HylaFAX Documentation

[fernande@mr.med.ge.com (Gabriel Fernandez 4-6518)]

Hi there:

   I am bringing this up with the fear of getting "burnt", but here I go.

   I have come to the conclusion that HylaFAX is complicated to setup because
there are a lot of little things that have to be tweaked correctly for every
system in order to have the fax service running. And, even though the
documentation is extensive and covers pretty much every aspect of the software,
it is difficult to know where to look.

   It is like having the documents on-line in the computer for somebody who
does not konw who to use a computer. How is he/she supposed to look for the
documentation?

   I strongly suggest that WE (as if all the members of the mailing list)
create a beginners setup (Getting Started) procedure that could be part of the
distribution with the most common problems for every known platform. The FAQ
and mail archives are fine, but people need something that they can use right
away. If the problem is not explained in this "Getting Started" file, then
he/she will have to go to the man pages, FAQ, or mail archives.

   I am willing to share my experience with my Linux box and how it is very
common to have a "lot" of weird problems if you don't realize that HylaFAX does
not work for _standalone_ machines with no network defined. I have seen that
Nico has a lot of interesting insights for Linux too.

   I am sure we can gather enough information among all the members of the list
to have a "Getting Started" file with common things you have to do to setup
HylaFAX, different setup options, and platform specific issues.

   Things that come to mind could be:

1) ${SPOOLDIR}/fax/etc/hosts file
   A lot of people have problems understanding the importance of this file and
all the errors that might appear if this file is not setup correctly.

2) /etc/inetd.conf vs. rc.<hylafax>.
   Under certain platforms, it is better to start the daemons in a certain way
than others.

3) man pages.
   It is a fact that the location of the man pages varies from platform to
platform. I had to change the location of the man pages in the HTML pages to
make them work under Linux.

4) font names and location.
   How many times do we have to help people to set up the font names or the
location under certain platforms?

5) software versions
   Do you have the right version of gs, gcc, and tiff?

6) US Robotics issue
   I am still not sure if all the USR Sportster are "bad boys". Some firmwares
work fine. Also, USR Courier V.Everything seems to work fine.

7) Troubleshooting.
   What common tests can we do to verify that the installation is fine, and
given an error message, what the possible solution could be.

   Again, all this information should be brief and to the point about very
COMMON problems that happen to mostly everybody.

   Having this, the person who is installing the software could use this as a
guide. If something is really wrong, then he/she will have to go through the
old path: man pages, FAQ, mail archives, and mailing list.

   Let me know if this is worth doing. I can help gathering the mails about
Linux issues AND solutions and then I would mail the file back to the mailing
list for revision. Once everybody is happy, I could mail it to the person in
charge of including it in the distribution.

   Somebody else could help with the other platforms.

   I guess Matthias and Jonathan could give vital information about the plain
installation and configuration process that should be common for everybody.

   Bye,

	Gabriel

-- 
+-----------------------+----------------------------------------+
| Gabriel Fernandez     |                                        |
| PSD Design Engineer   |                    Phone: 414-521-6518 |
| GE Medical Systems    |                      Fax: 414-521-6081 |
| P.O. Box 414, W-827   |                    Pager: 414-318-6798 |
| Milwaukee, WI 53201   | Internet: Gabriel.Fernandez@med.ge.com |
+-----------------------+----------------------------------------+

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