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1bac2ebb | 1 | GNU Project Electronic Mailing Lists and gnUSENET Newsgroups |
b727702b | 2 | Last Updated 2006-06-03 |
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3 | |
4 | Please report improvements to: gnu@gnu.org | |
5 | ||
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6 | See the end of this file for copyright notice and copying conditions |
7 | ||
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8 | * Mailing list archives |
9 | ||
6a6cc11c RS |
10 | The GNU mailing lists are archived at http://lists.gnu.org. |
11 | ||
12 | * Some GNU mailing lists are also distributed as USENET news groups | |
13 | ||
14 | Certain GNU mailing lists are gated both ways with the gnu.all | |
15 | newsgroups at uunet. You can tell which they are, because the names | |
16 | correspond. For instance, bug-gnu-emacs corresponds to gnu.emacs.bug; | |
17 | info-gnu-emacs, to gnu.emacs.announce; help-gnu-emacs, to | |
18 | gnu.emacs.help; gnu-emacs-sources, to gnu.emacs.sources. Replacing | |
19 | `emacs' with some other program in those four examples shows you | |
20 | the whole pattern. | |
21 | ||
22 | If you don't know if your site is on USENET, ask your system | |
23 | administrator. If you are a USENET site and don't get the gnu.all | |
24 | newsgroups, please ask your USENET administrator to get them. If he has | |
25 | your feeds ask their feeds, you should win. And everyone else wins: | |
26 | newsgroups make better use of the limited bandwidth of the computer | |
27 | networks and your home machine than mailing list traffic; and staying | |
28 | off the mailing lists make better use of the people who maintain the | |
29 | lists and the machines that the GNU people working with rms use (i.e. we | |
30 | have more time to produce code!!). Thanx. | |
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31 | |
32 | * Getting the mailing lists directly | |
33 | ||
34 | If several users at your site or local network want to read a list and | |
35 | you aren't a USENET site, Project GNU would prefer that you would set up | |
36 | one address that redistributes locally. This reduces overhead on our | |
37 | people and machines, your gateway machine, and the network(s) used to | |
38 | transport the mail from us to you. | |
39 | ||
40 | * How to subscribe to and report bugs in mailing lists | |
41 | ||
42 | Send requests to be added or removed, to help-gnu-emacs-request (or | |
43 | info-gnu-request, bug-gdb-request, etc.), NOT to info-gnu-emacs (or | |
44 | info-gnu, etc.). Most <LIST_NAME>-request addresses are now handled | |
6a6cc11c | 45 | automagically by GNU Mailman. |
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46 | |
47 | If you need to report problems to a human, send mail to gnu@gnu.org | |
48 | explaining the problem. | |
49 | ||
50 | Many of the GNU mailing lists are very large and are received by many | |
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51 | people. Most are unmoderated, so please don't send them anything that |
52 | is not seriously important to all their readers. | |
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53 | |
54 | If a message you mail to a list is returned from a MAILER-DAEMON (often | |
55 | with the line: | |
56 | ----- Transcript of session follows ----- | |
57 | don't resend the message to the list. All this return means is that | |
58 | your original message failed to reach a few addresses on the list. Such | |
59 | messages are NEVER a reason to resend a piece of mail a 2nd time. This | |
60 | just bothers all (less the few delivery failures (which will probably | |
61 | just fail again!)) of the readers of the list with a message they have | |
62 | already seen. It also wastes computer and network resources. | |
63 | ||
64 | It is appropriate to send these to the -request address for a list, and | |
65 | ask them to check the problem out. | |
66 | ||
67 | * Send Specific Requests for Information to: gnu@gnu.org | |
68 | ||
69 | Specific requests for information about obtaining GNU software, or GNU | |
70 | activities in Cambridge and elsewhere can be directed to: | |
71 | gnu@gnu.org | |
72 | ||
73 | * General Information about all lists | |
74 | ||
75 | Please keep each message under 25,000 characters. Some mailers bounce | |
76 | messages that are longer than this. If your message is long, it is | |
77 | generally better to send a message offering to make the large file | |
78 | available to only those people who want it (e.g. mailing it to people | |
79 | who ask, or putting it up for FTP). In the case of gnu.emacs.sources, | |
80 | somewhat larger postings (up to 10 parts of no more than 25,000 | |
81 | characters each) are acceptable (assuming they are likely to be of | |
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82 | interest to a reasonable number of people); if it is larger than that, |
83 | put it in a web page and announce its URL. Good bug reports are short. | |
84 | See section '* General Information about bug-* lists and ...' for | |
85 | further details. | |
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86 | |
87 | Most of the time, when you reply to a message sent to a list, the reply | |
88 | should not go to the list. But most mail reading programs supply, by | |
89 | default, all the recipients of the original as recipients of the reply. | |
90 | Make a point of deleting the list address from the header when it does | |
91 | not belong. This prevents bothering all readers of a list, and reduces | |
92 | network congestion. | |
93 | ||
94 | The GNU mailing lists and newsgroups, like the GNU project itself, exist | |
95 | to promote the freedom to share software. So don't use these lists to | |
96 | promote or recommend non-free software or documentation, like | |
97 | proprietary books on GNU software. (Using them to post ordering | |
98 | information is the ultimate faux pas.) If there is no free program to | |
99 | do a certain task, then somebody should write one! Similarly, free | |
100 | documentation that is inadequate should be improved--a way in which | |
101 | non-programmers can make a valuable contribution. See also the article | |
102 | at <URL:http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-doc.html>. | |
103 | ||
104 | * General Information about info-* lists | |
105 | ||
106 | These lists and their newsgroups are meant for important announcements. | |
107 | Since the GNU project uses software development as a means for social | |
108 | change, the announcements may be technical or political. | |
109 | ||
110 | Most GNU projects info-* lists (and their corresponding gnu.*.announce | |
111 | newsgroups) are moderated to keep their content significant and | |
112 | relevant. If you have a bug to report, send it to the bug-* list. If | |
113 | you need help on something else and the help-* list exists, ask it. | |
114 | ||
115 | See section '* General Information about all lists'. | |
116 | ||
117 | * General Information about help-* lists | |
118 | ||
119 | These lists (and their newsgroups) exist for anyone to ask questions | |
120 | about the GNU software that the list deals with. The lists are read by | |
121 | people who are willing to take the time to help other users. | |
122 | ||
123 | When you answer the questions that people ask on the help-* lists, keep | |
124 | in mind that you shouldn't answer by promoting a proprietary program as | |
125 | a solution. The only real solutions are the ones all the readers can | |
126 | share. | |
127 | ||
128 | If a program crashes, or if you build it following the standard | |
129 | procedure on a system on which it is supposed to work and it does not | |
130 | work at all, or if an command does not behave as it is documented to | |
131 | behave, this is a bug. Don't send bug reports to a help-* list; mail | |
132 | them to the bug-* list instead. | |
133 | ||
134 | See section '* General Information about all lists'. | |
135 | ||
136 | * General Information about bug-* lists and reporting program bugs | |
137 | ||
138 | If you think something is a bug in a program, it might be one; or, it | |
139 | might be a misunderstanding or even a feature. Before beginning to | |
140 | report bugs, please read the section ``Reporting Emacs Bugs'' toward the | |
141 | end of the GNU Emacs reference manual (or node Emacs/Bugs in Emacs's | |
142 | built-in Info system) for a discussion of how and when to send in bug | |
143 | reports. For GNU programs other than GNU Emacs, also consult their | |
144 | documentation for their bug reporting procedures. Always include the | |
145 | version number of the GNU program, as well as the operating system and | |
146 | machine the program was ran on (if the program doesn't have a version | |
147 | number, send the date of the latest entry in the file ChangeLog). For | |
148 | GNU Emacs bugs, type "M-x emacs-version". A debugger backtrace of any | |
149 | core dump can also be useful. Be careful to separate out hypothesis | |
150 | from fact! For bugs in GNU Emacs lisp, set variable debug-on-error to | |
151 | t, and re-enter the command(s) that cause the error message; Emacs will | |
152 | pop up a debug buffer if something is wrong; please include a copy of | |
153 | the buffer in your bug report. Please also try to make your bug report | |
154 | as short as possible; distill the problem to as few lines of code and/or | |
155 | input as possible. GNU maintainers give priority to the shortest, high | |
156 | quality bug reports. | |
157 | ||
158 | Please don't send in a patch without a test case to illustrate the | |
159 | problem the patch is supposed to fix. Sometimes the patches aren't | |
160 | correct or aren't the best way to do the job, and without a test case | |
161 | there is no way to debug an alternate fix. | |
162 | ||
163 | The purpose of reporting a bug is to enable the bug to be fixed for the | |
164 | sake of the whole community of users. You may or may not receive a | |
165 | response; the maintainers will send one if that helps them find or | |
166 | verify a fix. Most GNU maintainers are volunteers and all are | |
167 | overworked; they don't have time to help individuals and still fix the | |
168 | bugs and make the improvements that everyone wants. If you want help | |
169 | for yourself in particular, you may have to hire someone. The GNU | |
170 | project maintains a list of people providing such services. It is | |
6a6cc11c | 171 | found in <URL:http://www.gnu.org/prep/SERVICE>. |
1bac2ebb | 172 | |
0b381c7e | 173 | Anything addressed to the implementers and maintainers of a GNU program |
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174 | via a bug-* list, should NOT be sent to the corresponding info-* or |
175 | help-* list. | |
176 | ||
177 | Please DON'T post your bug reports on the gnu.*.bug newsgroups! Mail | |
178 | them to bug-*@gnu.org instead! At first sight, it seems to make no | |
179 | difference: anything sent to one will be propagated to the other; but: | |
180 | - if you post on the newsgroup, the information about how to | |
181 | reach you is lost in the message that goes on the mailing list. It | |
182 | can be very important to know how to reach you, if there is anything | |
183 | in the bug report that we don't understand; | |
184 | - bug reports reach the GNU maintainers quickest when they are | |
185 | sent to the bug-* mailing list submittal address; | |
186 | - mail is much more reliable then netnews; and | |
187 | - if the internet mailers can't get your bug report delivered, | |
188 | they almost always send you an error message, so you can find another | |
189 | way to get the bug report in. When netnews fails to get your message | |
190 | delivered to the maintainers, you'll never know about it and the | |
191 | maintainers will never see the bug report. | |
192 | ||
193 | And please DON'T post your GNU bug reports to comp.* or other gnu.* | |
194 | newsgroups, they never make it to the GNU maintainers at all. Please | |
195 | mail them to bug-*@gnu.org instead! | |
196 | ||
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197 | * Some special lists that don't fit the usual patterns of help-, bug- and info- |
198 | ||
199 | ** info-gnu-request@gnu.org to subscribe to info-gnu | |
1bac2ebb | 200 | |
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201 | gnUSENET newsgroup: gnu.announce |
202 | Send announcements to: info-gnu@gnu.org | |
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203 | |
204 | This list distributes progress reports on the GNU Project. It is also | |
205 | used by the GNU Project to ask people for various kinds of help. It is | |
6a6cc11c | 206 | moderated and NOT for general discussion. |
1bac2ebb | 207 | |
6a6cc11c | 208 | ** gnu-misc-discuss-request@gnu.org to subscribe to gnu-misc-discuss |
1bac2ebb | 209 | |
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210 | gnUSENET newsgroup: gnu.misc.discuss |
211 | Send contributions to: gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org | |
1bac2ebb | 212 | |
6a6cc11c | 213 | This list is for serious discussion of free software, the GNU Project, |
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214 | the GNU Manifesto, and their implications. It's THE place for |
215 | discussion that is not appropriate in the other GNU mailing lists and | |
216 | gnUSENET newsgroups. | |
217 | ||
218 | Flaming is out of place. Tit-for-tat is not welcome. Repetition | |
219 | should not occur. | |
220 | ||
221 | Good READING and writing are expected. Before posting, wait a while, | |
222 | cool off, and think. | |
223 | ||
224 | Don't use this group for complaints and bug reports about GNU software! | |
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225 | The maintainers of the package you are using probably don't read this |
226 | group; they won't see your complaint. Use the appropriate bug-reporting | |
227 | mailing list instead, so that people who can do something about the | |
228 | problem will see it. Likewise, use the help- list for technical | |
229 | questions. | |
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230 | |
231 | Don't trust pronouncements made on gnu-misc-discuss about what GNU is, | |
232 | what FSF position is, what the GNU General Public License is, etc., | |
233 | unless they are made by someone you know is well connected with GNU and | |
234 | are sure the message is not forged. | |
235 | ||
236 | USENET and gnUSENET readers are expected to have read ALL the articles | |
237 | in news.announce.newusers before posting. If news.announce.newusers is | |
238 | empty at your site, wait (the articles are posted monthly), your posting | |
239 | isn't that urgent! Readers on the Internet can anonymous FTP these | |
240 | articles from host ftp.uu.net under directory ?? | |
241 | ||
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242 | Remember, "GNUs Not Unix" and "gnUSENET is Not USENET". We have |
243 | higher standards! | |
244 | ||
6a6cc11c | 245 | ** guile-sources-request@gnu.org to subscribe to guile-sources |
1bac2ebb | 246 | |
6a6cc11c RS |
247 | gnUSENET newsgroup: NONE PLANNED |
248 | Guile source code to: guile-sources@gnu.org | |
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249 | |
250 | This list will be for the posting, by their authors, of GUILE, Scheme, | |
251 | and C sources and patches that improve Guile. Its contents will be | |
252 | reviewed by the FSF for inclusion in future releases of GUILE. | |
253 | ||
254 | Please do NOT discuss or request source code here. Use bug-guile for | |
255 | those purposes. This allows the automatic archiving of sources posted | |
256 | to this list. | |
257 | ||
258 | Please do NOT post such sources to any other GNU mailing list (e.g | |
259 | bug-guile) or gnUSENET newsgroups. It's up to each poster to decide | |
260 | whether to cross-post to any non-gnUSENET newsgroup. | |
261 | ||
262 | Please do NOT announce that you have posted source code to guile.sources | |
263 | to any other GNU mailing list (e.g. bug-guile) or gnUSENET newsgroups. | |
264 | People who want to keep up with sources will read this list. It's up to | |
265 | each poster to decide whether to announce a guile.sources article in any | |
266 | non-gnUSENET newsgroup (e.g. comp.emacs or comp.sources.d). | |
267 | ||
268 | If source or patches that were previously posted or a simple fix is | |
269 | requested in bug-guile, please mail it to the requester. Do NOT | |
270 | repost it. If you also want something that is requested, send mail to | |
271 | the requester asking him to forward it to you. This kind of traffic is | |
272 | best handled by e-mail, not by a broadcast medium that reaches millions | |
273 | of sites. | |
274 | ||
275 | If the requested source is very long (>10k bytes) send mail offering to | |
276 | send it. This prevents the requester from getting many redundant copies | |
277 | and saves network bandwidth. | |
278 | ||
6a6cc11c | 279 | ** gnu-emacs-sources-request@gnu.org to subscribe to gnu-emacs-sources |
1bac2ebb | 280 | |
6a6cc11c RS |
281 | gnUSENET newsgroup: gnu.emacs.sources |
282 | GNU Emacs source code to: gnu-emacs-sources@gnu.org | |
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283 | |
284 | This list/newsgroup will be for the posting, by their authors, of Emacs | |
285 | Lisp and C sources and patches that improve GNU Emacs. Its contents | |
286 | will be reviewed by the FSF for inclusion in future releases of GNU | |
287 | Emacs. | |
288 | ||
289 | Please do NOT discuss or request source code here. Use | |
290 | help-gnu-emacs/gnu.emacs.help for those purposes. This allows the | |
291 | automatic archiving of sources posted to this list/newsgroup. | |
292 | ||
293 | Please do NOT post such sources to any other GNU mailing list (e.g | |
294 | help-gnu-emacs) or gnUSENET newsgroups (e.g. gnu.emacs.help). It's up | |
295 | to each poster to decide whether to cross-post to any non-gnUSENET | |
296 | newsgroup (e.g. comp.emacs or vmsnet.sources). | |
297 | ||
298 | Please do NOT announce that you have posted source code to | |
299 | gnu.emacs.sources to any other GNU mailing list (e.g. help-gnu-emacs) or | |
300 | gnUSENET newsgroups (e.g. gnu.emacs.help). People who want to keep up | |
301 | with sources will read this list/newsgroup. It's up to each poster to | |
302 | decide whether to announce a gnu.emacs.sources article in any | |
303 | non-gnUSENET newsgroup (e.g. comp.emacs or comp.sources.d). | |
304 | ||
305 | If source or patches that were previously posted or a simple fix is | |
306 | requested in help-gnu-emacs, please mail it to the requester. Do NOT | |
307 | repost it. If you also want something that is requested, send mail to | |
308 | the requester asking him to forward it to you. This kind of traffic is | |
309 | best handled by e-mail, not by a broadcast medium that reaches millions | |
310 | of sites. | |
311 | ||
312 | If the requested source is very long (>10k bytes) send mail offering to | |
313 | send it. This prevents the requester from getting many redundant copies | |
314 | and saves network bandwidth. | |
315 | ||
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316 | Local variables: |
317 | mode: outline | |
318 | fill-column: 72 | |
319 | End: | |
ab5796a9 | 320 | |
acaf905b | 321 | Copyright (C) 1999, 2001-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
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322 | |
323 | Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining | |
324 | a copy of this file, to deal in the file without restriction, including | |
325 | without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, | |
326 | distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the file, and to | |
327 | permit persons to whom the file is furnished to do so, subject to | |
328 | the following condition: | |
329 | ||
330 | The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be | |
331 | included in all copies or substantial portions of the file. |