dhosek@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (D.A. Hosek) (12/14/89)
I've sent this to news.groups and comp.text with followups to news.groups.
Hopefully I'm disseminating this knowledge properly.
With reference to TeX and LaTeX questions, there is already a mailing
list designed specifically for dealing with LaTeX questions... it works
by distributing questions in a round-robin manner to a group of
volunteers who answer questions quickly. This is somewhat more efficient
than a newsgroup would be. A similar list could be created for plain TeX
as well, no doubt.
Here is the original TeXMaG article (TeXMaG V3N4.5) on the topic.
**********************************************************************
* Introduction to LaTeX-help *
**********************************************************************
By Max Hailpern <mxh@sumex-aim.stanford.edu>
All sites with LaTeX should have one or more LaTeX experts to help
users. Those experts communicate with each other about difficult
problems through various forums, including the TeXhax mailing list.
Lately, many sites have installed LaTeX without having, acquiring, or
developing a LaTeX expert. Many simple LaTeX questions from those
sites have been posted directly to TeXhax, clogging it and prompting
redundant replies.
Therefore, a number of TeXhax subscribers have formed a volunteer
LaTeX question answering corps. LaTeX users with questions should take
the following steps:
1) Read the manual very carefully, including a careful check of the
index. Most questions are answered there.
2) Check whether anyone locally can answer your question. Consider
not only paid systems staff but also more experienced users.
Similarly, if you paid a commercial company good money for LaTeX,
you should demand customer support from them--after all LaTeX is
available for free.
3) See if you can work it out yourself, and in the process build
LaTeX expertise, by use of careful test cases, tracing mode,
examining the LaTeX source files, etc. Don't go crazy if you're a
non-programmer, but give it a shot.
4) If all of the above fail, *don't* send mail to TeXhax. Instead,
send mail to LaTeX-help@sumex-aim.Stanford.EDU. Your mail will
automatically be forwarded to a member of the volunteer corps, in
a round-robin rotation. You should hear back shortly, either with
a solution to your problem, a request for additional information,
or the remark that it exceeded the volunteer's abilities and has
been forwarded to other experts, including further volunteers and
the TeXhax mailing list. If you don't hear anything after waiting
a reasonable period, write to
LaTeX-help-coordinator@sumex-aim.Stanford.EDU with as much
information about your original mailing as you have, and I'll try
to track down how it got lost.
Please do not abuse this service. We volunteers have lots of work of
our own to do, and will not continue volunteering if the burden is
excessive. Make sure you try steps 1-3 before step 4, and always be
eager to help others locally who are a step behind you. Also, join TUG
(the TeX Users' Group) if you haven't and avail yourself of their
classes and publications to develop in-house LaTeX expertise.
If you have any questions or comments on this, please write to
LaTeX-help-coordinator@sumex-aim.Stanford.EDU -- not directly to the
current person holding that position, as it may change.
This is not to say that I'm opposed to the idea of a TeX/LaTeX
newsgroup, just that people should be aware of the other services
available.
-dh
--
"Odi et amo, quare id faciam, fortasse requiris?
nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior" -Catullus
D.A. Hosek. UUCP: uunet!jarthur!dhosek
Internet: dhosek@hmcvax.claremont.edu