aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/chapter01/askforhelp.xml
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
authorAlex Gronenwoud <alex@linuxfromscratch.org>2004-03-07 12:09:31 +0000
committerAlex Gronenwoud <alex@linuxfromscratch.org>2004-03-07 12:09:31 +0000
commitc6b5ddb7a6bd11d84c183cd3c3fd3c507f797978 (patch)
tree88acb063b0dc886b61397b207a3876660326aa1b /chapter01/askforhelp.xml
parent4f4b4e84a2efa25e30cf50136bdfb014e1c23163 (diff)
Shifting chapter contents, and moving preparational sections of chapter 5 to a separate chapter.
git-svn-id: http://svn.linuxfromscratch.org/LFS/trunk/BOOK@3284 4aa44e1e-78dd-0310-a6d2-fbcd4c07a689
Diffstat (limited to 'chapter01/askforhelp.xml')
-rw-r--r--chapter01/askforhelp.xml103
1 files changed, 103 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/chapter01/askforhelp.xml b/chapter01/askforhelp.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c4f3fa47f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/chapter01/askforhelp.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+<sect1 id="prepare-askforhelp">
+<title>How to ask for help</title>
+<?dbhtml filename="askforhelp.html" dir="chapter02"?>
+
+<para>If you encounter a problem while using this book, and your problem
+is not listed in the FAQ (<ulink url="&faq-root;"/>), you will find that
+most of the people on Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and on the mailing lists
+are willing to help you (see <xref linkend="ch-scatter-administrativa"/>.
+To assist us in diagnosing and solving your problem, include as much relevant
+information as possible in your request for help.</para>
+
+<sect2>
+<title>Things to mention</title>
+
+<para>Apart from a brief explanation of the problem you're having, the
+essential things to include in your request are:</para>
+
+<itemizedlist>
+<listitem><para>the version of the book you are using (being &version;),</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>the host distribution and version you are using to create
+LFS from,</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>the package or section giving you problems,</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>the exact error message or symptom you are receiving,</para></listitem>
+<listitem><para>whether you have deviated from the book at all.</para></listitem>
+</itemizedlist>
+
+<para>(Note that saying that you've deviated from the book doesn't mean
+that we won't help you. After all, LFS is about choice. It'll just
+help us to see other possible causes of your problem.)</para>
+
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2>
+<title>Configure problems</title>
+
+<para>When something goes wrong during the stage where the configure script
+is run, look through the <filename>config.log</filename> file. This file
+may contain errors encountered during configure which weren't printed to
+the screen. Include those relevant lines if you decide to ask for
+help.</para>
+
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2>
+<title>Compile problems</title>
+
+<para>To help us find the cause of the problem, both screen output and
+the contents of various files are useful. The screen output from both
+the ./configure script and the make run can be useful. Don't blindly
+include the whole thing but on the other hand, don't include too little.
+As an example, here is some screen output from make:</para>
+
+<screen>gcc -DALIASPATH=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale:.\"
+-DLOCALEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/share/locale\" -DLIBDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/lib\"
+-DINCLUDEDIR=\"/mnt/lfs/usr/include\" -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I.
+-g -O2 -c getopt1.c
+gcc -g -O2 -static -o make ar.o arscan.o commands.o dir.o expand.o file.o
+function.o getopt.o implicit.o job.o main.o misc.o read.o remake.o rule.o
+signame.o variable.o vpath.o default.o remote-stub.o version.o opt1.o
+-lutil job.o: In function `load_too_high':
+/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1/job.c:1565: undefined reference to `getloadavg'
+collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
+make[2]: *** [make] Error 1
+make[2]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
+make[1]: *** [all-recursive] Error 1
+make[1]: Leaving directory `/lfs/tmp/make-3.79.1'
+make: *** [all-recursive-am] Error 2</screen>
+
+<para>In this case, many people just include the bottom section where it
+says:</para>
+
+<screen>make [2]: *** [make] Error 1</screen>
+
+<para>and onwards. This isn't enough for us to diagnose the problem because it
+only tells us that <emphasis>something</emphasis> went wrong, not
+<emphasis>what</emphasis> went wrong. The whole section, as in the example
+above, is what should be included to be helpful, because it includes the
+command that was executed and the command's error message(s).</para>
+
+<para>An excellent article on asking for help on the Internet in general
+has been written by Eric S. Raymond. It is available online at <ulink
+url="http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html"/>.
+Read and follow the hints in that document and you are much more likely
+to get a response to start with and also to get the help you actually
+need.</para>
+
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2>
+<title>Test suite problems</title>
+
+<para>Many packages provide a test suite which, depending on the importance
+of the package, we may encourage you to run. Sometimes packages will
+generate false or expected failures. If you encounter these, you can check
+the LFS Wiki page at <ulink url="&wiki-root;"/> to see whether we have
+already noted and investigated them. If we already know
+about them, then usually there is no need to be concerned.</para>
+
+</sect2>
+
+
+</sect1>
+