How to get answers

If you're asking a question of the OpenEEG community, presumably your intent is to receive an answer. There are ways of asking your question which significantly increase your chances of getting an answer. Here are the things you will need to do to increase your chances of getting an answer:

• Most important of all, read Eric Raymond's document How to ask questions the smart way. Eric Raymond does not know about the OpenEEG project, so please don't forward any questions to him. Instead, ask the OpenEEG community.
• To address some of the questions you will have after reading Eric Raymond's document, I'll make the following points:
• We expect you, in addition to having read the FAQ and searched the web, to have searched the mailing list archives for the OpenEEG list, and read the section(s) of the website which are relevant to your question.
• The appropriate place to ask all non-software questions is the main OpenEEG list. Software questions should be directed to the software list. See the OpenEEG community page for details.
• Eric Raymond points out that well-written questions are more likely to be answered. Here are a few extra tips:
• Begin your sentences with a capital letter
• End your sentences with one of the following: . ! ? Only use one of them. People who finish every sentence with ",,..." are less likely to be answered, particularly as they tend to use that punctuation form instead of any other punctuation mark. Please consider whether you should be using a comma or a full stop (period). Remember, full stops are like a stop sign, where you stop, whereas commas are like a yield/give way sign where you just pause a bit.
• Likewise, break your text up into paragraphs. When you do this, do something that clearly indicates the paragraph break, such as indent the first line of the next paragraph, or leave a blank line between the paragraphs.
• Don't use SMS or IM (Instant Messaging) language or cutesy contractions. They hinder clear communication. So don't write "gr8", or "u r" for "you are" and the like. There are some common abbreviations you can use sparingly (ie. occasionally). No doubt you will learn what is acceptable as you become a part of the community. You will want to imitate the community leaders (ie. those answering questions) rather than other outsiders.
• Don't use top-posting. For more information as to what it is, see the Wikipedia Top-posting article. This is best expressed as:

  A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
  
  Q: Why is top posting frowned upon?
  
  A: Top-posting.
  
  Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in email?
  

  While the language is not the best example to follow, you will be able to see some examples of good quoting style at the quoting guide.
• You will also get a better answer if you follow our Mailing list rules. Because you've already read the FAQ, you obviously remember what they are, so I won't reiterate them here.