DISCUSSION: How To Ask a Question

rickmoen · 10-28-2005, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by XavierP
Apologies, I just know it as ESR's HowTo.

Not a problem. Once or twice in the past, I've had people quote my own very distinctive passages in that essay back at me, claiming that they were Eric's, and that's a really strange experience! ;-> (Each of us really did write about half of the thing.)

Best Regards,
Rick M.

XavierP · 10-28-2005, 12:36 PM

I'll see if I can get this amended - credit where credit is due!

jeremy · 10-29-2005, 04:06 PM

Thanks for the heads up Rick - the article has been updated.

--jeremy

anilbh · 11-01-2005, 06:30 PM

Read through how to post a question and wanted to fill in my profile about hardware etc.
Just cannot find it . I mean where do I fill it. ?
In fact generally I have a very hard time getting back to something I saw somewhere . One of these was Jeremy's excellent write up about upgrading from one Fedora core 1 or 2 to 3 or 4.
I searched but could not get back again . Now I am not even certain that I saw it here.

XavierP · 11-02-2005, 03:05 PM

How to Use LinuxQuestions.org is probably what you are looking for.

XavierP · 11-23-2006, 11:07 AM

Hey kids, XavierP here.

I first wrote this guide over a year ago and I worry that it may need updating. So, if anyone sees anything in the article which needs to be added or changed to reflect the ever growing community, please post here and I'll ensure that it gets added (assuming it's relevant, of course).

And here's the fun fun fun part - if I use your suggestion, I'll credit you on the article. What more do you need than having your name on a great article!!

Obviously, I'm not looking to make this as comprehensive as ESR/Rick Moen's guide, it should where possible be appropriate to LQ.

Thanks all

JZL240I-U · 11-24-2006, 04:46 AM

Hey XavierP

you could integrate the suggestions in the thread into your article if you like, so the harried or hasty newbie / reader

finds a complete package right there and then. Else it is still pertinent as ever...

XavierP · 11-24-2006, 05:12 AM

That's the aim. I keep sending people over to look at it and there are members with it linked in their sigs and I want to be sure that there's nothing out of date or useless.

Once I've got a few recommendations, I'll amend the tutorial itself.

Emmanuel_uk · 11-24-2006, 05:28 AM

Hi, the current version is good because relatively short
my previous comments stands but maybe not practical in retrospect
(I'd love to know the status solved/unsolved, but from experience yes
it would not be filled).

Update
- The rate thread as been re-introduced
- the automated search based on thread title need mentioning
- advice before asking look in the HCL as well

When asking a question, sometimes stating roughly the level of understanding/expertise can help to answer

Maybe advice as to try to post lspci or lsub quite systematically
for hardware related questions. Same always state distro and mobo when relevant
(avoid time wasting and giving instruction that cannot be well understood by newbie because of the balance to have between CLI and GUI)

If enhancement makes it longer, you may want to split it in part I and II

Will rattle my brain a bit more later

XavierP · 11-24-2006, 07:31 AM

So something like (Additions are in italics):

Quote:

What To Do When Your Question is Answered
Tell us. Tell us what worked for you. Someone coming along after you with an identical problem needs to know if the fixes work. And, just as importantly, the people who have spent their free time helping you would like to know that you have now solved the problem. Please don't just vanish or walk away without saying Thanks.

Another way is to rate the thread using the "Rate this thread" link at the top of the posts, or simply to tag it with "Answer" or "Solved". This way anyone coming along after you is aware that there was an answer to the problem or that the suggestions are particularly good.

Even better, find a place in the LQ Wiki to describe what was done to get it working properly first time. Not only will you help others, but your solution will be saved for posterity.

Quote:

Your Question
Before posting, it is always a good idea to know exactly what your questions is. That sounds strange, I know, but too often we see short, one line questions which need lots of further questioning until we can see the problem. In fact, the best thing to do is to run a Search first - chances are, your question has been asked and answered over and over again already. Another great resource is the LQ Wiki - there are a large number of articles, many dealing with diagnostics.

It should also be noted that when you go to write your thread, there is a button next to your new thread title called "Has this been asked before?" If you click the button, it will bring up a list of threads which are similar to your question. The answer you seek may be there. This will substantially cut down on your time-to-fix and will give you more things to add to your post. It will also mean that if you need to go ahead and post your thread, you won't be inundated with suggestins to "Search LQ"

Quote:

Your Question
.....
That does not give us any of the information needed to help you. We need to know: your distribution (really this should be set in your User Profile so you only need to type it in once), the version of the program (if it's, for example, GAIM, the answer may simply be to upgrade to the latest version), how you were trying to run it, what happens if you run it from the console, what error messages you get, what searches you have run already (this is important, there's nothing worse than spending ages on a search for someone only to be told "I tried that")

If your problem has a hardware component to it, open up a console and type in

Code:

lspci

and

Code:

lsusb

(if you think your problem is to do with USB elements). You could even type in

Code:

dmesg

and paste up the last 25 lines of the output. Doing this will give us far more to look at and will help us to diagnose your problem. We're going to ask for it anyway, so pre-empt the question, we really won't mind. If the problem is to do with X, give us the relevant part of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. If you are asking about mount points, your /etc/fstab file gives us somewhere to start.

Something else to consider is that LQ has had a Hardware Compatibility List for some time. Check the listings for your hardware to see if it works at all with Linux. Really, anything which gives a head start to anyone answering your question is a good thing.

Good ideas Emmanuel_UK - keep 'em coming everyone.

Emmanuel_uk · 11-24-2006, 07:38 AM

dmesg | tail -n25
would tha not cut it to 25 automatically

Quote:

"Answer" or "Solved"

This is a clever use of the tags!
I would not give people a choice. Lets have a unique tag
Solved? sound best to me, better than answered
I think tag searching is not case sensitive, is it not?

Emmanuel_uk · 11-24-2006, 07:42 AM

forgot
/var/log/Xorg.0.log often needed

Maybe a link to faqs (there is one for the wiki already)

wondering about the sound question is coming so often
so is what distro is right for me

so maybe the 3 or 5 most asked question could already be redirected

Emmanuel_uk · 11-24-2006, 08:09 AM

Answering your own thread can be counter-productive
because 0 answer threads get publicised in many ways.
So do not be too hasty in bumping your own thread.
A good well thougt question with details with 0 answer is good.
You can always edit and rephrase your own question with the edit
button at the bottom of the thread.

As often we will ask for
su; tail -f /var/log/syslog &
or for
sudo tail -f /var/log/syslog &
Do try to have a look at this in a terminal for whatever "technical" problem
you have, and see if there is any clue or alarm bells and whistles

JZL240I-U · 11-24-2006, 08:16 AM

My suggested addition (underscored):

Quote:

So something like (Additions are in italics):

What To Do When Your Question is Answered

a) Go through the steps
It is immensely frustrating for any helper when perfectly sound advice isn't acted upon. So, when you get advice what to do please do try it and report back the results / failures. That is particularly necessary if the some suggestions are steps in a whole procedure to be tried out for finding a solution and only 15 posts later the original poster grudgingly deigns to test a suggestion already three days old and a lot of effort of other people wasted.

b) When your problem is solved at long last
Tell us. Tell us what worked for you. Someone coming along after you with an identical problem needs to know if the fixes work. And, just as importantly, the people who have spent their free time helping you would like to know that you have now solved the problem. Please don't just vanish or walk away without saying Thanks.

Another way is to rate the thread using the "Rate this thread" link at the top of the posts, or simply to tag it with "Answer" or "Solved". This way anyone coming along after you is aware that there was an answer to the problem or that the suggestions are particularly good.

Even better, find a place in the LQ Wiki to describe what was done to get it working properly first time. Not only will you help others, but your solution will be saved for posterity.

Feel free to alter or omit.

XavierP · 11-24-2006, 08:21 AM

Damn yer eyes man! A bunch of good ideas.

I think I will create a new section in the how to called "Pro-Tips for Posters" - that way, I can keep the existing sections pretty much as they are and add these into their own area.

Quote:

Pro-Tips for Posters

Questions such as "Which Distro is best" are asked and answered many many times on LQ. Despite the fact that you have added in several options and other information to make the question unique, the answers will always be the same. Please don't post one of these - read the existing threads.
As well as posting up the contents of xorg.conf and other files as mentioned, it would also be ueful to provide the following:
Code:
```
tail -f /var/log/syslog &
tail -f /var/log/syslog &
```
Clearly we don't want you to post up the whole file, read through it to see if there are any errors or messages which relate to your problem
Ansering your own thread is counterproductive. LQ has a system which "bumps" unanswered threads back to the top of the list over a period of time. If you answer your thread, your thread will not be seen by the auto-bumper. Instead, edit your post to give more information.
The LQ Wiki has a Frequently Asked Questions List which should be read before posting.

and

Quote:

What To Do When Your Question is Answered
Tell us. Tell us what worked for you. Someone coming along after you with an identical problem needs to know if the fixes work. And, just as importantly, the people who have spent their free time helping you would like to know that you have now solved the problem. Please don't just vanish or walk away without saying Thanks.

Another way is to rate the thread using the "Rate this thread" link at the top of the posts, or simply to tag it with "answer". This way anyone coming along after you is aware that there was an answer to the problem or that the suggestions are particularly good.

Even better, find a place in the LQ Wiki to describe what was done to get it working properly first time. Not only will you help others, but your solution will be saved for posterity.