Quote:
Originally Posted by Ansen
... but I don't know how to ask questions and who is the receiver ?
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tldr; don't top-post
All the subscribers to the list will receive the message, unless they are using M$ Outlook, in which case only a percentage of them will get the message. Keep both the text and any code snippets as brief as necessary, but no shorter, to get your point across in a direct and focused, but polite manner and you will have a greater risk that someone replies to you message.
List subscribers include more than a few archiving bots, many lurkers, and even some people not subscribed to the list because
the list is public the archives will be too. People might find the archived message the same day or years later, so keep that in mind when framing the question.
In addition to
general netiquette (search for that and read at least a few netiquette guidelines) each list will have some
local fine tuning and following those will be the a key step in the right way to ask a question.
In general:
- keep replies on-list
- keep it focused
- trim your replies
- do not top post
- use plain text, not HTML
- wrap at 80 columns
- no attachments, though that is a per-list decision and some allow them, some tolerate them, some block them
- really, do not top post
Keeping it focused will include ignoring
ad hominem and other fallacies, real or perceived, which are intended to derail the discussion changing the technical topic into an argument will be a loss for you, changing an argument into a technical discussion will be a win. (Many key projects end up with griefers paid to disrupt the project, ICT is war these recent decades.)
Trimming your replies will also help keep it focused and highlight the part(s) of the message which you are replying to.
Not top-posting will enhance focus and allow the message to be read in a normal flow.
"Plain text, it was good enough for Shakespeare." Use
plain text e-mail. HTML just mucks everything up, but you might have to change the defaults on your mail client to get plain text because the default settings in web-mail are not for your benefit.
It will help if you use a dedicated e-mail client capable of threading. There are several very good ones to choose from in your distro's repository and the link in the previous paragraph has a nice list of them. Whatever client you use, be
very sure to learn the ins and outs of it and its configuration. If you use web-mail or a "smart" phone, realize that most are misconfigured to top post by default. That is not done for your benefit either so be sure to change that configuration and save the settings to disallow top-posting.
Once you have subscribed, just lurk for a while to get the feel of the flow list. Supplement that with digging through the list archives to get a feel for the style.
Lastly, don't top post.