About

This is a mostly tongue-in-cheek guide for solving Arch Linux problems, but there is some good advice in it nevertheless.

The Guide

The Code

digraph "Arch Linux Help Guide" {
  graph [bgcolor=transparent,splines=true, pad=0.2];
  node [style=filled]

  node [fillcolor="#aaaaff", shape=circle]
  help [label="I need help."]

  node [shape="ellipse",fillcolor="#cccccc"]
  what_q [label="With what?"]
  wiki_q [label="Have you checked the wiki?"]
  search_q [label="Have you searched the internet?"]
  forum_q [label="Have you checked the forum?"]
  forum_q2 [label="Have you checked the forum?"]
  doc_q [label="Have you checked the documentation?"]
  irc_q [label="Are you willing to brave a possible gauntlet\nof insults and general abuse from /b/tards in the (slim)\nhope that someone will actually help you?"]

  upgrade_q [label="Did the last upgrade break it?"]
  news_q [label="Have you checked the frontpage news?"]
  upstream_q [label="Is it an upstream error?"]
  bugtracker_q [label="Has the issue been reported\non the bugtracker?"]

  time_q [label="Do you have time to get it working?"]

  pacman_q [label="Have you searched with Pacman?"]
  aur_q [label="Have you checked the AUR?"]

  package_q [label="Do you know how to package?"]

  node [shape="diamond", fillcolor="#88cc33"]
  wiki [label="Check the wiki."]
  wiki2 [label="Check the wiki."]
  search [label="Search the internet."]
  forum [label="Check the forum."]
  forum2 [label="Check the forum."]
  forum3 [label="Check the forum."]
  doc [label="Check the documentation."]

  news [label="Check the frontpage news.\nAlways do this before an upgrade."]
  bugtracker [label="Check the bugtracker."]
  report [label="Report the issue.\nBe as helpful as possible and\nsupply patches if you can."]
  wait [label="Wait patiently."]
  wait2 [label="Wait patiently. Do not\nbump the thread unless several\ndays have passed without\na reply."]
  wait3 [label="Wait patiently."]
  upstream [label="Report the error upstream.\nBe as helpful as possible and\nsupply patches if you can."]
  fix_it [label="Fix it yourself."]
  use_something_else [label="Use something else."]

  downgrade [label="Downgrade the package(s)."]
  rollback [label="Check the \"Downgrading Packages\"\nwiki page for information about\nthe Arch Rollback Machine."]

  post [label="Post your question or request on the forum with a clear\nsubject and give as much relevant information as you can (e.g. error\nmessages, log files, what you've tried). Be polite to everyone who tries to\nhelp you even if they are unable to solve the problem."]
  ubuntu [label="Install Ubuntu."]

  allan [label="Blame Allan."]
  smack [label="Smack yourself."]
  smack2 [label="Smack yourself."]

  pacman [label="Search with Pacman.\n(pacman -Ss foo)"]
  aur [label="Check the AUR."]
  package [label="Package it yourself."]

  irc [label="Ask for help on\n#archlinux on freenode."]
  voodoo [label="Get some chicken bones and\ncall your local voodoo priest."]


  edge [dir=forward, color="black", labelfloat=false]
  help -> what_q
  what_q -> wiki_q [label="configuration"]
  what_q -> upgrade_q [label="something broke"]
  what_q -> pacman_q [label="I need a package"]

  edge [dir=forward, color="black", labelfloat=false]
  wiki_q:se -> forum_q [label="yes"]
  forum_q:se -> search_q [label="yes"]
  search_q:se -> doc_q [label="yes"]
  doc_q:se -> post [label="yes"]


  wiki_q:sw -> wiki [label="no"]
  forum_q:sw -> forum [label="no"]
  search_q:sw -> search [label="no"]
  doc_q:sw -> doc [label="no"]


  wiki -> forum_q [label="no help"]
  forum -> search_q [label="no help"]
  search -> doc_q [label="no help"]
  doc -> post [label="no help"]

  post -> forum3
  {rank=same; forum3 wait2}
  forum3 -> wait2 [dir=both]

  forum3 -> irc_q [label="I really can't wait for a reply."]
  irc_q -> irc [label="yes"]
  irc_q -> voodoo [label="no"]
  irc -> voodoo [label="no help"]


  wiki -> ubuntu [label="I don't want to"]
  forum -> ubuntu [label="I don't want to"]
  search -> ubuntu [label="I don't want to"]
  doc -> ubuntu [label="I don't want to"]
  post -> ubuntu [label="I don't want to"]


  upgrade_q -> forum_q2 [label="no"]
  upgrade_q -> time_q [label="yes"]
  time_q -> news_q [label="yes"]
  time_q -> downgrade [label="no"]
  downgrade -> smack2 [label="I don't have the old package(s)."]
  smack2 -> rollback
  rollback -> news_q [label="no help"]
  news_q -> smack [label="no"]
  smack -> news
  news_q -> forum_q2 [label="yes"]
  news -> forum_q2 [label="no help"]
  forum_q2 -> upstream_q [label="yes"]
  forum_q2 -> forum2 [label="no"]
  forum2 -> upstream_q [label="no help"]

  upstream_q -> allan [label="no"]
  allan -> bugtracker_q
  bugtracker_q -> report [label="no"]
  bugtracker_q -> bugtracker [label="yes"]
  report -> bugtracker

  {rank=same; bugtracker wait}
  bugtracker -> wait [dir=both]

  bugtracker -> fix_it [label="no help"]
  upstream_q -> upstream [label="yes"]

  {rank=same; upstream wait3}
  upstream -> wait3 [dir=both]

  upstream -> fix_it [label="no help"]
  fix_it -> use_something_else [label="I can't."]
  use_something_else -> voodoo [label="I can't do that either."]




  pacman_q -> pacman [label="no"]
  pacman -> aur_q [label="no help"]
  pacman_q -> aur_q [label="yes"]

  aur_q -> aur [label="no"]
  aur -> package_q [label="no help"]
  aur_q -> package_q [label="yes"]

  package_q -> package [label="yes"]
  package_q -> wiki2 [label="no"]
  package -> post [label="I failed."]
  wiki2 -> package


  overlap=false
  label="Arch Linux Help Guide"
}