<!-- <?xml version="1.0" ?> 
<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdex.dtd"
> -->
<chapter id="introduction"
> 
<title
>Introduction</title
> 
<anchor id="anc-introduction"/> 

<para
>&knode; is an easy-to-use, convenient newsreader; it is intended to allow even newbies to use a newsreader under &kde;, but it also offers advanced features appealing to experienced users. &knode; is a online-reader but could work together with a newsserver like <application
>leafnode</application
> as an offline-reader.</para>

<para
>As of version 0.4 &knode; complies with all the requirements of the <glossterm
>GNKSA</glossterm
>.</para>

<para
>If you have problems or questions about this program, please contact the mailing list for &kde; users (for subscription, see<ulink url="http://www.kde.org/contact.html"
>Homepage of the &kde; mailing lists</ulink
> ) or one of the &kde; newsgroups:</para>

<simplelist>
<member
>comp.windows.x.kde</member>
<member
>de.comp.os.unix.apps.kde (german)</member>
</simplelist>

<para
>If you have found a bug or have suggestions regarding the functionality of &knode; please report them via the <menuchoice
><guimenu
>Help</guimenu
><guimenuitem
>Report bug...</guimenuitem
></menuchoice
> menu.</para>

<para
>Please make sure when asking questions in the newsgroups and mailing lists mentioned above that the question you are asking is not answered in this manual.</para>

<para
>For those new to reading news and posting articles, the <link linkend="knode-journey"
>A journey through Usenet</link
> chapter is recommended; it is not so much about &knode; as how to move about in the Usenet with its help. In general, it is not sufficient to just master a news reader for writing news articles: imagine a car driver who masters his car perfectly but does not know about the traffic rules or signs; do you want to encounter such a driver when out in traffic? So please take your time to learn at least a little about the <quote
>traffic rules</quote
> of the Usenet; the other participants will thank you.</para>

<tip>
<para
>&knode; supports you in many cases with hints and warnings: if you do not simply ignore them you will avoid many beginners' mistakes; but, do not exclusively depend on them either.</para>
</tip>

<para
>Please address suggestions and criticisms at the author or at the responsible translator for your language.</para>

</chapter>

