newlib-cygwin/winsup/doc/how-resources.texinfo

@section Where can I get more information?

@subsection Where's the documentation?

If you have installed Cygwin, you can find lots of documentation in
@samp{/usr/share/doc/}.  Many packages ship with standard documentation,
which you can find in @samp{/usr/share/doc/@emph{package_name}} or by
using the @code{man} or @code{info} tools. (Hint: use @code{cygcheck
-l @emph{package_name}} to list what man pages the package includes.)
In addition, some packages have Cygwin specific instructions in a file
@samp{/usr/share/doc/Cygwin/@emph{package_name}.README}.  Some older
packages still keep their documentation in @samp{/usr/doc/} instead of
@samp{/usr/share/doc/}.

There are links to quite a lot of documentation on the main Cygwin
project web page, @file{http://cygwin.com/}, including this FAQ.  Be
sure to at least read any 'Release Notes' or 'Readme' or 'read this'
links on the main web page, if there are any.

There is a comprehensive Cygwin User's Guide at
@file{http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/cygwin-ug-net.html}
and an API Reference at
@file{http://cygwin.com/cygwin-api/cygwin-api.html}.

You can find documentation for the individual GNU tools at
@file{http://www.fsf.org/manual/}.  (You should read GNU manuals from a
local mirror, check @file{http://www.fsf.org/server/list-mirrors.html}
for a list of them.)

@subsection What Cygwin mailing lists can I join?

Comprehensive information about the Cygwin mailing lists can be found at
@file{http://cygwin.com/lists.html}.

To subscribe to the main list, send a message to
cygwin-subscribe@@cygwin.com.  To unsubscribe from the 
main list, send a message to cygwin-unsubscribe@@cygwin.com.
In both cases, the subject and body of the message are ignored.

Similarly, to subscribe to the Cygwin announcements list, send a message
to cygwin-announce-subscribe@@cygwin.com.  To unsubscribe,
send a message to cygwin-announce-unsubscribe@@cygwin.com.

If you want to contribe to Cygwin tools & applications, rather than
the library itself, then you should subscribe to cygwin-apps. There
is also a low-volume list called cygwin-developers which is reserved
for knowledgeable people who regularly contribute to the Cygwin DLL.
Please do not ask for read-only access to this mailing list.  Both
cygwin-developers and cygwin-apps are by-approval lists.  The same
mechanism as described for the first two lists works for these as
well.  

There is a searchable archive of the main mailing list at
@file{http://cygwin.com/ml/cygwin/}.  There is an alternate
archive, also searchable, at @file{http://www.delorie.com/archives/}.
You can also search at @file{http://www.google.com/} and include
"cygwin" in the list of search terms.

Cygwin mailing lists are not gatewayed to USENET, so anti-spam measures
in your email address are neither required nor appreciated.  Also, avoid
sending HTML content to Cygwin mailing lists.

@subsection Posting Guidelines (Or: Why won't you/the mailing list answer my questions?)

If you follow these guidelines, you are much more likely to get a
helpful response from the Cygwin developers and/or the Cygwin community at
large:

@itemize @bullet
@item Read the User's Guide and the FAQ first.
@item Check the mailing list archives.  Your topic may have come up
before.  (It may even have been answered!)  Use the search facilities
at the links above.  Try the alternate site if the main archive is not
producing search results.
@item Explain your problem carefully and completely.  "I installed Blah
and it doesn't work!" wastes everybody's time.  It provides no
information for anyone to help you with your problem.  You should
provide:

@itemize @bullet
@item A problem statement:  How does it behave, how do you think it
should behave, and what makes you think it's broken?  (Oh yeah, and what
is @emph{"it"}?)
@item Information about your Windows OS ("Win95 OSR2" or "NT4/SP3" or
"Win2K" or "Win98 SE" or ...).
@item Details about your installation process, or attempts at same.  (Internet or
Directory install?  If the former, exactly when and from what mirror?
If the latter, which packages did you download?  Which version of
setup.exe?  Any subsequent updates?)
@item Details about your Cygwin setup, accomplished by @emph{attaching}
the output of 'cygcheck -s -v -r' to your message.  (Do not paste the
output into your message.)
@item A valid return address, so that a reply doesn't require manual editing of
the 'To:' header.
@end itemize

@item Your message must be relevant to the list.  Messages that are
@emph{not} directly related to Cygwin are considered off-topic and are
unwelcome.  For example, the following are off-topic:

@itemize @bullet
@item General programming language questions
@item General Windows programming questions
@item General UNIX shell programming questions
@item General application usage questions
@item How to make millions by working at home
@item Announcements from LaserJet toner cartridge suppliers
@end itemize

@item Read and obey ``How To Ask Questions The Smart Way'' by Eric
S. Raymond, at @file{http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html}.

@end itemize

If you do not follow the above guidelines, you may still elicit a
response, but you may not appreciate it!

For inquiries about support contracts and commercial licensing, visit
@file{http://www.redhat.com/software/cygwin/}.

Beyond that, perhaps nobody has time to answer your question.  Perhaps
nobody knows the answer.