From 83cc94a5157f6b477deccdf4ca4fcf738217a409 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jacob Nevins Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 14:32:12 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] docs: Stop recommending newsgroups. With Google Groups severing its connection to Usenet today[*], newsgroup access will require what today are quite specialised tools; and even before that (and before the recent spam floods, which will hopefully now cease) they didn't seem super useful as a way of getting PuTTY support. [*] https://support.google.com/groups/answer/11036538 I've just removed the whole section, since we couldn't think of an obvious consensus replacement venue -- certainly not one where we hang out ourselves. There's Stackmumble and places like that, but we didn't think of anywhere concrete to point to. This has led to some rather unsatisfactorily vague 'seek help from some public forum' wording in places, which could perhaps use revision. --- doc/faq.but | 3 +-- doc/feedback.but | 42 +++++++++++------------------------------- 2 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 33 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/faq.but b/doc/faq.but index 61d2a5a2..a7b889db 100644 --- a/doc/faq.but +++ b/doc/faq.but @@ -1297,8 +1297,7 @@ There isn't one, that we know of. If someone else wants to set up a mailing list or other forum for PuTTY users to help each other with common problems, that would be fine with us, though the PuTTY team would almost certainly not have the -time to read it. It's probably better to use one of the established -newsgroups for this purpose (see \k{feedback-other-fora}). +time to read it. \S{faq-donations}{Question} How can I donate to PuTTY development? diff --git a/doc/feedback.but b/doc/feedback.but index d4f58c09..c459e49d 100644 --- a/doc/feedback.but +++ b/doc/feedback.but @@ -13,16 +13,15 @@ reports and feature requests. 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 to a -newsgroup (see \k{feedback-other-fora}), or some other means, then it -would make our lives much easier. +FAQ, reading the web site, asking a fellow user, 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 newsgroups, or -passed to a local expert if possible. +(\k{feedback-support}) are probably better sent to some public +forum, or passed to a local expert if possible. The PuTTY contact email address is a private \i{mailing list} containing four or five core developers. Don't be put off by it being a mailing @@ -90,23 +89,7 @@ modification. If you've only changed 10 lines, we'd prefer to 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). - -Please use the newsgroup most appropriate to your query, and remember -that these are general newsgroups, not specifically about PuTTY. - -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}). +\# \S{feedback-other-fora} Other places to ask for help \H{feedback-bugs} Reporting bugs @@ -200,8 +183,7 @@ think the documentation is unclear or unhelpful. But we do need to 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 a newsgroup (see -\k{feedback-other-fora}) and seeing if someone +documentation, we suggest asking around 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. @@ -356,17 +338,15 @@ 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 a -newsgroup (see \k{feedback-other-fora}) and see if someone can explain -it to you. +public forum 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 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. +posting to some public forum 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