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9.4.1. Mailing Lists
To get help on a specific problem, all you need to do is to send your query through e-mail to the relevant mailing list and you will get a quick response from the team.
You will need to subscribe to the mailing list first by visiting the Ubuntu Mailing Lists Web site at https:// lists.ubuntu.com/. The Mailing Lists page displays all the public mailing lists to which you can subscribe and their topic.
The following screenshot displays the Mailing Lists page:
Figure 9.7. The Mailing Lists Page
To get help for your Ubuntu desktop, you should go to the Community Support and select the ubuntu-users
mailing list. This will take you to a page like the following:
Figure 9.8. Subscribing to Ubuntu-users Mailing List
You need to provide your e-mail address, your name and a password in the appropriate boxes and then click the Subscribe button.
When you subscribe to a mailing list, a confirmation mail is sent to your provided e-mail to verify that it is your address. To activate this mailing list, you need to first open your e-mail account and then click the link provided in the confirmation e-mail.
Figure 9.9. Confirmation Mail
Clicking this link takes you to the Confirm subscription request page, where you can verify the details of your subscription request and subscribe to the selected mailing list by clicking the Subscribe to list ubuntu-users button.
Figure 9.10. Confirm Subscription Request Page
Finally, you will receive a confirmation message saying that your subscription request to the selected mailing list has been confirmed.
Figure 9.11. Confirmation of Subscription Request Page
Soon after, you will receive a welcome mail containing the mailing address of your selected mailing list and you will then be able to send e-mail messages to this list. Before sending your first query, it is good practice to read a bit of the archive, as the topic may have already been covered. The archive will also give you an idea of how much volume to expect from a list and get a "feel" of others who are active on the list.
It is possible that you will be flooded with many responses to your posting. The level of emails received can be controlled by adjusting your preferences on the UserCP (User Control Panel). You can use this panel to customize your profile and preferences too.
The mailing lists archive is an excellent resource of information, as quite a few questions have been discussed on the lists already. The archive can be seen as a memory for the mailing lists expertise.