-different configuration possibilities. If you have any comments, bug
-reports, problems, or concerns, please send them to the
-'freeradius-users' list (see the URL above). We will do our best to
-answer your questions, to fix the problems, and to generally improve
-the server in any way we can.
-
- What you should NOT do is complain that the developers aren't
-answering your questions quickly enough, or fixing the problems
-quickly enough, or that they're being mean for telling you to do some
-work yourself. FreeRADIUS is the cumulative effort of many years of
-work by many people, and you've gotten it for free. No one gets paid
-to work on FreeRADIUS, and no one is getting paid to answer your
-questions. This is free software, and the only way it gets better is
-if you contribute work back to the project.
-
- We will note that the people who complain the loudest about the
-developers being mean usually can't program, can't write
-documentation, won't pay others to do that work, demand that their
-every desire be satisifed immediately by the developers for free, and
-worst of all, don't understand why their attitude is unproductive.
-They seem to believe that because they've received something (the
-server) for free, that they have every right to demand more free
-support and development from the list. That's simply not true.
-
- So please submit bug reports, suggestions, or patches. That
-feedback gives the developers a guide as to where they should focus
-their work. If you like the server, feel free to mail the list and
-say so.
+different configuration possibilities.
+
+ The most common problem is that people change large amounts of the
+configuration without understanding what they're doing, and without
+testing their changes. The preferred method of operation is the
+following:
+
+ 1) Start off with the default configuration files.
+ 2) Save a copy of the default configuration: It WORKS. Don't change it!
+ 3) Verify that the server starts. (You ARE using debugging mode, right?)
+ 4) Send it test packets using "radclient", or a NAS or AP.
+ 5) Verify that the server does what you expect.
+ a) If it does not work, change the configuration, and go to step (3)
+ If you're stuck, revert to using the "last working" configuration.
+ b) If it works, proceed to step (6).
+ 6) Save a copy of the working configuration, along with a note
+ of what you changed, and why.
+ 7) Make a SMALL change to the configuration.
+ 8) Repeat from step (3).
+
+ This method will ensure that you have a working configuration that
+is customized to your site as quickly as possible. While it may seem
+frustrating to proceed via a series of small steps, the alternative
+will always take more time. The "fast and loose" way will be MORE
+frustrating than quickly making forward progress!
+
+
+6. FEEDBACK
+
+ If you have any comments, bug reports, problems, or concerns, please
+send them to the 'freeradius-users' list (see the URL above). We will
+do our best to answer your questions, to fix the problems, and to
+generally improve the server in any way we can.
+
+ Please do NOT complain that the developers aren't answering your
+questions quickly enough, or aren't fixing the problems quickly
+enough. Please do NOT complain if you're told to go read
+documentation. We recognize that the documentation isn't perfect, but
+it *does* exist, and reading it can solve most common questions.
+
+ FreeRADIUS is the cumulative effort of many years of work by many
+people, and you've gotten it for free. No one gets paid to work on
+FreeRADIUS, and no one is getting paid to answer your questions. This
+is free software, and the only way it gets better is if you make a
+contribution back to the project ($$, code, or documentation).
+
+ We will note that the people who get most upset about any answers to
+their questions usually do not have any intention of contributing to
+the project. We will repeat the comments above: no one is getting
+paid to answer your questions or to fix your bugs. If you don't like
+the responses you are getting, then fix the bug yourself, or pay
+someone to address your concerns. Either way, make sure that any fix
+is contributed back to the project so that no one else runs into the
+same issue.
+
+ Support is available. See the "support" link at the top of the main
+web page:
+
+ http://freeradius.org
+
+ Please submit bug reports, suggestions, or patches. That feedback
+gives the developers a guide as to where they should focus their work.
+If you like the server, feel free to mail the list and say so.