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Please read all of this answer before posting. I know it's a bit long, but you may be about to make a fool of yourself in front of 50000 people and waste hundreds of hours of their time. Don't you think it's worth it to spend some of your time reading and following these instructions ?
If you think an answer is incomplete or inaccurate, please e-mail Robert Kiesling at < kiesling@terracom.net>.
Read the appropriate Linux Documentation Project books -- see Q2.1 `Where can I get the HOWTOs and other documentation ?'.
If you're a Unix newbie, read the FAQ for comp.unix.questions, and those for any of the other comp.unix.* groups that may be relevant.
Linux is a Unix clone, so almost everything you read there will apply to Linux. Those FAQs can, like all FAQs, be found on rtfm.mit.edu in /pub/usenet/news.answers (the < mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu> can send you these files, if you don't have FTP access). There are mirrors of rtfm's FAQ archives on various sites - check the Introduction to *.answers posting, posted, or look in news-answers/introduction in the directory above.
Check the relevant HOWTO for the subject in question, if there is one, or an appropriate old-style sub-FAQ document. Check the FTP sites.
Try experimenting -- that's the best way to get to know Unix and Linux.
Read the documentation. Check the manpages (type man man if you don't know about manpages. Try man -k <subject>-- it often lists useful and relevant manpages.
Check the Info documentation (type C-h i, i.e. Control H followed by I in Emacs) -- NB: this isn't just for Emacs; for example the GCC documentation lives here as well.
There will also often be a README file with a package that gives installation and/or usage instructions.
Make sure that you don't have a corrupted or out-of-date copy of the program in question. If possible, download it again and reinstall it -- perhaps you made a mistake the first time.
Read comp.os.linux.announce -- this often contains very important information for all Linux users.
General X-Windows questions belong in comp.windows.x.i386unix, not in comp.os.linux.x. But read the group first (including the FAQ), before you post!
Only if you have done all of these things and are still stuck should you post to the appropriate comp.os.linux.* newsgroup. Make sure you read the next question, Q12.2 `What to put in a request for help', first.
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Please read carefully the following advice about how to write your posting or email. Taking heed of it will greatly increase the chances that an expert and/or fellow user reading it will have enough information and motivation to reply.
This advice applies both to postings asking for advice and to personal email sent to experts and fellow users.
Make sure you give full details of the problem, including: