[Glastonbury] Please help Me!!!!!!!!

[Andrew M.A. Cater]

On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 07:05:12PM +0000, Martin WHEELER wrote:
> On Fri, 29 Aug 2003, tom hayward wrote:
> 
> > Im just using the basic things like...Paint or Microsoft Picture it...
> 

< Ha ha, only serious>

I'll support you using MS products and suggest free alternatives
that may run under Windows - if you'll pay my Windows consultancy fee.

My Linux/Unix/shell scripting consultancy fees are on the same 
scale as Startext's fees for Martin [I have been known to assist 
Startext on his behalf].  My Windows consultancy fees are three times 
as high and I request a 33% rate up front per hour before I'll press a 
key.

</HHOS>

All: this is a Linux User Group.  _USE_ Linux.  If you can't use Linux -
attempt to RTFM, ask clueful questions (see Cathedral and the Bazaar 
for how to ask questions properly), _try_ to use Linux and then come
back to the list, ideally summarising the thread for the benefit of 
others when you have found your Linux solution.  

Learn to use Google and other search engines and refine your searches 
until you are nearer the information you need.

Lurk on the mailing lists for a while. Read the archives. Check to
see whether someone else appears to have had similar problems.
Get to know the strengths and weaknesses of the frequent contributors
to the mailing list. (Who you gonna call - Ghostscriptbusters??)

Don't ask basics like

"how do I write HTML/Javascript/insert images" 

unless a) You've at least thought about it and exhausted the 
obvious resources and Web based tutorials and primers and
b) it's relatively relevant to Linux.  

[If you find yourself asking basics again and again and being told
that this is an FAQ - write a bloody HOWTO or a Glastonbury LUG FAQ
that other people can refer back to in order to avoid an endless
cycle of repetitions.]

More relevant sorts of stuff might be "I'm trying to set up an 
e-commerce site.  I've no relevant programming experience but I'm happy 
with editors and general troubleshooting and sysadmin.  The following 
may help: I've a copy of SuSE 8.2 with kernel version 2.4.20.  The 
machine I'm using is an Aardvark model (P4 3.06GHz processor, 2048M ram, 
NVIDIA TNT2 graphics, 60GB IDE hard disk. XFree86 version 4.2 
fully installed.  User loads are light - virtually no users on the 
machine and load averages are typically 0.1 0.1 0.1 I don't anticipate 
huge numbers of  Web users in the first quarter but will expect growth 
thereafter.  The clientele will potentially include people who can't use a 
mouse.  Initial thoughts/pointers to initial gotchas, similar 
experiences and notes of any problems would be useful as would the 
name of a local LAMP guru :)"

in other words - a broadly defined problem but anticipating a Linux
solution and giving useful pointers to general information that might
be needed as a basis for the solution.

Andy

[Who has been _bloody_ impressed by the speed of peregrine falcons at
the National Falconry Centre today :) ]