From: Karl DeBisschop Date: Sat, 8 Feb 2003 05:57:04 +0000 (+0000) Subject: suggest minimum standards for support requests X-Git-Url: https://git.tokkee.org/?p=nagiosplug.git;a=commitdiff_plain;h=69ad2551b9828d49171094407a7c3b0ebe5aec3c suggest minimum standards for support requests git-svn-id: https://nagiosplug.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/nagiosplug/nagiosplug/trunk@293 f882894a-f735-0410-b71e-b25c423dba1c --- diff --git a/SUPPORT b/SUPPORT new file mode 100644 index 0000000..292c8cb --- /dev/null +++ b/SUPPORT @@ -0,0 +1,71 @@ +Using the mailing lists and tracker databases at SourceForge are the +best ways to obtain direct support for the Nagios Plugins. There may +also be commercial support options available to you -- check +http://www.nagios.org/ to track the current status of commercial +support offerings. + +There are two mailing lits associated wth Nagios Plugin development: +'help' (mailto:nagiosplug-help@lists.sourceforge.net), and 'devel' +(mailto:nagiosplug-devel@lists.sourceforge.net). Unless you are fairly +certain you have found a bug or thet you are requesting a new feature, +please direct support requests to 'help'. + +Becuase these lists are handled entirely by voluteers, and because +these same volunteers are often plugin developers who can also use +their time to fix bug and provide feature requests, it is genrally in +you interest to do a modest amount of legwork bfore posting to either +of these lists. + +In brief, always provide the version of the software that you are +using, and when requsting features or reporting bugs, first check to +see that the issue has not already been addressed in the CVS tree. + +GETTING HELP + +Requests to 'help' require posting the version number of the +plugin. The best place to include the version information is in the +subject. A good post would have a subject like: + + Can I use SSL with check_imap (nagios-plugins 1.3.0-beta2) 1.12 + +If you do not include the verion of the plugin, you risk having your +post silently ignored. + +Be advised that the core plugins (and in fact many of the contributed +plugins) will provide a description of their use when invoked with the +'--help' option. Please read the help carefully and in it's entirety +before asking for support. + +There is also a support database on the SourceForge-hosted development +site. Feel free to use either the mailing list or the web interface, +but follow the guideline above for both. + +REPORTING BUGS AND SUBMITTING PATCHES + +Bug reports, investigations of possible bugs, feature requests, and +patch submissions should be submitted to the development list at +(mailto:nagiosplug-devel@lists.sourceforge.net). + +As with the support list, you should identify the version, prefrably +in the subject line. However, to best use developer resources, it is +suggested that you reference your report one of the following sources: + + 1) The most recent release, including beta's + + 2) The twice-daily snapshots (there's a link provided on + http://nagiosplug.sourceforge.net) + + 3) The current CVS tree from sourceforge + +(This does not mean you should run any of these sources in a +production environment - the latter two you clearly should +not. However, if you find a bug, you should determine whether it is +still present in one of these sources, preferably either (2) or (3) +which are most recent>) + +From experince, I know that most bugs can be fixed with only a few +more moments work than it takes to determine if the bug is still +present in the CVS tree. If you can save a developer the expense of +that time, you ensure that bugs are fixed more rapidly, and thus you +ensure your problem resolution is reflected in a stable release more +quickly.