!  If you can't find your answer, I have been
using this search link for awhile:

	http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&group=mailing.freebsd

You can select an option that causes it to only search the FreeBSD
mailing lists.  Also, be sure and try different keyword combinations.

> Right now I am getting an error message when I try to do
> portupgrade.  I am very reluctant to try to send that error
> message to the -questions list.

That error message is important.  That is what people on the
-questions mailing list will need to see in order to offer any
assistance.  I will point out that there is a new document been
added that may be of help:

	/usr/ports/UPDATING

This document contains issues that may affect you during port
updating.  Give that a read and see if that may help with your
problem.

If not, then review http://www.lemis.com/questions.html and send
your question to the list.  If you don't understand the responses,
just ask for more clarification.  This also helps add more to the
archives which help others in the future.

I hope this helps a little and gives you needed encouragement.

And, by the way, Welcome to FreeBSD ;-)

Best regards,

Randy
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