Help & Where To Find It
Last Update: 2022-07-08 RTS49, previous 3 Nov 2002
Getting Help
This section of the DSAC Help System explains how to get help using the Zoo and also describes how you can give DSAC feedback about the Zoo.
Linux
Linux support is available from a number of sources:
Documentation for Red Hat Linux, the operating system installed on all but two of the Zoo machines, can be found at Red Hat’s web site, www.redhat.com. The Linux Documentation Project, at www.tldp.org maintains a repository of support resources for a variety of applications and utilities. From the console, you can type man command, where command is the name of a command you’d like to learn more about. For example, man man will give you an explanation of the man program itself. Manual pages are organized into different, searchable sections – man 2 strtok, for example, will tell those of you who are writing C code about the strtok function, which lives in section 2 (where a lot of other C library calls live, too, hint hint!). Windows Documentation for Microsoft Windows 2000, which is installed on the two non-Linux machines, can be found at Microsoft’s Windows 2000 web site, www.microsoft.com/windows2000/
Who to Contact
There are a few different points of contact based on what you’re trying to do or running into:
| Request/Problem | Suggested Contact | Backup Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Facility Problems (pipe breaks, broken chair/desk, printer not working…) | Call 203-432-1246 or email Problems@cs.yale.edu for non-urgent requests | Weekends: 432-6888 |
| Software Installation, Issue with class submission program, class-specific content | Email your course professor, TA, or ULAs | dsac@cs.yale.edu |
| Technical issues (accessing the Zoo), Storage Issues, Password Problems | cs.support@yale.edu (can take up to seven days) | dsac@cs.yale.edu |
| Anything else - DSAC can route you | dsac@cs.yale.edu |
If there is a terrible disaster in the Zoo (for example, if a pipe breaks and the Zoo gets flooded), you can call the Facility Hotline. If nobody answers the phone, leave your name, the time, and a brief but detailed message of the problem. The number is (203) 432-6888.