Debian-user is a mailing list provided for support for Debian users,
and to facilitate discussion on relevant topics.

Codes of Conduct
================

* The list is a Debian communication forum. As such, it is subject to both
the Debian mailing list Code of Conduct and the main Debian Code of Conduct
https://www.debian.org/MailingLists/#codeofconduct
https://www.debian.org/code_of_conduct

Guidelines for this list
========================
Some guidelines which may help explain how the list should work:

Language
========

* The language on this mailing list is English. There may be other mailing
lists that are language-specific, for example, debian-user-french or
debian-user-catalan

* It is common for users to be redirected here from other lists, for example,
from debian-project. It is also common for people to be posting here when
English is not their primary language. Please be considerate.

Answering questions and contributing to discussions constructively ==================================================================

* This is a fairly busy mailing list but even so you may have to wait some
time for an answer - please be patient.

* Help and advice on this list is provided by volunteers in their own time.
It is common for there to be different opinions or answers provided.

* It is not necessary to answer every post on the mailing list.

* Be constructive in your responses. It may be that somebody else answers
a question before you - if so, you should not reply simply in order to get
the last word in, only reply if you can add useful information.

* Don't feed the trolls: it's not necessary to reply to every post.

If someone is trolling/misbehaving - don't amplify it by commenting
on the list and giving them attention. Do report it to community@debian.org

There is also the option to refer directly to listmaster@lists.debian.org
In both cases, do reference which post it is - user, date, mailing list and
topic. Multiple reports may add background detail to justify further action.

* Auto-generated posts and posts from large language models (LLMs)
These are potentially not welcome. They have the potential to confuse
readers and the information may not be correct. If a writer is not
confident, they might be used to improve a draft of a post. If you
do use an LLM or auto-generation, please indicate that parts of your
mailing list message has been assisted by auto-generation.
Off-topic posts
===============

* Please try to stay on topic.

* Off-topic posts will happen occasionally as threads wander.
Don't reply to them to make them carry on.

* If you wish to introduce an off-topic subject that might be
of interest to the wider list, start a new thread and preface
the title with [OT].

* There is no debian-offtopic mailing list: please don't try
to start one.

Partisan topics and political arguments
=======================================

* Arguments for the sake of it are not welcome here.

* Partisan political / religious / cultural arguments do not belong here
either.

Debian's community is world wide; do not assume others will agree with your
views or need to read them on a Debian list.

This is a list discussing Debian and technical and wider issues concerning
Debian, not national politics, religious views and so on - the chances
are that your wider readership is just not interested in these things which
might be very important to you but irrelevant to the rest of the wider
world. Off-topic arguments also have a habit of derailing useful discussion.

Editing and answering mailing list posts ========================================

* It is helpful to write meaningful subject lines. If you change subject
or emphasis in mid-thread, please change the subject line on your email
accordingly so that this can be clearly seen.

For example: New question [WAS Old topic]

* It may also be useful for someone to post a summary email from time to
time to explain long threads.

* Before posting, it may be useful to check your post for spelling mistakes
and scan it for redundancy, duplicate words and redundancy.

* Clear replies and a short mailing list thread are much easier to
read and follow than long threads.

* If you are replying to a post, please reply in-line if possible and
cut out extra text that is not relevant to your point.

Private replies and responding to posts off-list ================================================

* Please post answers back to the list so others can benefit: private
conversations don't benefit people who may only be following
along on the list or reading the archives later.

* We're only human: you may want to respond to someone off-list
to make a point (or to wish them Happy Birthday / comment that you
haven't seen them for a long time). We're also a community and the
people you find on the list may become familiar friends

BUT

* Posting outside the list can be unhelpful: bad behaviour outside the lists
can't easily be dealt with and will be invisible. You may inadvertently leak
personal information by posting a private reply back to the list.

If you *do* want to post outside the list - make it clear that you have done
so at the top of the message. If someone replies to you privately and you
think that this should go back to the list - ask them to post it to the list
- do not just do so on their behalf without checking.

I can't see what I want here - help me!
=======================================

* It is often useful to look through the archives to see whether the issue
you wish to raise or a similar issue has been raised before by someone
else. The top level link to the archives of this list is at
https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/ organised by year, then month.

* Although there are only twenty or thirty regular contributors, there may
be a couple of thousand readers in the background. Nobody is
a mind reader, nobody can sit beside you. Please help by providing
useful details if asked, especially which version of Debian you are
running.

I'm not using Debian but ...
============================

* Strictly, discussions of other distributions are off-topic here.
Please note: advice on Linux distributions other than Debian will be
only our best guess - other distributions may do things very differently.
Any advice given accordingly may be inaccurate but is given in good faith.
Repeated requests for off-topic advice may lead to a ban.

FAQ topics
==========

* There is an FAQ on the Debian wiki derived from some questions asked on this
list at https://wiki.debian.org/FAQsFromDebianUser

This is a public list, archived in many places ==============================================

* One question that comes up on almost all Debian lists from time to time
is of the form:

"I have done something wrong / included personal details in an email.
Could you please delete my name / details / remove the mail"

Practically, this is impossible: the mailing lists are archived, potentially cached by Google and so on.

Unfortunately, there is nothing much we can do to ensure that all copies anywhere on the Internet are deleted. Asking to do this may only serve to
draw further attention - the so-called "Streisand effect"
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

Problems and inappropriate behaviour?
=====================================

Complaints about inappropriate behaviour should be referred to the
Debian Community Team <community@debian.org>.

Inappropriate behaviour on the list may lead to warnings: repeated bad behaviour may lead to temporary or permanent bans for offenders.

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