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+
+<chapter id="questions">
+
+<title>Asking Questions</title>
+
+<para>To get an appropriate answer to questions requires asking a clear
+question in a manner that motivates people to help. Writing questions that
+appear to be rude, lazy, or uses bad or unclear language likely will result
+in your question being ignored.</para>
+
+<qandaset>
+<qandaentry>
+
+<question><para>What do I do before I ask?</para></question>
+
+<answer><para>Read the documentation and &FAQ; for the application. There is
+a wealth of &tde; documentation availible both in the help center and
+online. A lot of time and effort has gone into this documentation, and
+often the answer to your question is there. The general &tde; userguide
+can be found by typing <userinput><command>help:/khelpcenter/userguide</command></userinput>
+into the &konqueror; address bar or <userinput><command>
+khelpcenter help:/khelpcenter/userguide with the minicli</command></userinput>.</para>
+
+<para>Search the web: Usually searching for a specific error message or
+searching mailing list archives will find a solution.</para>
+
+<para>Try it and see! Look through all the application options, read the
+What's this? and tooltips for the ones you're not sure about. If you're
+really unsure about an option save your data and then try. As long as you
+use common sense you are unlikely to break anything by experimenting.</para>
+
+<para>Don't be lazy. If you show the people who you are asking
+that you are able to troubleshoot and research in a logical manner, you're
+showing them you're a reasonable person who is worth their time to
+help. It's your problem and not theirs so the legwork is yours to do. Save
+your helpers as much time as you can.</para> </answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question><para>Where do I ask?</para></question>
+
+<answer><para>Usually the best place to ask a question is on the
+<acronym>IRC</acronym> channels and mailing lists devoted to user
+questions. Don't post simple questions about using &tde; to the devel
+channels and mailing lists, these are for technical discussions. Some good
+places are chat.freenode.net, channel: #trinity-desktop, and the &tde; <ulink
+url="http://www.trinitydesktop.org/mailinglist.php">mailing
+lists</ulink>.
+</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question><para>How do I ask?</para></question>
+
+<answer><para>Try to word your questions in a manner that gives the most
+information possible and is polite and courteous. Don't ask to ask, just
+ask!</para>
+
+<para>Q: &tde; sucks, it's slow</para>
+
+<para>Is not a question that is likely to get you a useful answer. It does
+not give any useful information about troubleshooting the problem, and it
+starts out attacking the software in a way that isn't productive.</para>
+
+<para>Q: Since updating &tde; on Slackware &Linux; using sources, I have
+noticed it's being really slow &mdash; sometimes
+applications take up to 20 seconds to launch. I am using the same user
+configuration as I had with the previous version. I have tried as a new
+user. I can't find anything about this on the mailing lists or by a web
+search. Could anyone point me to some information that could help?</para>
+
+<para>This question is polite, contains information to help people
+troubleshoot the problem and shows your helpers what avenues you have
+already tried.</para>
+
+<para>Don't presume automatically that the problem is the fault of
+&tde;. Otherwise you likely will annoy people.</para>
+
+<para>Use clear language with correct spelling. Watch out for any
+ambiguities and make sure you think about what you say before you write
+it. If you are asked for clarification, give it as best you can. &tde; is a
+project where many of the users and developers are not native english
+speakers and if you don't use correct english, misunderstandings might
+ensue. Be patient. Use the language appropriate to the channel or mailing list you are
+in &mdash; if you don't, people who might have been able to help you might
+ignore your message because it is not in a language they understand.</para>
+
+<para>Include all information that could be relevant, even when you're not
+sure. Have you updated other software or hardware on your system,
+particularly system libraries or a new kernel? These things could affect how
+&tde; performs. Even when you cannot see a connecting cause, someone else might.</para>
+
+<para>Don't paraphrase error messages. Paste in the exact error, and if it's
+more than a line or two don't paste them directly into an
+<acronym>IRC</acronym> channel. Use an online paste service. If you
+must type the messages by hand, be sure you are accurate. When you provide
+faulty information, your helpers cannot help you as easily.</para>
+
+<para>Follow through on your solution! Tell people when the solution worked, or when you have
+solved the problem yourself. This helps everybody involved know when
+solutions work and helps other users who might be searching for a similar
+solution to the problem.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+
+<qandaentry>
+<question><para>What do I do when told to look elsewhere?</para></question>
+
+<answer><para>Possibly you have not followed the above
+advice. You've not done your research, and the solution probably is one the
+helper knows very well to be easy to find. When provided a web link to an
+<acronym>FAQ</acronym> or documentation don't say, <quote>No, I don't
+want to have to read this I want you to just tell me</quote>. That response
+is considered bad manners. People who don't provide effort to learn often
+find others have little incentive to help.</para>
+</answer>
+</qandaentry>
+</qandaset>
+
+<para>Use common courtesy. &tde; users and developers volunteer their time
+out of an already very busy schedule, and like to
+know that you are appreciating they are helping you for free. Be
+polite, say please and thank you, be constructive, and try to be pleasant and
+friendly.</para>
+
+<para> Does this seem like a lot of trouble to ask a question? If you want
+to be able to feel that people owe you an answer or support, then you're
+quite welcome to pay for commercial support from companies that support
+&tde; on &UNIX; platforms. If you don't want to pay money, then pay the
+people who do this for free with your politeness and appreciation. :-)</para>
+
+<para>If you think the answer to your question should be included in the
+&tde; &FAQ; please feel free to submit any patches or suggestions to the
+&tde; &FAQ; Maintainer, at <email>trinity-devel@lists.pearsoncomputing.net</email></para>
+
+</chapter>