366 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
366 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
\input texinfo @c -*- texinfo -*-
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@documentencoding UTF-8
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@settitle FFmpeg Mailing List FAQ
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@titlepage
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@center @titlefont{FFmpeg Mailing List FAQ}
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@end titlepage
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@top
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@contents
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@chapter General Questions
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@section What is a mailing list?
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A mailing list is not much different than emailing someone, but the
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main difference is that your message is received by everyone who
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subscribes to the list. It is somewhat like a forum but in email form.
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See the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user archives}
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for examples.
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@section What type of questions can I ask?
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@itemize
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@item
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@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user}:
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For questions involving unscripted usage or compilation of the FFmpeg
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command-line tools (@command{ffmpeg}, @command{ffprobe}, @command{ffplay}).
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@item
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@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/libav-user/, libav-user}:
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For questions involving the FFmpeg libav* libraries (libavcodec,
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libavformat, libavfilter, etc).
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@item
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@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-devel/, ffmpeg-devel}:
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For discussions involving the development of FFmpeg and for submitting
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patches. User questions should be asked at ffmpeg-user or libav-user.
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@end itemize
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To report a bug see @url{https://ffmpeg.org/bugreports.html}.
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We cannot provide help for scripts and/or third-party tools.
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@anchor{How do I ask a question or send a message to a mailing list?}
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@section How do I ask a question or send a message to a mailing list?
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All you have to do is send an email:
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@itemize
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@item
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Email @email{ffmpeg-user@@ffmpeg.org} to send a message to the
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ffmpeg-user mailing list.
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@item
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Email @email{libav-user@@ffmpeg.org} to send a message to the
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libav-user mailing list.
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@end itemize
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If you are not subscribed to the mailing list then your question must be
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manually approved. Approval may take several days, but the wait is
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usually less. If you want the message to be sent with no delay then you
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must subscribe first. See @ref{How do I subscribe?}
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Please do not send a message, subscribe, and re-send the message: this
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results in duplicates, causes more work for the admins, and may lower
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your chance at getting an answer. However, you may do so if you first
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@ref{How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?, delete your original message from the moderation queue}.
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@chapter Subscribing / Unsubscribing
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@section What does subscribing do?
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Subscribing allows two things:
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@itemize
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@item
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Your messages will show up in the mailing list without waiting in the
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moderation queue and needing to be manually approved by a mailing list
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admin.
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@item
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You will receive all messages to the mailing list including replies to
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your messages. Non-subscribed users do not receive any messages.
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@end itemize
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@section Do I need to subscribe?
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No. You can still send a message to the mailing list without
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subscribing. See @ref{How do I ask a question or send a message to a mailing list?}
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However, your message will need to be manually approved by a mailing
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list admin, and you will not receive any mailing list messages or
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replies.
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You can ask to be CCd in your message, but replying users will
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sometimes forget to do so.
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You may also view and reply to messages via the @ref{Where are the archives?, archives}.
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@anchor{How do I subscribe?}
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@section How do I subscribe?
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Email @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} with the subject
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@emph{subscribe}.
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Or visit the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user mailing list info page}
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and refer to the @emph{Subscribing to ffmpeg-user} section.
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The process is the same for the other mailing lists.
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@section How do I unsubscribe?
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Email @email{ffmpeg-user-request@@ffmpeg.org} with subject @emph{unsubscribe}.
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Or visit the @url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/mailman/listinfo/ffmpeg-user/, ffmpeg-user mailing list info page},
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scroll to bottom of page, enter your email address in the box, and click
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the @emph{Unsubscribe or edit options} button.
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The process is the same for the other mailing lists.
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Please avoid asking a mailing list admin to unsubscribe you unless you
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are absolutely unable to do so by yourself. See @ref{Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?}
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@chapter Moderation Queue
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@anchor{Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?}
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@section Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?
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Some messages are automatically held in the @emph{moderation queue} and
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must be manually approved by a mailing list admin:
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These are:
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@itemize
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@item
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Messages from users who are @strong{not} subscribed.
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@item
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Messages that exceed the @ref{What is the message size limit?, message size limit}.
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@item
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Messages from users whose accounts have been set with the @emph{moderation flag}
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(very rarely occurs, but may if a user repeatedly ignores the rules
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or is abusive towards others).
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@end itemize
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@section How long does it take for my message in the moderation queue to be approved?
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The queue is usually checked once or twice a day, but on occasion
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several days may pass before someone checks the queue.
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@anchor{How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?}
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@section How do I delete my message in the moderation queue?
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You should have received an email with the subject @emph{Your message to ffmpeg-user awaits moderator approval}.
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A link is in the message that will allow you to delete your message
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unless a mailing list admin already approved or rejected it.
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@chapter Archives
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@anchor{Where are the archives?}
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@section Where are the archives?
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See the @emph{Archives} section on the @url{https://ffmpeg.org/contact.html, FFmpeg Contact}
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page for links to all FFmpeg mailing list archives.
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Note that the archives are split by month. Discussions that span
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several months will be split into separate months in the archives.
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@section How do I reply to a message in the archives?
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Click the email link at the top of the message just under the subject
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title. The link will provide the proper headers to keep the message
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within the thread.
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@section How do I search the archives?
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Perform a site search using your favorite search engine. Example:
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@t{site:lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/ "search term"}
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@chapter Other
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@section Is there an alternative to the mailing list?
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You can ask for help in the official @t{#ffmpeg} IRC channel on Freenode.
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Some users prefer the third-party Nabble interface which presents the
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mailing lists in a typical forum layout.
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There are also numerous third-party help sites such as Super User and
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r/ffmpeg on reddit.
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@anchor{What is top-posting?}
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@section What is top-posting?
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See @url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting}.
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Instead, use trimmed interleaved/inline replies (@url{https://lists.ffmpeg.org/pipermail/ffmpeg-user/2017-April/035849.html, example}).
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@anchor{What is the message size limit?}
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@section What is the message size limit?
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The message size limit is 500 kilobytes for the user lists and 1000
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kilobytes for ffmpeg-devel. Please provide links to larger files instead
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of attaching them.
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@section Where can I upload sample files?
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Anywhere that is not too annoying for us to use.
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Google Drive and Dropbox are acceptable if you need a file host, and
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0x0.st is good for files under 256 MiB.
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Small, short samples are preferred if possible.
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@section Will I receive spam if I send and/or subscribe to a mailing list?
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Highly unlikely.
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@itemize
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@item
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The list of subscribed users is not public.
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@item
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Email addresses in the archives are obfuscated.
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@item
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Several unique test email accounts were utilized and none have yet
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received any spam.
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@end itemize
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However, you may see a spam in the mailing lists on rare occasions:
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@itemize
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@item
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Spam in the moderation queue may be accidentally approved due to human
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error.
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@item
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There have been a few messages from subscribed users who had their own
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email addresses hacked and spam messages from (or appearing to be from)
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the hacked account were sent to their contacts (a mailing list being a
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contact in these cases).
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@item
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If you are subscribed to the bug tracker mailing list (ffmpeg-trac) you
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may see the occasional spam as a false bug report, but we take measures
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to try to prevent this.
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@end itemize
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@section How do I filter mailing list messages?
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Use the @emph{List-Id}. For example, the ffmpeg-user mailing list is
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@t{ffmpeg-user.ffmpeg.org}. You can view the List-Id in the raw message
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or headers.
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You can then filter the mailing list messages to their own folder.
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@chapter Rules and Etiquette
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@section What are the rules and the proper etiquette?
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There may seem to be many things to remember, but we want to help and
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following these guidelines will allow you to get answers more quickly
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and help avoid getting ignored.
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@itemize
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@item
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Always show your actual, unscripted @command{ffmpeg} command and the
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complete, uncut console output from your command.
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@item
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Use the most simple and minimal command that still shows the issue you
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are encountering.
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@item
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Provide all necessary information so others can attempt to duplicate
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your issue. This includes the actual command, complete uncut console
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output, and any inputs that are required to duplicate the issue.
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@item
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Use the latest @command{ffmpeg} build you can get. See the @url{https://ffmpeg.org/download.html, FFmpeg Download}
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page for links to recent builds for Linux, macOS, and Windows. Or
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compile from the current git master branch.
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@item
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Avoid @url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posting_style#Top-posting, top-posting}.
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Also see @ref{What is top-posting?}
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@item
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Avoid hijacking threads. Thread hijacking is replying to a message and
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changing the subject line to something unrelated to the original thread.
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Most email clients will still show the renamed message under the
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original thread. This can be confusing and these types of messages are
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often ignored.
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@item
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Do not send screenshots. Copy and paste console text instead of making
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screenshots of the text.
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@item
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Avoid sending email disclaimers and legalese if possible as this is a
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public list.
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@item
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Avoid using the @code{-loglevel debug}, @code{-loglevel quiet}, and
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@command{-hide_banner} options unless requested to do so.
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@item
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If you attach files avoid compressing small files. Uncompressed is
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preferred.
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@item
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Please do not send HTML-only messages. The mailing list will ignore the
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HTML component of your message. Most mail clients will automatically
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include a text component: this is what the mailing list will use.
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@item
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Configuring your mail client to break lines after 70 or so characters is
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recommended.
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@item
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Avoid sending the same message to multiple mailing lists.
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@item
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Please follow our @url{https://ffmpeg.org/developer.html#Code-of-conduct, Code of Conduct}.
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@end itemize
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@chapter Help
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@section Why am I not receiving any messages?
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Some email providers have blacklists or spam filters that block or mark
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the mailing list messages as false positives. Unfortunately, the user is
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often not aware of this and is often out of their control.
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When possible we attempt to notify the provider to be removed from the
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blacklists or filters.
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@section Why are my sent messages not showing up?
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Excluding @ref{Why is my message awaiting moderator approval?, messages that are held in the moderation queue}
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there are a few other reasons why your messages may fail to appear:
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@itemize
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@item
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HTML-only messages are ignored by the mailing lists. Most mail clients
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automatically include a text component alongside HTML email: this is what
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the mailing list will use. If it does not then consider your client to be
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broken, because sending a text component along with the HTML component to
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form a multi-part message is recommended by email standards.
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@item
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Check your spam folder.
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@end itemize
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@anchor{Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?}
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@section Who do I contact if I have a problem with the mailing list?
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Send a message to @email{ffmpeg-user-owner@@ffmpeg.org}.
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@bye
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