-\versionid $Id: feedback.but,v 1.7 2002/08/07 18:08:29 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
Also, the archives aren't publicly available, so you shouldn't be
letting yourself in for any spam by sending us mail.
+Please use a meaningful subject line on your message. We get a lot of
+mail, and it's hard to find the message we're looking for if they all
+have subject lines like \q{PuTTY bug}.
+
\S{feedback-largefiles} Sending large attachments
Since the PuTTY contact address is a mailing list, e-mails larger
almost never actually need the information in the screen shot.
Sending a screen shot of an error box is almost certainly
unnecessary when you could just tell us in plain text what the error
-was. Sending a full-screen shot is \e{occasionally} useful, but it's
+was. (On some versions of Windows, pressing Ctrl-C when the error
+box is displayed will copy the text of the message to the clipboard.)
+Sending a full-screen shot is \e{occasionally} useful, but it's
probably still wise to check whether we need it before sending it.
If you \e{must} mail a screen shot, don't send it as a \cw{.BMP}
than other image formats such as PNG, TIFF and GIF. Convert the file
to a properly compressed image format before sending it.
-Please don't mail us executables, at all. For security reasons, it
-would be really unwise of us to run executables we receive from
-unknown people by e-mail, so there's no point sending them to us. At
-some point, indeed, we hope to block all incoming e-mail containing
-executables, as a defence against the vast numbers of e-mail viruses
-we receive every day.
+Please don't mail us executables, at all. Our mail server blocks all
+incoming e-mail containing executables, as a defence against the
+vast numbers of e-mail viruses we receive every day. If you mail us
+an executable, it will just bounce.
If you have made a tiny modification to the PuTTY code, please send
us a \e{patch} to the source code if possible, rather than sending
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:
\b Check the
-\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/wishlist.html}{Wishlist
+\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/wishlist/}{Wishlist
page} on the PuTTY website, and see if we already know about the
problem. If we do, it is almost certainly not necessary to mail us
about it, unless you think you have extra information that might be
delayed and it may not be obvious which version was the latest at
the time you sent the message.
-\b Tell us what version of what OS you are running PuTTY on.
+\b PuTTY is a multi-platform application; tell us what version of what
+OS you are running PuTTY on. (If you're running on Unix, or Windows
+for Alpha, tell us, or we'll assume you're running on Windows for
+Intel as this is overwhelmingly the case.)
\b Tell us what protocol you are connecting with: SSH, Telnet,
Rlogin or Raw mode.
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.
you should do are:
\b Check the
-\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/wishlist.html}{Wishlist
+\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/wishlist/}{Wishlist
page} on the PuTTY website, and see if your feature is already on
the list. If it is, it probably won't achieve very much to repeat
the request. (But see \k{feedback-feature-priority} if you want to
persuade us to give your particular feature higher priority.)
-\b Check the
+\b Check the Wishlist and
\W{http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/changes.html}{Change
Log} on the PuTTY website, and see if we have already added your
feature in the development snapshots. If it isn't clear, download
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
Wishlist). This probably won't have very \e{much} effect; if a huge
number of people vote for something then it may make a difference,
but one or two extra votes for a particular feature are unlikely to
-change our priority list immediately. Also, don't expect a reply.
+change our priority list immediately. Offering a new and compelling
+justification might help. Also, don't expect a reply.
\b Offer us money if we do the work sooner rather than later. This
sometimes works, but not always. The PuTTY team all have full-time
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
in PuTTY.
+\b If someone else installed PuTTY for you, or you're using PuTTY on
+someone else's computer, try asking them for help first. They're more
+likely to understand how they installed it and what they expected you
+to use it for than we are.
+
\b If you have successfully made a connection to your server and now
need to know what to type at the server's command prompt, or other
details of how to use the server-end software, talk to your server's
then \e{permission is already granted}. You don't have to mail us
and ask. Just go ahead and do it. We don't mind.
+(If you want to distribute PuTTY alongside your own application for
+use with that application, or if you want to distribute PuTTY within
+your own organisation, then we recommend you offer your own
+first-line technical support, to answer questions about the
+interaction of PuTTY with your environment. If your users mail us
+directly, we won't be able to tell them anything useful about your
+specific setup.)
+
If you want to use parts of the PuTTY source code in another
program, then it might be worth mailing us to talk about technical
details, but if all you want is to ask permission then you don't
\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