Package: www.debian.org Severity: minor -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1
Hi, I think entries on the support web page should be roughly ordered by importance (where it is 'obvious') - meaning: somebody looking for help should start at the top and get the easy answers and get to the bottom for the hard questions. Also, /support and /doc should be viewed together. Going through, in the order I'd propose: Documentation good at the top Known problems is ok here. But I'd really expect the bts mentioned in this place instead in its own section. ==== Known Problems Limitations and severe problems of the current stable distribution (if any) are described on the [release notes] and in the [errata]. # the [release pages] link points to installation manual etc., which # is probably not useful when I'm browsing /support because I'm # having trouble with my installed Debian system. (And please, somebody # change 'The new release' to 'This release' on /releases/stable/ - it's # hardly 'new' now.) Known problems with individual packages are recorded in the [bug tracking system]. Each bug is given a number, and is kept on file until it is marked as having been dealt with. For information about known problems in a particular package, insert the package name in the form below and hit 'Submit'. [insert web form here] More information about the bug tracking system, especially also how to report a bug if it is not recorded in the system yet, can be found in the [bug tracking system web pages]. # the existing section on the bts does, imho, tell too much about # submitting bugs and not enough about querying bugs. === Mailing lists looks fine. Is there a list of mailing lists on alioth, and should it be referenced here if it exists? Or, in absence of such a list, mention "many package specific mailing lists are also hosted on [alioth]." Web sites This should contain much more links. See also <http://lists.debian.org/debian-project/2004/09/msg00018.html> (and possibly replies). For reference: http://wiki.debian.net/ http://forum.debian.net (if it gets users) http://www.aboutdebian.com/ http://www.debianforum.de/forum/ http://design2i.com/debian/ About debianforum.de: perhaps instead of linking to a german page here, have the english page only say "for links to Debian specific web pages in other languages, please see the translations of this page listed at the bottom". Hmmm. Very Hmmm. When I'm at the bottom, I see that there's a related links page. I'd link to that one in this section and drop the Other Resources section entirely for starters. But really, the 'web sites' section of /support and the 'related links' page need to be merged or disentangled. What I would propose: only point to the related links page from /support, but reorganize the former so that Debian specific links are a section of their own. On-line Real Time Help Using IRC fine to me, but why is it currently that far down on the page? Usenet Newsgroups I list this down here because there seem to be no established Debian specific newsgroups. Let's have Debian specific support first, general support further down. Reaching Package Maintainers I'd drop this section entirely. Reaching package maintainers by the bts is documented in the Known Problems (new) section, and instead of contacting package maintainers directly, people should rather use the mailing lists - I think there's a mailing list to cover most of the topics. Linux User Groups New section. "Local Linux User Groups can be found in many places; most of these have regular meetings to discuss Linux problems, and/or have their own mailing lists or web forums." With link to <http://www.debian.org/misc/related_links.en-gb.html#lugs>, or remove the "Linux User Groups" from related_links and move it here entirely. Consultants Paying somebody for support is for many Debian users just not an option, and for most probably the last-ditch option, that's why I move that section to the bottom Consistency: shouldn't all words in section titles be capitalized? (Mailing Lists, Web Sites, Known Problems) Let me know what you think (please cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on replies, I'm not on debian-www). Depending on the outcome of the discussion, I'd be willing to write a patch. greetings - -- vbi - -- Hardware: The parts of a computer system that can be kicked. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (GNU/Linux) Comment: get my key from http://fortytwo.ch/gpg/92082481 iKcEARECAGcFAkFACadgGmh0dHA6Ly9mb3J0eXR3by5jaC9sZWdhbC9ncGcvZW1h aWwuMjAwMjA4MjI/dmVyc2lvbj0xLjUmbWQ1c3VtPTVkZmY4NjhkMTE4NDMyNzYw NzFiMjVlYjcwMDZkYTNlAAoJEIukMYvlp/fWmBUAnAiX1XQVz3TsGzWTLPGD0N9Q l7EbAJ9/8EohgNF6Qk6ezRC1CKoyxJ9KdQ== =lqNS -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----