From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Aug 24 02:01:38 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6F4D216A4CE for ; Tue, 24 Aug 2004 02:01:38 +0000 (GMT) Received: from ns1.tiadon.com (SMTP.tiadon.com [69.27.132.161]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 153B543D4C for ; Tue, 24 Aug 2004 02:01:38 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from kdk@daleco.biz) Received: from [69.27.131.0] ([69.27.131.0]) by ns1.tiadon.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.0); Mon, 23 Aug 2004 20:58:03 -0500 Message-ID: <412AA17B.9070605@daleco.biz> Date: Mon, 23 Aug 2004 21:01:31 -0500 From: "Kevin D. Kinsey, DaleCo, S.P." User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD i386; en-US; rv:1.7) Gecko/20040712 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Jay O'Brien References: <412A99AD.3020806@att.net> In-Reply-To: <412A99AD.3020806@att.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-OriginalArrivalTime: 24 Aug 2004 01:58:03.0870 (UTC) FILETIME=[CABFC7E0:01C4897D] cc: FreeBSD - questions Subject: Re: XFree86 -- next step? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2004 02:01:38 -0000 Jay O'Brien wrote: >I finally have XFree86 working, at least to the point that >I can type "X" and get the expected grid and "X" mouse cursor. > >That in itself doesn't seem very useful, but it works. > >As a learning exercise, which Desktop environment should I >install as a first effort, and how do I run it? > > > Entirely up to you. GNOME and KDE are full featured "desktop environments", and rather large builds; if you just have the hots to get started immediately, something smaller might be the thing; blackbox, fluxbox. Kind of "middle ground" might be XFCE or Enlightenment (and there are literally dozens of others...probably some that are quite good, but I've never tried and maybe not even heard of 'em...) Everything (as you're noticing) is highly configurable, so you learn how and where to do this, that, and the other to get things to look and work the way you want. Oh, and be sure and "read the friendly manual". Some things there are real helpful when wading into X for the first time. (Or at least they were to me.) >I'm referring to the FreeBSD Handbook at: >http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/x11-wm.html >Desktop Environments > >I intend to install Mozilla as a browser, in case that makes >any difference. > > > Not really. Unless you've slow hardware, etc. Mozilla will eat some resources, and if you're running a big DE (KDE or GNOME) and Mozilla and a few other apps on a Pentium II you might not get a very "snappy" response from your box... >Also, what is the mechanism that interprets the "X" command to >run XFree86? > Well, startx(1) is a good one, though other ways exist. Something you might try as a first step. You must be root, of course: %cd /usr/ports/x11-wm/fluxbox %make install clean %cd /usr/ports/www/mozilla %make install clean Then, go to your HOME directory and edit or create ".xinitrc". Start out simple, one line is all that's necessary: exec fluxbox Then, from the CLI console: %startx startx(1) reads a few files in your homedir, ending with .xinitrc, and then executes fluxbox (in this example) after starting the X Server. Blackbox/fluxbox, AFAICR, don't do "iconification" without additional tweaking (more programs). Use the right and middle mouse buttons to access "pop up" type menus. If you've got time, bandwidth, and machine to burn (CPU/RAM, etc.), you could go straight for one of the big DE's. I've never tried KDE, but I'm liking GNOME o.k. All you'd need in .xinitrc is "exec gnome-session". Ports generally install some documentation in /usr/local/share/[portname], /usr/share/[portname], etc. These files are invaluable for learning the basics of getting "up and running" --- look for README or INSTALL, etc. Plus, most have a man page as well, as do all the "system calls", if you will, listed above.... HTH, Kevin Kinsey