Self Support First Policy for Kicksecure ™
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"Self Support First Policy" is usually employed by small open source teams with limited resources. It means utilizing all of your options from public sources first, then search engines, already existing content and answers, then sources inside the forum
and only then consider reaching out in the forum and through direct support.
Overview[edit]
- Self support is often easier and more effective than suspected. It saves the user time and helps the developer team concentrate on improving the product
- Please Use Search Engines And See Documentation First and read the FAQ. Most questions have already been answered.
- Use the Kicksecure ™ internal search engine and external search engines like DuckDuckGo and Startpage which the additional keyword "Kicksecure".
- Search the Kicksecure ™ User Forums and issue tracker for the problem.
- If possible, search for a solution without the Kicksecure ™-specific part of the question, as it may have been answered in mainstream Linux fora.
- Check if the problem can be replicated in vanilla operating system environments like Debian
bullseye, Xfce. - See General Advice.
- See documentation introduction, user expectations, footnotes and references.
After completing these steps, a specific support request should be made if the user cannot locate a similar reference for their problem. Suitable options may include Debian user forums, unix stackexchange, software-specific community / developer forums (for example, LibreOffice), and so on.
- See also Support Request Policy.
- In case Kicksecure ™ specific issues or feature requests see also Bug Reports and Software Development.
- If no solution is found, the user should create a new post in the Kicksecure ™ User Forums.
- If a solution was found, please consider editing the Kicksecure ™ Documentation as a small contribution and/or providing a complete answer in the Kicksecure ™ User
Self Support First Policy Rationale[edit]
In an ideal world, all free support requests would be answered with minimal to no effort or systems would run flawlessly, thus negating the need for asking questions. Unfortunately, real world systems are flawed and developer time and knowledge is limited. This is further elaborated in chapter Policy Rationale.
Kicksecure ™ will always be free in price as well as in freedom (Why?). In order to create a solid open source software solution, Kicksecure ™ has adopted the approach of treating users as co-developers. [1] This concept is further elaborated below.
The User Co-developer Concept[edit]
The majority of common questions have been answered in the available Documentation. If the solution to an issue is already documented, users will usually receive just a link to the documentation in response to their question.
Kicksecure ™ is a Linux distribution, with Kicksecure ™ developers and users playing the role of integrators. Kicksecure ™ itself is based on several components and software distributions developed by other projects; it is standing on the shoulders of giants.
In simple terms, Kicksecure ™ is based on: [2]
- Debian.
- A host of other software packages.
It is impossible for the Kicksecure ™ contributors to be aware of the solution to each and every problem that is encountered. Users are therefore encouraged to first consider if their problem is general, and unspecific to Kicksecure ™.
Putting this principle into action means rephrasing the question, seeking solutions in other arenas, and preferably documenting this solution in the Documentation. Experience has shown that for some questions, this is the only realistic way to solve them.
Users might expect Kicksecure ™ to provide a unified experience similar to a Windows machine. While the Kicksecure ™ developers make every effort to meet user expectations, limited funding and human resources makes meeting these expectations impossible. [3]
Kicksecure ™ Reliance on Debian[edit]
Tip: Since Ubuntu is a Debian derivative, online help for Ubuntu most often works for Kicksecure ™.
In oversimplified terms, Kicksecure ™ is just a collection of configuration files and scripts. Kicksecure ™ is not a stripped down version of Debian; anything possible in "vanilla" Debian GNU/Linux can be replicated in Kicksecure ™. Likewise, most problems and questions can be solved in the same way. For example: "How do I install VLC Media Player on Kicksecure ™?" -- "The same way as in Debian apt install vlc. Kicksecure ™ does not break anything, limit functionality, or prevent installation of compatible software.
An example of an inappropriate question seeking Kicksecure ™ support would be "How do I save a document in Libre Office as a PDF?". The solution is easily found by use of Internet search engines. Even if a solution was difficult to find, LibreOffice would behave identically on Debian and other operating systems. Logically, the recipient for the question should be the LibreOffice community.
On the other hand, in the unlikely event this hypothetical problem only occurred in Kicksecure ™, then it would constitute an appropriate support referral, for example: "I know how to save a document in LibreOffice as a PDF. It doesn't work in Kicksecure ™. How can I make it work in Kicksecure ™?"
Unfinished: This wiki is a work in progress. Please do not report broken links until this notice is removed, use Search Engines First and contribute improving this wiki.
At
Kicksecure we believe in freedom and trust. That's why we fully support Open Source and Freedom Software.
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ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LP,
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- ↑
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar#Lessons_for_creating_good_open_source_software
- ↑ This is explained in more detail on the About page.
- ↑ A problem all Linux distributions face.