Changes between Initial Version and Version 1 of doc/faq


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  • doc/faq

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     1Also see [browser:doc/FAQ FAQ in repo] 
     2 
     3= Fequently Asked Questions  = 
     4 
     5== Getting started == 
     6 
     7=== 1.1 What is Midnight Commander? === 
     8 
     9GNU Midnight Commander is a user-friendly yet powerful file manager and visual shell, useful to novice and guru alike.  It provides a 
     10clear, user-friendly, and somewhat protected interface to a Unix system while making many frequent file operations more efficient and  
     11preserving the full power of the command prompt.  After some practice, you will wonder how you could ever live without it. 
     12 
     13 
     14=== 1.2 Does it run on my machine? === 
     15 
     16GNU Midnight Commander runs on POSIX (Unix-like) operating systems, such as GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, Solaris, HP-UX and others.  It 
     17can also be compiled under Cygwin on Windows. 
     18 
     19GNU Midnight Commander uses GNU Autoconf which should automatically configure it for every Unix clone.  Following configurations have 
     20been tested in the past (this list is very old): 
     21 * i386-*-linux1.x, 2.x 
     22 * alpha-linux-linux2 
     23 * sparc-linux-linux2.x 
     24 * sparc64-linux-linux2.1 
     25 * mips-sgi-irix5.x, 6.x 
     26 * mips-dec-ultrix4.3 
     27 * rs6000-ibm-aix3.2.5 
     28 * sparc-sun-sunos4.1 
     29 * sparc-sun-solaris2.3, 2.4, 2.5 
     30 * sparc-sun-netbsd1.0 
     31 * hppa-hp-hpux9 
     32 * hppa-hp-hpux7 
     33 * m68k-apple-aux 
     34 * unixware 
     35 * mc88110-aviion-dgux5.4R2.01 
     36 * i386-*-sco3.2v4.2 
     37 * i386-*-sco3.2v5 
     38 
     39=== 1.3 Does it work with my terminal? === 
     40 
     41Yes, it does. 
     42 
     43Because GNU Midnight Commander is a full screen program it doesn't run on dummy terminals but anything more advanced will do (like 
     44vt100).  If your terminal works with vi, emacs, elm or pine it will work with GNU Midnight Commander. 
     45 
     46=== 1.4 What else do I need to run MC? === 
     47 
     48You need a POSIX (Unix compatible) operating system.  If you are running Windows, use Cygwin. 
     49 
     50To compile any edition you need to have glib 2.x  installed. It's available at ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/. 
     51 
     52If you want to use mouse on the Linux console you need the gpm daemon from ftp://ftp.systemy.it/pub/develop/.  You need nothing extra to 
     53use mouse on xterm. 
     54 
     55If you do not want to use the S-Lang library you could try using ncurses version 4.1 and above. 
     56 
     57=== 1.5 Is GNU Midnight Commander Public Domain? Copyrighted? === 
     58 
     59Midnight Commander is under GNU Public License which basically means that you may freely copy, change and distribute it, but that you may 
     60not impose any restrictions on further distribution, and that you must make the source code available.  This is not the same as Public 
     61Domain.  For details, the GNU license is included in GNU Midnight Commander source distribution (the COPYING file). 
     62 
     63Midnight Commander is now officially a part of the GNU project. All the authors of GNU Midnight Commander have given all their rights 
     64on the program to the Free Software Foundation. 
     65 
     66=== 1.6 Where can I get GNU Midnight Commander? === 
     67 
     68The main site is http://www.midnight-commander.org 
     69 
     70=== 1.7 I cannot compile MC.  What should I do? === 
     71 
     72Make sure you have read the INSTALL file in the sources.  Report the error messages exactly as they appear, mention the versions of your 
     73OS, your compiler and whatever else software you think is relevant. If you have compile problems in the VFS code, try disabling it by 
     74using "--disable-vfs" option. 
     75 
     76== 2 Keyboard == 
     77 
     78=== 2.1 What does documentation mean with the C-?, M-? and F? keys? === 
     79 
     80GNU Midnight Commander documentation uses emacs style names for keyboard keys. 
     81 
     82C stands for the Ctrl key.  For example, C-f means that you should hold down the Ctrl key and press the f key. 
     83 
     84M stands for the Meta key.  Your terminal might call it Alt or Compose instead of Meta.  For example, M-f means that you should hold 
     85down the Meta/Alt/Compose key and press the f key.  If your terminal doesn't have Meta, Alt or Compose or they don't work you can use Esc. 
     86For M-f press the Esc key and then press the f key. 
     87 
     88Sometimes Ctrl and Alt are used instead of C and M for simplicity. Keep in mind that Alt can actually be Meta on some keyboards. 
     89 
     90F? stands for a function key.  If your terminal doesn't have function keys or they don't work you can use Esc.  For example, for F3 press 
     91the Esc key and then press the 3 key. 
     92 
     93=== 2.2 Why don't function keys (or some other key) work? === 
     94 
     95Your terminfo or termcap database has missing or incorrect definitions for function keys.  Type "mc -V" to see what terminal 
     96database is being used.  If the result is "using the S-Lang library with terminfo database" and you are using a very old terminfo 
     97database, consider installing one of the enhanced terminfo files included in GNU Midnight Commander source distribution.  For example, 
     98if you are using xterm type "tic xterm.ti". 
     99 
     100If the result is "using the S-Lang library with termcap database" you should fix your /etc/termcap database. 
     101 
     102Up-to-date termcap and terminfo databases are available here: 
     103 * http://www.catb.org/~esr/terminfo/ 
     104 * ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/ncurses/ 
     105 
     106If you don't have permissions to edit terminal databases you can use Learn keys feature of Midnight Commander instead.  Press Esc 9 o k 
     107and follow instructions. 
     108 
     109If all else fails you can emulate function keys by first pressing the ESC key and then one of the number keys.  For example, if you want to 
     110produce F9, press ESC, then 9.  If you don't have a ESC key on your keyboard you can try alt-9 or meta-9. 
     111 
     112=== 2.3 How do I use function keys F11 to F20? === 
     113 
     114These are normally mapped to function keys F1 to F10 with Shift held, e.g. function key F13 can be activated by pressing Shift-F3.  You can 
     115define the keys this way in the Options->Learn Keys dialog.  The convention for PC keyboards is that F11-20 always means Shift with 
     116F1-10. 
     117 
     118You may find that on the Linux console with some keyboard layouts Shift-Fn is interpreted as F(n+12), not as F(n+10).  This is a result 
     119of non-uniformity of keyboard layouts.  This is not an intended behavior and it may be fixed some day.  In the meantime, use "Learn 
     120Keys" to remedy this inconvenience. 
     121 
     122=== 2.4 Why does the ESC key behave funny? === 
     123 
     124Midnight Commander uses the ESC key as a prefix for simulating the Meta and Alt keys (for terminals which don't have Meta or Alt, see 
     125the three previous questions).  For example, pressing ESC-a is the same as pressing Meta-a.  In addition most terminals use ESC for 
     126internal representation of arrow keys, function keys and other enhanced keys.  If you want to use ESC to cancel things you have to 
     127press it twice i.e. ESC-ESC.  If you find this cumbersome you can generally use F10 to cancel.  Alternatively turn on the old_esc_mode 
     128setting in the ~/.mc/ini file.  The old_esc_mode setting makes ESC work as a prefix only if another key is pressed within 0.5 seconds. 
     129After 0.5 seconds the ESC key cancels.  There is no way to make ESC cancel immediately (if we want to be able to use arrows keys and 
     130function keys). 
     131 
     132=== 2.5 How can I add the plus sign (+) on the command line? === 
     133 
     134Press C-q first, then press the + sign. 
     135 
     136The plus key is the hotkey for the select files command.  If you want to add a literal plus on to the command line you must quote it by 
     137pressing C-q first. 
     138 
     139Another common key which needs the C-q prefix is backslash "\". 
     140 
     141=== 2.6 C-o doesn't work! === 
     142 
     143Maybe C-o is a stty control character on your terminal.  See {{{man stty}}} for details on how to list and change stty control characters. 
     144 
     145=== 2.7 What 'keys' are the "a1" and "c1" keys mentioned in the manual? === 
     146 
     147The "a1" key is the key which has the "a1" caption on it. 
     148 
     149The "c1" key is the key which has the "c1" caption on it. 
     150 
     151If you have to ask what these two keys are your keyboard hasn't probably got them.  Actually, I have never seen a keyboard which has 
     152got them. 
     153 
     154=== 2.8 How do I change the key bindings? === 
     155 
     156There is no generic way to reconfigure the key bindings.  You can use the "Learn Keys" dialog to assign keys to some actions listed in that 
     157dialog.  However, most actions cannot be redefined to use different keys. 
     158 
     159 
     160== 3 Mouse == 
     161 
     162=== 3.1 How do I enable mouse support? === 
     163 
     164Invoke mc like this (without quotes): "mc -x".  If this doesn't work upgrade to a terminal which compatible with the Xterm mouse sequences. 
     165 
     166Alternatively, on Linux console you can use gpm. 
     167 
     168=== 3.2 How do I cut and paste text with mouse? === 
     169 
     170Hold down shift key while using mouse to cut and paste. 
     171 
     172=== 3.3 How do I get the extension dependent pop-up menu to pop up? === 
     173 
     174It was developed for the GNOME edition.  The text-mode edition doesn't support this feature yet. 
     175 
     176 
     177== 4 Display == 
     178 
     179=== 4.1 Why do I keep getting "Terminal not powerful enough for SLang" or "Terminal not powerful enough for SLsmg"? === 
     180 
     181This means that your terminfo databases do not contain the correct definitions for your terminal. 
     182 
     183You could try using a different terminal setting.  If you use csh or tcsh: 
     184{{{ 
     185setenv TERM vt100 
     186}}} 
     187or if you use sh, bash, ksh or zsh: 
     188{{{ 
     189export TERM=vt100 
     190}}} 
     191 
     192=== 4.2 Why don't line drawing characters work? === 
     193 
     194Since version 4.0.13 there's the command line option -a to force use of charaters +, |, - for line drawing (only available when compiled 
     195with S-Lang).  Use the -a option if any of the suggestions below doesn't help. 
     196 
     197In general, there are three cases: 
     198 * Lines are shown as ASCII characters like this 
     199{{{ 
     200 +---------+ 
     201 |         | 
     202 +---------+ 
     203}}} 
     204 This also happens when you use the -a option.  Other than that possible reason is 1 or 2 (see below). 
     205 
     206 * Lines are shown as lower case characters like this 
     207{{{ 
     208 lqqqqqqqqqk 
     209 x         x 
     210 mqqqqqqqqqj 
     211}}} 
     212 Possible reason is 1 or 2 (see below). 
     213 
     214 * Lines are shown as blanks or missing characters.  Possible reason is 2 or 3 (see below). 
     215 
     216The reason for the problem is one of following: 
     217 1. Your terminal might not support line drawing characters.  VT100 compatible terminals, rxvt and xterm and color_xterm do support them. 
     218 1. Your terminfo or termcap database might have missing or incorrect definitions for line drawing characters.  Set the acsc variable in the terminfo database like this: 
     219{{{ 
     220       acsc=a\376k\277l\332m\300j\331n\305w\302v\301u\264t\303q\304x\263h\2600\333 
     221}}} 
     222 Don't forget issue 'tic' command.  This supposes you are using PC character set.  The octal values might be different for other character sets.  If you are using termcap instead of terminfo, you should modify above solution appropriately. 
     223 1. Your terminal font might not support line drawing characters. 
     224 Try changing the font. 
     225 
     226Here is Miguel's answer to Torben on this subject. 
     227 
     228'''Torben:''' 
     229> When I load consolefonts/iso01.f16, I get perfectly right national characters,  
     230> but the line drawing characters in mc get wrong.  Is it a mc problem, or is it 
     231> a problem with the font? (I guess it is). 
     232> Is there a trick? 
     233 
     234'''Miguel:''' 
     235> First of all, we should determine whether the font has line drawing characters or not. 
     236 
     237> If it has line drawing characters, then a new terminfo entry should be written for 
     238> this specific case.  Let's call this linux-iso01. The acsc variable should be modified 
     239> to reflect which characters are used to do the line drawing. 
     240> 
     241> If it does not have line drawing characters, then we should get rid of the switch to 
     242> acsc sequences and make the acsc sequence be just a mapping to the ugly +, -, |, - characters. 
     243> 
     244> You can get your terminfo definition by running the infocmp program, making the proper 
     245> changes and running the tic program to compile your new terminfo database. 
     246 
     247=== 4.3 Can one use latin-1 characters without losing the lines? === 
     248 
     249Yes, you need a correct font and a correct termcap/terminfo database. 
     250 
     251For font, if you use xterm try "xterm -fn fixed". 
     252 
     253For termcap/terminfo database, change the acsc capability in the database. 
     254 
     255=== 4.4 I have problems with entering/viewing national characters! === 
     256 
     257Upgrade to version 4.0.12 or newer. 
     258 
     259From the Options - Display Bits dialog select Full 8 bits or ISO 8859-1.  In addition, select 8 bit input from the same dialog. 
     260 
     261=== 4.5 How can I get colors? === 
     262 
     263Invoke mc like this (without quotes): "mc -c". 
     264 
     265If you get colors, be happy. 
     266 
     267If your terminal stays black and white, your terminal doesn't support color.  You might want to upgrade to a terminal which compatible with 
     268the ANSI color sequences. 
     269 
     270If your terminal goes completely black, see the next question. 
     271 
     272More detailed answer: 
     273 
     274Check that your terminal supports color.  color_xterm, rxvt and Linux console do support, most other terminals don't.  You can test color 
     275support with following simple C program: 
     276{{{ 
     277#include <stdio.h> 
     278 
     279int main (void){ 
     280    printf ("\033[32m Hello world! \033[m\n"); 
     281    return 0; 
     282} 
     283}}} 
     284 
     285Compile and run it.  If you see "Hello world!" text in green your terminal supports color, otherwise not (however, for color_xterm see 
     286also the next question). 
     287 
     288Check whether you are using Ncurses or the S-Lang library (type "mc -V" to find out). 
     289 
     290With S-Lang library you can force color support by setting the environment variable COLORTERM to any value. 
     291 
     292If you use ncurses library, check that your terminfo database supports color.  If not, you should install one of the enhanced 
     293terminfo databases included in GNU Midnight Commander source distribution. 
     294 
     295You might want to set the TERM environment variable so that you are using the correct terminfo database or termcap entry. 
     296 
     297If you use color_xterm (or rxvt) the correct value might be xterm-color, xtermc or simply xterm. 
     298 
     299If you use Linux console the correct value for TERM is linux or console. 
     300 
     301=== 4.6 My color_xterm goes completely (or partially) black! === 
     302 
     303Some color_xterm terminals define all colors as black instead of the standard ANSI colors.  This makes them go completely black when you 
     304try to use Midnight Commander with colors. 
     305 
     306You will have to override the defaults.  Create a file "color.defaults" which has the following contents: 
     307{{{ 
     308color_xterm*color0:           Black 
     309color_xterm*color1:           Red 
     310color_xterm*color2:           Green 
     311color_xterm*color3:           Yellow 
     312color_xterm*color4:           Blue 
     313color_xterm*color5:           Magenta 
     314color_xterm*color6:           Cyan 
     315color_xterm*color7:           White 
     316color_xterm*background:       White 
     317color_xterm*foreground:       Black 
     318}}} 
     319 
     320(replace color_xterm with the name of your color_xterm, color_xterm mentions its name in its title bar) 
     321 
     322Now type: 
     323{{{ 
     324xrdb -merge color.defaults 
     325}}} 
     326 
     327Alternatively you can add the suggested contents of the color.defaults file to your .Xdefaults or .Xresources file (or what 
     328ever the name of your X configuration file is).  Or you can replace your non-ANSI color_xterm with an ANSI color_xterm. 
     329 
     330=== 4.7 Where can I get xterm or rxvt? === 
     331 
     332xterm is included with the X Window System, so you probably already have it if you have X.  This version is not actively maintained, but 
     333Thomas Dickey maintains his more advanced version of xterm at ftp://dickey.his.com/xterm/ 
     334 
     335rxvt has its own site http://www.rxvt.org/ - get the latest version there. 
     336 
     337=== 4.8 I got colors working with MC but the other programs don't work at all anymore! === 
     338 
     339Midnight Commander uses terminfo database (if available) but many other programs use termcap database.  If you set the TERM environment 
     340variable to a value which has no corresponding entry in termcap database those programs stop working.  You should add the new value 
     341of TERM to the termcap database. 
     342 
     343Example: If you have set TERM to xterm-color locate from /etc/termcap the line which starts: 
     344{{{ 
     345xterm|vs100|xterm terminal emulator 
     346}}} 
     347 
     348Change it to start: 
     349{{{ 
     350xterm|xterm-color|vs100|xterm terminal emulator 
     351}}} 
     352 
     353== 5 Graphical user interface == 
     354 
     355=== 5.1 Xview, Tk and Gnome editions? === 
     356 
     357Xview and Tk and GNOME editions have been removed from the sources. 
     358 
     359=== 5.2 Why is MC linked with X libraries? === 
     360 
     361GNU Midnight Commander is linked with X libraries to read key modifiers from the X Server.  It may be helpful to distinguish 
     362between keys that the terminal emulator reports in the same way, e.g. PgUp and Ctrl-PgUp.  Versions of GNU Midnight Commander after 4.6.0 
     363will load X libraries dynamically on the systems that support it. 
     364 
     365 
     366== 6 Command line problems == 
     367 
     368=== 6.1 How do I stay in the last directory when I exit Midnight Commander? === 
     369 
     370See the description of the -P option in the Options section of the manual. 
     371 
     372=== 6.2 How can I access command line history? === 
     373 
     374Meta-h shows the last commands you executed from the command line. Duplicates are suppressed from the history.  Commands executed from 
     375the subshell prompt are not shown. 
     376 
     377You can put previous commands to the command line with Meta-p.  Meta-n moves you forward in history. 
     378 
     379Since version 4.1.15 all the input widgets have permanent history. You can summon the history listbox by pressing M-h. 
     380 
     381=== 6.3 How can I complete commands, file names, variable names and so on? === 
     382 
     383Just press M-Tab.  Press M-Tab again to get a listbox if there are multiple possible completions. 
     384 
     385=== 6.4 I am using ksh.  Can I use functions defined in the .kshrc within MC? === 
     386 
     387Sorry, MC only supports bash, tcsh and zsh functions.  Ksh functions are not supported because ksh lacks the necessary hooks needed for 
     388subshell integration. 
     389 
     390Switch to bash or zsh.  They are both quite compatible with ksh.  Your ksh functions should work as such or after minimal changes. 
     391 
     392=== 6.5 Is there any way to include additional options or hot keys to MC? === 
     393 
     394Yes, F2 invokes an user menu,  which is fully configurable.  You can add any shell commands to the user menu.  See the mc(1) man page for 
     395more info. 
     396 
     397Another way to add functionality is the external panelize feature. See the mc(1) man page for more info. 
     398 
     399And finally, you can code any feature you want yourself.  MC source code is free which means you can change it anyway you want.  There 
     400are some limitations to make sure MC stays free.  See GNU General Public License for details. 
     401 
     402=== 6.6 When I use Ctrl-O I don't get a subshell.  How do I fix this? === 
     403 
     404Only bash, tcsh and zsh can be used as subshell.  Use one of those shells as your default shell, and it will be used as subshell in GNU 
     405Midnight Commander. 
     406 
     407=== 6.7 Ctrl-O doesn't work at all.  What happens? === 
     408 
     409Ctrl-O works if either the subshell is used or the terminal can save the output of the commands so it can be restored.  If neither is 
     410true, there is absolutely nothing interesting behind the panels! 
     411 
     412Only few terminals support screen saving.  It's xterm, rxvt and other xterm-like terminals and virtual terminals on Linux and FreeBSD. 
     413 
     414 
     415== 7 Virtual file systems == 
     416 
     417=== 7.1 How can I see the contents of a tar archive? === 
     418 
     419If you use keyboard just move the selection bar on the tar file and press enter.  If you use mouse just double-click on the tar file. 
     420 
     421The recognized suffixes for tar archives are .tar, .tar.gz and .tgz. You can also enter a tar archive by typing "cd filename#utar" where 
     422filename is the name of the archive.  In this case, the suffix is not important. 
     423 
     424=== 7.2 How do I get out of a tar archive? === 
     425 
     426Just press enter on the toplevel ".." file or change to a non-tar directory.  Just typing "cd" with no parameters is enough (it will 
     427take you to your home directory). 
     428 
     429=== 7.3 How do I do anonymous ftp with MC? === 
     430 
     431Just type "cd ftp://hostname" where hostname is the name of the host you want to connect.  Alternatively, select FTP link from the Left or 
     432Right menu and type the name of the host you want to connect. 
     433 
     434=== 7.4 How do I do non-anonymous ftp with MC? === 
     435 
     436Non-anonymous ftp works just like the anonymous ftp but you give the login name with the host name.  For example, type "cd 
     437ftp://username@hostname". 
     438 
     439=== 7.5 How do I close an ftp connection? === 
     440 
     441Just change to a non-ftp directory.  Simply typing "cd" with no parameters is enough (it will take you to your home directory). 
     442 
     443GNU Midnight Commander closes ftp connection automatically after a timeout or on exit.  It's possible to force disconnect by selecting 
     444"Command" -> "Active VFS List" in the menu and using the "Free VFSs Now" button. 
     445 
     446=== 7.6 Why aren't the contents of ftp panel updated? === 
     447 
     448Update is skipped because there would be a serious performance penalty.  Constantly updating directory panels through a ftp 
     449connection would take too much time. 
     450 
     451You can use C-r to force an update. 
     452 
     453=== 7.7 What kind of proxy server works with Midnight Commander? === 
     454 
     455There are two kinds of ftp proxies: proxies for ftp clients and proxies for web browsers. 
     456 
     457Midnight Commander only supports ftp proxies which are meant for ftp clients.  Common WWW proxies (like Squid) are not supported.  A rule 
     458of thumb is that if a ftp proxy requires a web browser, it won't work with Midnight Commander. 
     459 
     460 
     461== 8 Other common problems == 
     462 
     463=== 8.1 When I try pasting to the internal editor, it indents the amount of indenting increases with each line! === 
     464 
     465Either turn off 'Return does autoindent' in the editor options or update GNU Midnight Commander to version 4.6.0 or above - it doesn't 
     466autoindent when you are holding Shift. 
     467 
     468=== 8.2 Is it possible to use Colorer for syntax highlighting? === 
     469 
     470Yes if you submit the patch.  There are no legal problems with it because it's licensed under GPL now.  The homepage of Colorer is 
     471http://colorer.sourceforge.net/ 
     472 
     473 
     474== 9 Other common problems == 
     475 
     476=== 9.1 Is there any way to 'bookmark' favorite ftp-fs links? === 
     477 
     478Use the directory hotlist.  Just press control-backslash.  If your national keyboard layout doesn't have backslash key, just press the 
     479control key with the key which is the backslash key in the English keyboard layout. 
     480 
     481=== 9.2 When I start Midnight Commander, nothing happens! === 
     482 
     483When MC is compiled with Samba support, have a look at the "interfaces = ..." line in your smb.conf file. MC uses pretty old 
     484Samba code that only expects IP addresses and host names there, but not network interface names (like eth0). MC interprets these 
     485names as host names and tries to resolve them using a DNS server. To fix this, ask your system administrator to change the interface 
     486names to their assigned IP addresses, or (untried) add the interface names and their IP addresses to the /etc/hosts file. 
     487 
     488First, invoke MC without subshell support: "mc -u".  If this helps check the shell you are using.  Subshell support works best with 
     489bash, although tcsh and zsh are also supported.  You might want to upgrade your shell to a newer version.  If you use something else 
     490than bash, tcsh or zsh, subshell support is disabled automatically. 
     491 
     492Another reason is problems with gpm.  Try using "--nomouse" option to see if it makes any difference.  Restarting gpm can help.  Sometimes 
     493it's enough to move the mouse. 
     494 
     495Also, if you have the DISPLAY environment variable set, but the X server is unreachable (e.g. it's firewalled), this can also cause a 
     496delay at startup.  Unset DISPLAY to see if that's the case. 
     497 
     498 
     499== 10 Development == 
     500 
     501=== 10.1 Who has written Midnight Commander? === 
     502 
     503Midnight Commander was started by [http://tirania.org/blog/index.html Miguel de Icaza]. Other authors have joined the project 
     504   later: 
     505     * Mauricio Plaza (early releases) 
     506     * Janne Kukonlehto (joined Sep 27 1994) 
     507     * Radek Doulik (joined Oct 30 1994) 
     508     * Fred Leeflang (joined Nov 2 1994) 
     509     * Dugan Porter (joined Dec 1 1994) 
     510     * Jakub Jelinek (joined Feb 8 1995) 
     511     * Ching Hui (joined Jun 27 1995) 
     512     * Andrej Borsenkow (joined Jul 1996) 
     513     * Paul Sheer (joined Nov 1 1996) 
     514     * Norbert Warmuth 
     515     * Alex I. Tkachenko 
     516 
     517 
     518Alessandro Rubini has been specially helpful with debugging and enhancing of the mouse support.  John E. Davis has made his S-Lang 
     519library available to us and answered many questions about it. 
     520 
     521   Current list of active developers can be found here: McDevelopers 
     522 
     523   This page lists everbody who has provided a patch or has written code for the midnight-commander in the past: McContributors 
     524 
     525=== 10.2 Do I dare to use a development version? === 
     526 
     527Yes, of course. Feel free to test: http://www.midnight-commander.org/wiki#Download 
     528As we do our development in git, please do a git checkout of the master branch and build it 
     529 
     530But always remember: development versions may have nasty bugs at some points of time.  It's up to you to judge whether the new 
     531features and fixes for the bugs you know outweigh the risk of unknown bugs. 
     532 
     533=== 10.3 How can I report a bug/request for a feature? === 
     534 
     535You might first want to get the newest development version to see if the bug is fixed or the feature is added already. 
     536 
     537If this is not the case, feel free to add a ticket in our ticket-system, which is located here: http://www.midnight-commander.org/NewTicket 
     538 
     539If you want to send an email instead write your report to mc-devel@gnome.org or mc@gnome.org. 
     540 
     541These mailing lists are the most certain way to contact the developers.  Remember to mention if you are not on the mailing list 
     542to make sure that you will receive a copy of replies. 
     543 
     544Give as much details as possible.  A too long message is a lot better than a too short message. 
     545 
     546For segmentation faults a stack backtrace is appreciated.  You can produce stack backtrace as follows: 
     547 * If segmentation fault produced a core file: 
     548  1. Load the core file by typing "gdb mc core" or "dbx mc core". 
     549  1. Type "where". 
     550  1. Cut and paste the results to your message. 
     551 * If segmentation fault didn't produce a core file: 
     552  1. Load mc by typing "gdb mc" or "dbx mc". 
     553  1. Start mc by typing "run". 
     554  1. Try to reproduce the segmentation fault by doing whatever you did last time when the segmentation fault occurred. 
     555  1. Type "where". 
     556  1. Cut and paste the results to your message. 
     557  1. For the future you might want to check out what is the command in your shell to allow producing of the core files. Usually it is "limit coredumpsize unlimited" or "ulimit coredumpsize" or "ulimit -c unlimited". 
     558 
     559=== 10.4 How can I join the development? === 
     560 
     561To join the development just code the feature you want to add and send your patch for inclusion.  Email address is mc-devel@gnome.org. 
     562Before you start coding check the latest development version.  It might be that your feature has already been implemented. 
     563 
     564Note that the authors of GNU Midnight Commander have given all their rights on the program to the Free Software Foundation.  You will have 
     565to do the same if you contribute non-trivial patches. Otherwise we have to reject your patches in order to avoid copyright problems. 
     566 
     567 
     568== 11 More information == 
     569 
     570=== 11.1 This document didn't answer my question.  Where else can I look for an answer? === 
     571 
     572Read messages from the Discussion (mailing list archive), visit our [http://www.midnight-commander.org/wiki/doc Documentation project] or read the Manual. 
     573 
     574Upgrade to a newer version of Midnight Commander.  Many problems are fixed in the new versions. 
     575 
     576If you still can't find an answer, post your question to the Midnight Commander mailing list.  Its address is mc@gnome.org. 
     577 
     578=== 11.2 What mailing lists are there for Midnight Commander? === 
     579 
     580Following mailing lists discuss about Midnight Commander: 
     581 
     582 mc@gnome.org:: 
     583 General discussion of GNU Midnight Commander. To subscribe visit http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/mc/ 
     584 
     585 mc-devel@gnome.org:: 
     586 Technical development discussion. To subscribe visit http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/mc-devel/ 
     587 
     588 mc-commits@googlegroups.com:: 
     589 Mailing list only for applyed commits into master/stable branches. To subscribe visit http://groups.google.com/group/mc-commits/subscribe 
     590 
     591 mc-bugs@googlegroups.com:: 
     592 Mailing list only for tickets and comments (use it as RSS :) ). To subscribe visit http://groups.google.com/group/mc-bugs/subscribe 
     593 
     594=== 11.3 Where should I look on the World Wide Web for MC stuff? === 
     595 
     596There is a WWW page for Midnight Commander.  The URL is: http://www.midnight-commander.org/ 
     597 
     598=== 11.4 Are the mailing lists archived anywhere? === 
     599 
     600The mc and mc-devel lists are archived on the World Wide Web.  There are links to the archives on the mailing list pages (see 10.2). 
     601 
     602 
     603== 12 Legal issues == 
     604 
     605=== 12.1 Authorship === 
     606 
     607Questions and Answers was written by Janne Kukonlehto.  Parts of it originate from Ian Jackson, Miguel de Icaza, Dugan Porter, Norbert Warmuth and Paul Sheer. 
     608 
     609=== 12.2 Feedback is invited === 
     610 
     611Send your comments about this document and GNU Midnight Commander to mc@gnome.org 
     612 
     613=== 12.3 Disclaimer and copyright === 
     614 
     615Note that this document is provided as is.  The information in it is not warranted to be correct; you use it at your own risk. 
     616 
     617You can use Questions and Answers according to GNU General Public License (see the COPYING file in GNU Midnight Commander source 
     618distribution). Questions and Answers is not public domain.