How to ask questions on mailing lists (and forums)

If you're going to get helpful answers from people, you have to give them enough information to understand where you're starting from and what you're trying to achieve.

Here are some examples of badly worded questions:

"I ran that command and got an error message." (without quoting what the error message was)
"I edited the config file and it still doesn't work." (without saying what you edited, or what tells you that it didn't work)
"I followed the instructions and it's not working." (without saying which instructions you followed, or how you have identified that it's not working)

So, put yourself in the position of the person who might be able to answer your question. What do they need to know in order to be as helpful as possible?

Tell people:

Which Operating System, and version, are you trying to run something on?
Which version of an application are you trying to install or run?
How did you install it (as a package, compiled from source, something else?)
Where did you get it from (which package repository, where was the source code…)?
What are you trying to achieve? If people don't know this, they don't know how to guide you in the best direction.
If you're getting an error message, where are you seeing it (on the console when you run a command, in a log file, displayed by a browser…)?
If you're getting an error message, what is the message? Be sure to copy and paste it exactly so people know precisely what is being reported.
What have you done to try to fix it?
What changes have you made to the default configuration file/s in order to try to get the thing to work?

As far as possible, try to give people enough information that they could replicate the setup you have and reproduce the problem for themselves.

Also, if you're posting to a mailing list (rather than a forum):

Write in plain text, do not send HTML (or, if you feel you must, make sure it's a multi-part email with a plain-text body as well)
Do not top post (ie: writing your reply above the text of whatever you're replying to)
Do not bottom post (ie: quoting an entire previous posting and then writing your reply underneath it)
Do not hijack a posting (ie: take some random email on the list, and reply to it with a totally unrelated question, even if you do change the subject line) - create a new thread of your own, just for this question
Trim what you're replying to (ie: remove any text that's unnecessary for understanding your reply, and just leave the bits you're replying to) and use inline posting (write your responses immediately after each line you're responding to)
Use quoting symbols such as > to make it clear which bit is what you're replying to, and which bit is your reply (every reasonable email client does this automatically for you)
Do not set a Reply-to address in your postings (unless it's the list address)
Do not use "Reply to all" - reply to the list only - everyone will get their own copy

And finally, be nice:

Check the list or forum archives before asking your question, to see whether someone else has asked it before - you might find your answer much more quickly this way, and not waste people's time asking them to answer it again
Assuming you're writing to a volunteer-run community-based group, don't ask for a quick response - you'll get an answer when people have time to help out
Similarly, don't complain if people don't know how to answer your question - they're all volunteers, they're not paid to help you solve your problems, and you might be the first person to encounter this situation anyway
Do not write in all capitals - it's the Internet equivalent of shouting
Be polite - use words like "please"
Be polite - if you disagree with someone, make sure you focus on what they said that you disagree with, don't attack or insult the person themselves
If your question results in several responses with different suggestions, and one (or more) of them worked for you, send a final "thank you" email including a summary of what it was that worked - most mailing lists and forums are archived for people in the future to be able to search, and finding out that you had the same problem as they do, and you solved it, without knowing how, is frustrating for them. Tell them how you solved it so that they don't have to ask the same question again.

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