### 1.7.5 Bug Reporting via our News Server

Bug reports may be lodged about POV-Ray by posting them in the appropriate group on our news server. See our list of groups for information about the server, and particularly for information as to which group to use. The newsgroups are monitored by a dedicated group of folks known as the POV-Ray Technical Assistance Group, or 'TAG' for short. The TAG will take note of any properly-lodged bug reports and pass them on to the developers. They, and other users, will often lend new users a hand in getting up to speed.

You may like to remember, however, that no matter where you end up getting assistance from, users who show that they have looked in the docs and read the VFAQ etc will be much more likely to receive the response they want than someone who obviously has not done so.

Any messages or reports sent to us may (not necessarily will, but may) be reposted by us in our newsgroups, on USENET, or on our web site. If you do not wish your communication to be posted in this manner, please do not send us any.

You should not expect any reply to bug reports.

The minimum information to include in your bug report is

1. The version number of POV-Ray for Unix.
2. Your operating system or GNU/Linux distribution and version. It's surprising how many people fail to provide this basic piece of information. We need to know what version of Unix you are running.
3. Your computer; what processor and how much memory.
4. A complete description of the problem and what led up to it. It will make it a lot easier to track down if you can include a scene file that will cause the problem. If the file is large, try removing parts until you have the minimum scene file that will cause the problem.

Note: If posting on the news group or emailing someone for support, never, ever include file attachments without asking first. The only exception is posting to a specifically- designated binaries group on the POV-Ray news server.