what are support options for new users

[j.r.d.silva]

Hi folks,

I was looking at Sabayon lately willing to try it. On my way trough I had a couple of very generic questions (never mind them now) and, while trying to find answers, I just hit a wall.

I get on IRC channel using link from sabayon.org web site and found no one even to answer simple "Hello". Put my questions in, did not get any reaction whatsoever. For over half an hour I just observed messages of the same type:"xxx joined the chanel", "xxx left the channel." No one willing to answer anything, no one willing to unmask his/her presence by saying a word.

The place seemed to be like a "dead valey" with "echoes" mentioned above going through it from time to time.

I tried to get on a mailing list but the only one I found was a developers list. Doesn't a user list exist at all?

Does it mean that the only place to get help is this forum? Unfortunately, with most recent posts being dated over a week and later ago, the place does not look very much alive either.

Am I missing something? Could somebody to direct me to a good place where Sabayon users talk to each other more frequently and willingly? Any link would be appreciated: newsgroup, mailing list, whatever... Do you people frequent Gentoo users newgroup? Can I meet you there?

Thank you.

[cl00t]

There is something wrong if the most recent posts here are from over a week or so ago, looking at the forum myself now I know that not to be the case. If you view most recent posts, the page is full of posts dated no older than yesterday.
This forum is a great place to find help, there are many knowledgeable & helpful people here & I received a lot of help here myself.
The IRC channel is not something I have used much, but when I did I got replies myself.
Consider asking your questions in this forum.

[micia]

Hi j.r.d.silva, welcome to the Sabayon Linux forums.

It may happen, from time to time, for users to be away from keyboard or busy, it might also happen that while in your place is morning, for other users on IRC it is the middle of the night.
That's the main problem of IRC, you might get immediate help if someone is around, but nobody is able to sit there 24 hours a day.

Sabayon has no mailing list for users assistance, that's because forums are basically equivalent, not to mention a mailing list like that would very likely generate tons of emails for everybody, forums are much more effective.

Sabayon's forums are definitely active and there are new posts on a daily basis, anyway you can get support on both forums and IRC channel, these are the main means of support that Sabayon community offers.

[ratcheer]

I agree with the part about inactive IRC channel. If people are not awake, as suggested as a possibility by micia, why do they remain logged on? Last evening, I was logged on for over 45 minutes and, just as j.r.d.silva says, there was not a single peep from anyone. Plenty of people were logging on and off, but that was the only activity.

That said, on occasion I have received some good advice on the IRC channel, but on many other occasions my questions have also been met with total non-response. The Sabayon IRC channel is very strange.

These forums are probably the best place to get your questions answered.

Tim

[micia]

They could be logged in to keep track of the ongoing conversation, to read messages later, to be able to see when someone pings them, or maybe they were logged in to help during the free time they get when performing their daily tasks and work, saving the time to endlessly log in and out. Many people logged there could even be users that just want to learn something from the channel conversations.
Also, there is the possibility that nobody knew how to answer that particular question.
The scenarios are very different and hard to guess. but I don't think it's fair to deem that channel as inefficient or dead because sometimes nobody answers a question, it happens often in many IRC channels for the same reasons.

[j.r.d.silva]

There is something wrong if the most recent posts here are from over a week or so ago, looking at the forum myself now I know that not to be the case. If you view most recent posts, the page is full of posts dated no older than yesterday.

Weirdly enough I see it on my site today as well. I mean I do see now a lot of posts dated of today and yesterday.

When I was looking at forum yesterday I saw mostly outdated posts. Could it be related to some sabayon.org server(s) problem?

The entire sabayon.org site was not accessible for me before yesterday. I checked the sabayon.org server via http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com service and the site was reported down for them as well.

[j.r.d.silva]

Hi j.r.d.silva, welcome to the Sabayon Linux forums.
... it might also happen that while in your place is morning, for other users on IRC it is the middle of the night.

Agree, this is easily could be the case. And this is actually why I'm not fond of IRC channels. I tried to use it to have a chance to become acquainted with immediate help options in a new to me community.

Sabayon has no mailing list for users assistance, that's because forums are basically equivalent, not to mention a mailing list like that would very likely generate tons of emails for everybody, forums are much more effective.

I agree about the mailing lists. I do not like them either and avoid for the same very reason: "tons of emails for everybody."

I do however like users newsgroups and quite often prefer them to forums. Though forums have their own advantages.

Anyway I'm glad this place is alive.

[svantoviit]

Am I missing something?

FYI: Help and Support Questions

[wolfden]

All is volunteer, nobody gets paid to help. People help when and if they can. People need to have patience and there is a lot of documentation out there already. I don't see us being much different from other communities. I run across unanswered forum posts all the time in other communities or IRC rooms that are full of morons. It takes the community to make it happen.

[j.r.d.silva]

All is volunteer, nobody gets paid to help. People help when and if they can. People need to have patience and there is a lot of documentation out there already. I don't see us being much different from other communities. I run across unanswered forum posts all the time in other communities or IRC rooms that are full of morons. It takes the community to make it happen.

Nice mentoring.

You seem to totally misread my post (if your read it at all, did you?). Luckily others read it more carefully and took it the right way. And I did got the expected answers.

Thanks anyway.