wireshark/docbook/wsug_src/WSUG_preface.xml

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<!-- $Id$ -->
<preface id="Preface">
<title>Preface</title>
<section id="PreForeword">
<title>Foreword</title>
<para>
Wireshark is one of those programs that many network managers would love
to be able to use, but they are often prevented from getting what they
would like from Wireshark because of the lack of documentation.
</para>
<para>
This document is part of an effort by the Wireshark team to improve the
usability of Wireshark.
</para>
<para>
We hope that you find it useful, and look forward to your comments.
</para>
</section>
<section id="PreAudience">
<title>Who should read this document?</title>
<para>
The intended audience of this book is anyone using Wireshark.
</para>
<para>
This book will explain all the basics and also some of the advanced features
that Wireshark provides. As Wireshark has become a very complex program since
the early days, not every feature of Wireshark may be explained in this
book.
</para>
<para>
This book is not intended to explain network sniffing in general and it will
not provide details about specific network protocols. A lot of useful
information regarding these topics can be found at the Wireshark Wiki at
<ulink url="&WiresharkWikiPage;">&WiresharkWikiPage;</ulink>
</para>
<para>
By reading this book, you will learn how to install Wireshark, how to use the
basic elements of the graphical user interface (such as the menu) and what's
behind some of the advanced features that are not always obvious at first
sight. It will hopefully guide you around some common problems that
frequently appear for new (and sometimes even advanced) users of Wireshark.
</para>
</section>
<section id="PreAck">
<title>Acknowledgements</title>
<para>
The authors would like to thank the whole Wireshark team for their
assistance. In particular, the authors would like to thank:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Gerald Combs, for initiating the Wireshark project and funding to
do this documentation.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Guy Harris, for many helpful hints and a great deal of patience
in reviewing this document.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Gilbert Ramirez, for general encouragement and helpful hints along
the way.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<para>
The authors would also like to thank the following people for their
helpful feedback on this document:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Pat Eyler, for his suggestions on improving the example on
generating a backtrace.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Martin Regner, for his various suggestions and corrections.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Graeme Hewson, for a lot of grammatical corrections.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<para>
The authors would like to acknowledge those man page and README authors
for the Wireshark project from who sections of this document borrow heavily:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Scott Renfro from whose <command>mergecap</command> man page
<xref linkend="AppToolsmergecap"/> is derived.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Ashok Narayanan from whose <command>text2pcap</command> man page
<xref linkend="AppToolstext2pcap"/> is derived.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Frank Singleton from whose <filename>README.idl2wrs</filename>
<xref linkend="AppToolsidl2wrs"/> is derived.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
</section>
<section id="PreAbout">
<title>About this document</title>
<para>
This book was originally developed by
<ulink url="mailto:&AuthorEmail2;">Richard Sharpe</ulink> with
funds provided from the Wireshark Fund. It was updated by
<ulink url="mailto:&AuthorEmail3;">Ed Warnicke</ulink> and more recently
redesigned and updated by <ulink url="mailto:&AuthorEmail;">Ulf
Lamping</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
It is written in DocBook/XML.
</para>
<para>
You will find some specially marked parts in this book:
</para>
<warning><title>This is a warning!</title>
<para>
You should pay attention to a warning, as otherwise data loss might occur.
</para>
</warning>
<note><title>This is a note!</title>
<para>
A note will point you to common mistakes and things that might not be
obvious.
</para>
</note>
<tip><title>This is a tip!</title>
<para>
Tips will be helpful for your everyday work using Wireshark.
</para>
</tip>
</section>
<section id="PreDownload">
<title>Where to get the latest copy of this document?</title>
<para>
The latest copy of this documentation can always be found at:
<ulink url="&WiresharkUsersGuidePage;"/>.
</para>
</section>
<section id="PreFeedback">
<title>Providing feedback about this document</title>
<para>
Should you have any feedback about this document, please send it
to the authors through <ulink url="mailto:&WiresharkDevMailList;">&WiresharkDevMailList;</ulink>.
</para>
</section>
</preface>