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Open Week -- Finding Help in Ubuntu -- Mike Basinger -- Mon, May 3

EDT -5

(03:01:40 PM) Technoviking: Afternoon all
(03:02:12 PM) Technoviking: This session will be very short and sweet and for people pretty new to Ubuntu.
(03:03:00 PM) Technoviking: My name is Mike Basinger, I'm a member of the Ubuntu Forums Council and Forums Admin, and the Ubuntu Community Council
(03:03:18 PM) Technoviking: I also write the Q&A column for Ubuntu User magazine.
(03:04:37 PM) Technoviking: One of the major strength of open source over our commerical counterparts is the large community-driven support assicated with diferent projects
(03:05:29 PM) Technoviking: In Ubuntu we have a wide vareity of community support areas where you can get techincal support for Ubuntu Linux
(03:05:46 PM) Technoviking: Forums: http://ubuntuforums.org or http://www.ubuntu.com/support/community/webforums (my favorite :))
(03:06:06 PM) Technoviking: Mailing Lists: https://lists.ubuntu.com/
(03:06:23 PM) Technoviking: Launchpad Answers: https://answers.launchpad.net/
(03:06:45 PM) Technoviking: IRC: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InternetRelayChat
(03:06:59 PM) Technoviking: and LoCo teams: http://loco.ubuntu.com/teams/
(03:08:08 PM) Technoviking: The quality of the support you get will be same as the quality of information you give people about your problem
(03:08:36 PM) Technoviking: other word crap in = crap out, gold in = gold out
(03:09:32 PM) Technoviking: The are a few thing you should do when asking tech support questions in Ubuntu
(03:09:44 PM) Technoviking: 1. Be Proactive
(03:09:54 PM) Technoviking: Search Google, the forums, and other online resources for your problem and possible solution.
(03:10:56 PM) Technoviking: Google is your friend, and a good Google search will provide tons of tech support answer for common questions
(03:10:59 PM) Technoviking: Respond when people ask for more information on your issue.
(03:12:12 PM) Technoviking: When you ask a question, someone may ask for more information, be sure to provide back any infromation asked for (within reason, ie, no one needs to know any of your passwords)
(03:12:31 PM) Technoviking: See if the problem happen on more than one machine.
(03:12:54 PM) Technoviking: This help determine if it a machine related or over all general problem.
(03:13:11 PM) Technoviking: Be Precise:
(03:13:20 PM) Technoviking: Give as much details as possible on the problem you are having.
(03:13:50 PM) Technoviking: Once again, the better information you give, the better chance someone help assist you.
(03:14:18 PM) Technoviking: Know exactly what hardware you are using
(03:14:27 PM) Technoviking: t is better to say "My Intel 3945 wireless card is drops packets" than "My wireless card it broken"(lspci is your friend.)
(03:15:15 PM) Technoviking: lspci is a commmand line tool that will list the hardware connected to you pci bus
(03:15:54 PM) Technoviking: so lspci | grep Network will list your network cards
(03:16:03 PM) Technoviking: In my case 06:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless WiFi Link 5100
(03:16:22 PM) Technoviking: Be Honest:
(03:17:07 PM) Technoviking: Be up front if you installed third party software or using a many many PPAs
(03:18:04 PM) Technoviking: It will help people helping you know exactly what is going on on your machine
(03:18:14 PM) Technoviking: Be Patient
(03:19:04 PM) Technoviking: Don't repeat your question over and over again, if someone can answer they will, but it may take a a few hours or days for someone to answer your question.
(03:19:50 PM) Technoviking: and repeat your question multiple time in a short period can get you kicked from IRC channel and infractions on the forums.
(03:20:05 PM) Technoviking: Use the proper tools
(03:21:02 PM) Technoviking: In IRC you should not copy multiple lines of text in an IRC channel. Use pastebin (http://paste.ubuntu.com/) to post your output to IRC.
(03:21:18 PM) Technoviking: Take screenshot of problem or record video of your desktop with gtk-recordmydesktop.
(03:21:42 PM) Technoviking: This will help people helping you see exactly what is happening on your computer.
(03:22:35 PM) Technoviking: Be sure to submit a bug if it is deemed needed. (ubuntu-bug package-name or Help --> Submit Bug Report in many programs).
(03:23:01 PM) ClassBot: TMKCodes asked: What about people who dont know how to give info about their problem?
(03:24:00 PM) Technoviking: I would suggest try to give as much information as they can, or find a Ubuntu Loco or LUG in their area to get some in person support
(03:24:15 PM) ClassBot: JR0cket asked: are there any common tools or commands someone should run to help diagnose the problem?
(03:24:36 PM) Technoviking: lspci is great for finding out hardware
(03:25:15 PM) Technoviking: I also run problems from the command line which will give you output from the program in question
(03:25:47 PM) Technoviking: I would suggest lsmod to see what kernel modules are loaded.
(03:26:30 PM) Technoviking: Also the Ubuntu wiki has some great resources for finding out how to debug some problems.
(03:27:04 PM) Technoviking: For example, https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WiFiHowTo is a great resource for learning how to debug wireless problems
(03:27:18 PM) ClassBot: JR0cket asked: What are the best log files to start looking in?
(03:28:36 PM) Technoviking: running dmesg is a great command line tool to see current kernel message are happening
(03:29:43 PM) Technoviking: System Logfile viewer will (System --> Administration --< System Logfile viewer) will let you browse log files in a GUI format
(03:30:45 PM) ClassBot: brobostigon82 asked: in ubuntu-uk we are going to trial http://pad.ubuntu-uk.org/atS35AtTW5 ad guidelines for user support, how good would such guidelines be, inorder to help people find support, in thatwe who are going to help, can better assist.?
(03:32:18 PM) Technoviking: brobostigon82: those are some very good guidelines. I think the main thing to consider is you want everyone to be able to ask for support from your Grandma to Mark Shuttleworth
(03:32:58 PM) Technoviking: brobostigon82: so make sure you consider that document as a guildeline and not set in stone
(03:34:00 PM) Technoviking: when you ask or answer a tech support question, be sure to follow the guidelines in the Ubuntu Code of Conduct
(03:35:14 PM) Technoviking: be respectful to the person, and never say RTFM, just give a gentle nudge to the fine manual if needed:)
(03:35:25 PM) Technoviking: any more questions?
(03:37:30 PM) Technoviking: Canonical does offer paid support for Ubuntu desktop now (I believe), don't have that information with me
(03:38:04 PM) Technoviking: That another option for people to use if community support does not have an answer
(03:38:56 PM) Technoviking: Here is the paid support link http://www.ubuntu.com/support/services
(03:39:31 PM) ClassBot: avu97 asked: is there a way to purchase support on a per incident basis, rather than for at least a whole year?
(03:40:28 PM) Technoviking: avu97: It can be suggested to Canonical. I will forward this comment to them
(03:42:17 PM) Technoviking: if you have any more question, I'n technoviking in irc, the forums, and twitter/identi.ca or you can email me at mike.basinger@ubuntu.com
(03:42:43 PM) akgraner: Technoviking, thank you so much - you are a wealth of information
(03:42:58 PM) Technoviking: thanks for listening and for the question, now lets make Ubuntu 10.04 rock
(03:43:23 PM) akgraner: If there are no other questions for Technoviking that will conclude today's open week sessions!