-\versionid $Id: feedback.but,v 1.17 2004/03/31 12:50:17 simon Exp $
+\define{versionidfeedback} \versionid $Id$
\A{feedback} Feedback and bug reporting
The PuTTY development team gets a \e{lot} of mail. If you can
possibly solve your own problem by reading the manual, reading the
-FAQ, reading the web site, asking a fellow user, perhaps posting on
-the newsgroup \W{news:comp.security.ssh}\c{comp.security.ssh}, or
-some other means, then it would make our lives much easier.
+FAQ, reading the web site, asking a fellow user, perhaps posting to a
+newsgroup (see \k{feedback-other-fora}), or some other means, then it
+would make our lives much easier.
We get so much e-mail that we literally do not have time to answer
it all. We regret this, but there's nothing we can do about it. So
if you can \e{possibly} avoid sending mail to the PuTTY team, we
recommend you do so. In particular, support requests
-(\k{feedback-support}) are probably better sent to
-\W{news:comp.security.ssh}\c{comp.security.ssh} or passed to a local
-expert if possible.
+(\k{feedback-support}) are probably better sent to newsgroups, or
+passed to a local expert if possible.
The PuTTY contact email address is a private mailing list containing
four or five core developers. Don't be put off by it being a mailing
receive a mail that's 30 lines long than one containing multiple
megabytes of data we already have.
+\S{feedback-other-fora} Other places to ask for help
+
+There are two Usenet newsgroups that are particularly relevant to the
+PuTTY tools:
+
+\b \W{news:comp.security.ssh}\c{comp.security.ssh}, for questions
+specific to using the SSH protocol;
+
+\b \W{news:comp.terminals}\c{comp.terminals}, for issues relating to
+terminal emulation (for instance, keyboard problems).
+
+If you don't have direct access to Usenet, you can access these
+newsgroups through Google Groups
+(\W{http://groups.google.com/}\cw{groups.google.com}).
+
\H{feedback-bugs} Reporting bugs
If you think you have found a bug in PuTTY, your first steps should
be given exact details of \e{what} you think the documentation has
failed to tell you, or \e{how} you think it could be made clearer.
If your problem is simply that you don't \e{understand} the
-documentation, we suggest posting to the newsgroup
-\W{news:comp.security.ssh}\c{comp.security.ssh} and see if someone
+documentation, we suggest posting to a newsgroup (see
+\k{feedback-other-fora}) and seeing if someone
will explain what you need to know. \e{Then}, if you think the
documentation could usefully have told you that, send us a bug
report and explain how you think we should change it.
thought of, or we may be about to make big changes to the code which
your patch would clash with, or something. If you check with the
maintainers first, there is a better chance of your code actually
-being usable.
+being usable. Also, read the design principles listed in \k{udp}: if
+you do not conform to them, we will probably not be able to accept
+your patch.
\H{feedback-feature-priority} Requesting features that have already
been requested
include:
\b If you want to do something with PuTTY but have no idea where to
-start, and reading the manual hasn't helped, try posting to the
-newsgroup \W{news:comp.security.ssh}\c{comp.security.ssh} and see if
-someone can explain it to you.
+start, and reading the manual hasn't helped, try posting to a
+newsgroup (see \k{feedback-other-fora}) and see if someone can explain
+it to you.
\b If you have tried to do something with PuTTY but it hasn't
worked, and you aren't sure whether it's a bug in PuTTY or a bug in
your SSH server or simply that you're not doing it right, then try
-posting to \W{news:comp.security.ssh}\c{comp.security.ssh} and see
+posting to a newsgroup (see \k{feedback-other-fora}) and see
if someone can solve your problem. Or try doing the same thing with
a different SSH client and see if it works with that. Please do not
report it as a PuTTY bug unless you are really sure it \e{is} a bug
\H{feedback-mirrors} Mirroring the PuTTY web site
-All mirrors of the PuTTY web site are welcome. Please don't bother
-asking us for permission before setting up a mirror. You already
-have permission. We are always happy to have more mirrors.
+Mirrors of the PuTTY web site are welcome, especially in regions not
+well covered by existing mirrors. Please don't bother asking us for
+permission before setting up a mirror. You already have permission. We
+are always happy to have more mirrors.
-If you mail us \e{after} you have set up the mirror, and remember to
-let us know which country your mirror is in, then we'll add it to
-the
+If you mail us \e{after} you have set up the mirror and checked that
+it works, and remember to let us know which country your mirror is in,
+then we'll add it to the
\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/mirrors.html}{Mirrors
page} on the PuTTY website.
If you have technical questions about the process of mirroring, then
-you might want to mail us before setting up the mirror; but if you
-just want to ask for permission, you don't need to. You already have
-permission.
+you might want to mail us before setting up the mirror (see also the
+\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/mirrors.html#guidelines}{guidelines on the Mirrors page});
+but if you just want to ask for permission, you don't need to. You
+already have permission.
\H{feedback-compliments} Praise and compliments
projects / u / mdw / putty / blobdiff