| 1 | GNU Project Electronic Mailing Lists and gnUSENET Newsgroups |
| 2 | Last Updated 2006-06-03 |
| 3 | |
| 4 | Please report improvements to: gnu@gnu.org |
| 5 | |
| 6 | See the end of this file for copyright notice and copying conditions |
| 7 | |
| 8 | * Mailing list archives |
| 9 | |
| 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. |
| 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 |
| 45 | automagically by GNU Mailman. |
| 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 |
| 51 | people. Most are unmoderated, so please don't send them anything that |
| 52 | is not seriously important to all their readers. |
| 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 |
| 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. |
| 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 |
| 171 | found in <URL:http://www.gnu.org/prep/SERVICE>. |
| 172 | |
| 173 | Anything addressed to the implementors and maintainers of a GNU program |
| 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 | |
| 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 |
| 200 | |
| 201 | gnUSENET newsgroup: gnu.announce |
| 202 | Send announcements to: info-gnu@gnu.org |
| 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 |
| 206 | moderated and NOT for general discussion. |
| 207 | |
| 208 | ** gnu-misc-discuss-request@gnu.org to subscribe to gnu-misc-discuss |
| 209 | |
| 210 | gnUSENET newsgroup: gnu.misc.discuss |
| 211 | Send contributions to: gnu-misc-discuss@gnu.org |
| 212 | |
| 213 | This list is for serious discussion of free software, the GNU Project, |
| 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! |
| 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. |
| 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 | |
| 242 | Remember, "GNUs Not Unix" and "gnUSENET is Not USENET". We have |
| 243 | higher standards! |
| 244 | |
| 245 | ** guile-sources-request@gnu.org to subscribe to guile-sources |
| 246 | |
| 247 | gnUSENET newsgroup: NONE PLANNED |
| 248 | Guile source code to: guile-sources@gnu.org |
| 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 | |
| 279 | ** gnu-emacs-sources-request@gnu.org to subscribe to gnu-emacs-sources |
| 280 | |
| 281 | gnUSENET newsgroup: gnu.emacs.sources |
| 282 | GNU Emacs source code to: gnu-emacs-sources@gnu.org |
| 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 | |
| 316 | Local variables: |
| 317 | mode: outline |
| 318 | fill-column: 72 |
| 319 | End: |
| 320 | |
| 321 | Copyright (C) 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 |
| 322 | Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
| 323 | |
| 324 | Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining |
| 325 | a copy of this file, to deal in the file without restriction, including |
| 326 | without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, |
| 327 | distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the file, and to |
| 328 | permit persons to whom the file is furnished to do so, subject to |
| 329 | the following condition: |
| 330 | |
| 331 | The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be |
| 332 | included in all copies or substantial portions of the file. |
| 333 | |
| 334 | |
| 335 | arch-tag: 6e42bba8-7532-4a23-8486-99dbc5770a8e |