netiquette - 2. Initial Post
2.1 What do you have installed?
If you are having a problem installing a package, you should provide the following information about your system:
- Your OS version.
- The version of Fink you are running. A useful technique here is to post the output that you get from running
fink --version
in a terminal window. - You should specify whether you are installing from binaries, e.g. using
apt-get
, or from source, e.g. usingfink install
.If the latter, you should also indicate what version of the Developer Tools you are using.
If you are installing a package that requires X11, you should specify what you are using: Apple's X11 or XFree86. If the latter, specify its version.
If in doubt, go ahead and provide this information.
2.2 What's Going Wrong?
- Specify the name and version of the package that is causing the problem.
This should be in the subject line of your message.
This means that if you are having problems with
foo-3.141-6
, don't just report a problem withfoo
.In particular, if you are installing a package (e.g.
baz-2.18-1
) that depends on other packages, (foo-3.141-6
,bar-16.0-9
, ...) , and you are having problems withfoo
, you should report a problem withfoo-3.141-6
, not withbaz-2.18-1
. - Describe the problem.
This means that you should post a sample of an error message.
- For binary installation problems, start with where the troublesome package is being unpacked:
... Selecting previously deselected package foo error unpacking foo ...
and go on until the end. - There are a few possible issues with installation from source:
- If the failure is during the initial configuration, this is usually immediate. Post from the last couple of tests that were run before the error message on to the end:
.... Checking for bar-config...no Error: bar-config not found ....
If you think it might help, then you can post the relevant section of the configuration log file, e.g.
/opt/sw/src/foo-3.141-6/foo-3.141/config.log
. Please don't post the whole file, since it can be large. - Or, the error can show up immediately when you've actually started building the package. In this case, post from the last line the compiler tried to run to the end:
... gcc <flags, files etc.> <error messages> ...
- If you get the dreaded
execution of mv failed
error, you'll be told to search your build output for an earlier error, so you may want to try hunting for it before you post.
- If the failure is during the initial configuration, this is usually immediate. Post from the last couple of tests that were run before the error message on to the end:
- For binary installation problems, start with where the troublesome package is being unpacked:
2.3 What have you tried?
It's a good idea to mention what you've tried, e.g.
- Instructions in the FAQ or other documentation
- Removing packages that appeared to cause a conflict
- Rebuilding/reinstalling
- Updating package descriptions again
- etc.
That way, people won't start by suggesting things that you've already done.
2.4 What will you try next?
A couple of items come under this category:
- Posting what you plan to do if you don't get an immediate response.
- Asking about the suitability of a course of action.
Next: 3. Replying to Posts