Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 10:10:25 +1000 From: "Andrew Kozak" <akozak@richardflanagan.com.au> To: <rpratt1950@earthlink.net> Cc: FreeBSD Newbies <freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Mailing lists (was RE: growfs question) Message-ID: <3FDCFBF0.000001.02096@akozak> References: <20031213091345.1ca7d655.rpratt1950@earthlink.net>
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Hiya Randy Sound good, thanks very much for the tips I'll give that method a go for sure :) Regards Andy -------Original Message------- From: Randy Pratt Date: 14/12/2003 12:15:11 AM To: Andrew Kozak Cc: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Subject: Mailing lists (was RE: growfs question) On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 16:28:29 +1000, Andrew Kozak wrote: > I find the -questions email list to be way too busy and technical > to be of any use to me. Where do I find a "new user" oriented > technical help list? I am now on the -questions list for the third > time, the volume of mail is incredible, and following threads is > entirely beyond me there, as most subject lines are meaningless to > me, I have such a low understanding of the technical stuff. And the > man pages and other documentation assumes knowledge not in > evidence to me. In other words, can't make heads or tails of them, > either. You've ran into some of the same issues I had when I started using FreeBSD/unix so I thought I'd offer some suggestions that you might find helpful. The volume of mail on some of the FreeBSD mailing lists can be daunting. Its really not necessary to subscribe to the lists to post a question. For this reason, people will cc you on any responses to your question (or should). It might be wise to request that you be copied if you don't subscribe as a reminder for those that might forget. Almost all of the lists are available for reading without subscribing via the web: http://docs.freebsd.org/mail/current/ The links to each mailing list contain the current week's postings and its content is continuously updated. The online version is archived early Sunday morning and then starts over. If you want to browse old archives in threaded format, they can be accessed thru the parent directory: http://docs.freebsd.org/mail/ Personally, I find reading the lists in this manner preferable to subscribing to each list and managing it locally. Once I found my favorite lists, I made a local document which contained links directly to those lists so that they're just a click away. I've also made it a habit to save copies of posts that are of interest to me for quick reference. It seemed to be much easier than trying to find it again using a search engine. I've found that reading the lists on a regular basis can greatly add to your knowledge. Once you find something, try reading the manual page on it. It takes a little practice to develop some skill to read and understand manual pages (and often several readings of the same thing). Manual pages are written primarily as reference documents and not tutorials. Once you get the hang of them, they are a valuable resource. I'm fairly sure you'll get some responses to your query from the questions list. Don't forget that people answering your question are volunteering so be patient and courteous. Best regards, Randy --
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