Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 10:52:01 -0400 From: joel2a@yahoo.com To: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> Cc: freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: installation doesn't work right with X and Netscape Message-ID: <4.2.2.20010613102449.00ca4400@pop.mail.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <20010613201145.R26132@welearn.com.au> References: <4.2.2.20010612014317.00cc33a0@pop.mail.yahoo.com> <4.2.2.20010612014317.00cc33a0@pop.mail.yahoo.com>
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Thanks for your response. I imagine you must have been good in English class. Well I have to update the record now. After installing Suse Linux I still wasn't satisfied and did find it like the desktop "Microsoft-like unix style system". So I tried freeBSD one more time. This time I was real careful about installing a minimal system with X and Netscape. I did not install the Flash plugin and this time Netscape worked. So I guess the Flash plugin must be the problem. I am starting to appreciate the "lean mean server with no unwanted frills" as you say. I would compare it to some manual transmission roadster. You do feel the bumps in the road and the steering is tight! You have to get under the hood and learn some mechanics and that's where some of the fun is. Joel At 08:11 PM 6/13/01 +1000, you wrote: >On Tue, Jun 12, 2001 at 01:53:35AM -0400, joel2a@yahoo.com wrote: > > > > Well after trying to install freebsd about 7 times I'm giving up and > > installing Suse Linux! > >Good on you. We all have to find what we are comfortable with, and you >seem to be progressing well down that path. In time, as you gain more >confidence, you will probably try many systems. Some will be easier or >harder to install, and they will all have different performance >characteristics. What is important to you will vary from time to time, >and there's no shame in that. > > > Now after freebsd was installed I launched the KDE and found out that > > Netscape would not work. > > Netscape said "bus error (core dumped)" everytime! > >I found this too after installing FreeBSD 4.2. So I searched the >FreeBSD-Questions list archives, and found that others had had >the same problem. One person had fixed it by removing another >installed package, some plugin. I found I'd installed the flash >plugin which I didn't need, and when I removed that Netscape worked fine. > >This is not a real solution, for that you'd need to write to >FreeBSD-Questions, but with a quick partial search of the archives >I fixed it good enough for my own purposes. One day I'll spend more >time searching the -questions archives and get to the bottom of it. >Of course, you could do the same yourself if you wanted to. > > > But for now my conclusion is that until freebsd gets a better installation > > system it is NOT as easy as the HYPE says it is. > >Oh? I'm not aware of any hype saying FreeBSD is easy. In my personal >view, FreeBSD is not meant to be a beginner's system. It is a high >performance server operating system, that can be a fine desktop after >expert configuration. By default it's a lean mean server with no >unwanted frills, but with a universe of options that can be added on by >one who knows what they want. > >Though some disagree, I would hate to see an installation so foolproof >that it gave the people who are not ready for FreeBSD the false >impression that it is supposed to be easy. Not that it should be made >unnecessarily hard though. For example, if you cannot get your head >around the disk partitioning concepts and you can't or won't read and >follow instructions, you will be a lot more productive if you let >an expert set up the system for you and begin your learning after that, >with their guidance. If you find the text-based menu system totally >off-putting because it's not clicky pictures, then you're going to be >miserable later when you discover that most of your time in FreeBSD >you'll be typing strange characters at the command line, GUI or no GUI. > >I usually recommend people know a bit about unix and PC hardware before >trying FreeBSD. I find that people who have not used operating systems >of at least two different vendors in the past are likely to hold >confusing assumptions about what an operating system is, which they >have to overcome before progressing with FreeBSD. That's quite hard to do. > >I use FreeBSD for teaching people general unix. The system is installed >and configured specifically for their needs, and the training is >structured in such a way that they enjoy success before tackling more >complex tasks. There is quite a lot to learn before touching on >anything specific to BSD or whatever. When they reach junior >administrator level, they have a pretty good basic understanding of >unix systems in general and FreeBSD in particular, but they are still >nowhere near the point where I would have them install a system alone. >Users don't need to know half of what system administrators know. > >With that in mind, for the isolated home user trying FreeBSD as a first >unix, the task is tremendously difficult considering you have to >successfully install the bloody thing before trying your first unix >command. It's all backwards. From the viewpoint of an educator, that >method of learning FreeBSD is an unsound practice to put it mildly. > >Nevertheless we have here, reading this email right now, hundreds of >FreeBSD users who have done just that. Somehow they managed, through a >combination of tenacity, learning skill, and sheer good luck, to pull >it all together. That's not how it's meant to be. If you have travelled >that painful road and come out the other side, you're amazing, you can >do anything! You might have got there quicker if you'd got yourself >some background first and had a well set up machine to start with, and >you would have arrived here with fewer war wounds, but hey, you're here >now and wiser for the experience. Most raw beginners aren't so lucky. > >Nobody should be afraid to try another operating system for a while, >especially if it is going to help you to learn stuff that you can >transfer to FreeBSD later on. There are a number of more Microsoft-like >unix style systems that are specifically (exclusively?) targeted at the >desktop user. They are easy to install and use (provided you have >exactly the hardware and usage requirements that they predict), and >they have their purpose. FreeBSD happens to have an entirely different >purpose, and that is why I like it so much. > >-- > >Regards, > -*Sue*- > > >To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org >with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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