Jman
2nd May 2005, 04:57 AM
This guide will help you find the answers to Fedora related questions you seek by outlining what resources to consult. I use these all the time to find answers. Doing this will help you get answers faster and will help people who answer questions by allowing them to answer more questions or even give them more time to improve the software you use.
(By "project" I mean the organization that created a particular open source project, for example XMMS (http://xmms.org/). Almost always these projects have a web site.)
Read the documentation
You can find documentation:
In a help menu
For console applications, a man page lists the options for a certain command. (Run "man program ") Use "apropos keyword to find a man page.
Under the /usr/share/doc directory. Typically this is under the program name.
Online at the project's web site documentation section. Searching the web for the program name usually finds it.
Fedora specific documentation is at http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/ and http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/
Read the Fedora FAQ (http://fedorafaq.org/)
There's a reason why this is called a FAQ: these questions are asked a lot.
If you are installing software, look for RPMs
With the right rpm software installs easily. See the FAQ (http://www.fedorafaq.org/#installsoftware) for a yum setup, which will install rpms for you. Use the Fedora Tracker (http://www.fedoratracker.org/) search engine to find rpm packages. Get familar with commands like "yum search" and "yum provides", these find the rpms you need. For those odd rpms not in a yum repository, try http://rpmfind.net. Limit your search to Fedora system. There may be rpms on the project's site.
Use project specific help channels
Many projects have their own support systems. Just tell them you are running Fedora. They may have:
Web forums
mailing lists
IRC channels (search IRC channels with this (http://irc.netsplit.de/channels/))
For example, there is a large Mozilla forum here (http://forums.mozillazine.org/). Use it.
Find howtos
Howtos can tell you exactly what you need to do. Often they contain hints about what programs you need to learn about. You can find howtos at
http://fedorasolved.org and related sites http://fedoramobile.org/ and http://fedora64.org/
http://fedoranews.org
http://fedoralinks.org
And of course here on FedoraForum (http://fedoraforum.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=12).
Search effectively
Whenever possible, limit your search. Include as many search terms as possible.
Some resources to search:
FedoraForum has a search (http://fedoraforum.org/forum/search.php) Use it. Google Linux search (http://www.google.com/linux) will search Linux related pages.
Fedora mailing list archives (https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/)
If you can't find it, ask
There are plenty of ways to communicate (http://fedora.redhat.com/participate/communicate/), including FedoraForum. Tell what you did and what is going wrong, as exactly as possible. Also mention what you've already looked at. Keep this guide to smart questions (http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html) and our posting guidelines (http://www.fedoraforum.org/?view=guide) in mind. Your answer will come quicker.
Finding answers is also a skill. Once mastered, you will be able to hear about some random open source progam, find its website, search for an rpm with the tracker, yum install it, then figure it out with its man page. It is not too hard, it is just a matter of knowing the right resources and how to use them.
Good luck, and may you find the answers you are seeking!
(By "project" I mean the organization that created a particular open source project, for example XMMS (http://xmms.org/). Almost always these projects have a web site.)
Read the documentation
You can find documentation:
In a help menu
For console applications, a man page lists the options for a certain command. (Run "man program ") Use "apropos keyword to find a man page.
Under the /usr/share/doc directory. Typically this is under the program name.
Online at the project's web site documentation section. Searching the web for the program name usually finds it.
Fedora specific documentation is at http://fedora.redhat.com/docs/ and http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/
Read the Fedora FAQ (http://fedorafaq.org/)
There's a reason why this is called a FAQ: these questions are asked a lot.
If you are installing software, look for RPMs
With the right rpm software installs easily. See the FAQ (http://www.fedorafaq.org/#installsoftware) for a yum setup, which will install rpms for you. Use the Fedora Tracker (http://www.fedoratracker.org/) search engine to find rpm packages. Get familar with commands like "yum search" and "yum provides", these find the rpms you need. For those odd rpms not in a yum repository, try http://rpmfind.net. Limit your search to Fedora system. There may be rpms on the project's site.
Use project specific help channels
Many projects have their own support systems. Just tell them you are running Fedora. They may have:
Web forums
mailing lists
IRC channels (search IRC channels with this (http://irc.netsplit.de/channels/))
For example, there is a large Mozilla forum here (http://forums.mozillazine.org/). Use it.
Find howtos
Howtos can tell you exactly what you need to do. Often they contain hints about what programs you need to learn about. You can find howtos at
http://fedorasolved.org and related sites http://fedoramobile.org/ and http://fedora64.org/
http://fedoranews.org
http://fedoralinks.org
And of course here on FedoraForum (http://fedoraforum.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=12).
Search effectively
Whenever possible, limit your search. Include as many search terms as possible.
Some resources to search:
FedoraForum has a search (http://fedoraforum.org/forum/search.php) Use it. Google Linux search (http://www.google.com/linux) will search Linux related pages.
Fedora mailing list archives (https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-list/)
If you can't find it, ask
There are plenty of ways to communicate (http://fedora.redhat.com/participate/communicate/), including FedoraForum. Tell what you did and what is going wrong, as exactly as possible. Also mention what you've already looked at. Keep this guide to smart questions (http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html) and our posting guidelines (http://www.fedoraforum.org/?view=guide) in mind. Your answer will come quicker.
Finding answers is also a skill. Once mastered, you will be able to hear about some random open source progam, find its website, search for an rpm with the tracker, yum install it, then figure it out with its man page. It is not too hard, it is just a matter of knowing the right resources and how to use them.
Good luck, and may you find the answers you are seeking!
