Help for forum-denied Linux users

Someone in the #secondlife IRC chat was having trouble getting SL to run on Linux, one of the many folks who can't access these forums due to Linden forum access policy.

I searched a bit for a useful website to direct them to but didn't find anything useful looking.

I almost told them the names of some of the inworld Linux groups but managed to catch myself before I referred them to a help source they can't access because they can't get into SL.

Folks in the IRC chat suggested the popular resident run forums. Oother sources for help are [email]support@secondlife.com[/email], or the toll free support number.

Do you know of any other sources of help for Linux users who can't log in and who can't access these forums?

Hi SuezanneC!

I'm not a fan of the policy that only residents who have successfully logged into SL can use the forums, but apparently we're stuck with it for now. We're still discussing our Linux client support needs, which are going to change through the alpha to beta to gold process.

The purpose of the Linux Client Alpha Testers forum isn't really as a support forum, but it serves this function and I'm happy enough for it to do so, particularly while the problems which people want help with are exactly the sort of things we need to know/fix during alpha and beta.

I don't know of any appropriate user-run forums at this time which could become a preferred place to direct new Linux Client users primarily for the purposes of getting running in the first place - I'd be interested in hearing suggestions.

FYI here is the current support section from the Linux README file.

7. GETTING MORE HELP AND REPORTING PROBLEMS
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

For general help and support with Second Life:
<http://secondlife.com/community/support.php>

In-world help: Please use the 'Help' menu in the client for general
non-Linux-specific Second Life help including live support from the fabulous
Live Help team.

In-world discussion: There is a 'Linux Client Users' group
inside Second Life which is free to join.  You can find it by pressing
the 'Search' button at the bottom of the window and then selecting the
'Groups' tab and searching for 'Linux'.  This group is useful for discussing
Linux issues with fellow Linux client users who are online.

Linux Client Alpha Testers forum:
<http://forums.secondlife.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=263>
This is a good place for discussing Linux-specific Second Life problems
if you find that the Troubleshooting section in this file hasn't helped.
When reporting problems here, please include information about the
Second Life version you are running, your graphics card, graphics driver,
and Linux distribution.

The policy is not just that people have to log in to SL in order to access the forums, it's more restrictive than that; the policy is that accounts created after August 20, 2006 have to have valid payment info on file for their account, as shown in the picture below.


This condition applies to many many people who can and do access Second Life on a regular basis. I read many requests for help with some aspect of Second Life in the various groups I belong to; folks are referred to the forums here, and they respond that they can't access them because they don't have payment info on file. The particular person I mentioned had been able to use SL up till they installed the latest upgrade.

This (the readme says to look in the forums!) is another reason that it would be very helpful to allow every resident read access to the forums, even ones who have never been able to sign on yet.