Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 10:38:29 +0100 From: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> To: Timothy Luoma <freebsd@tntluoma.com> Cc: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Got 4.8-REL installed... Now what? Message-ID: <20030924093828.GA82864@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <oprvy30di7nva4ua@smtpx.operamail.com> References: <oprvy30di7nva4ua@smtpx.operamail.com>
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--k1lZvvs/B4yU6o8G Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Tue, Sep 23, 2003 at 06:13:15PM -0400, Timothy Luoma wrote: >=20 > I installed 4.8-Release on my machine, and got the dual boot working with= =20 > WinXP thanks to GAG[1] >=20 > So now I have this shiny new OS sitting there, and I can login, but I=20 > haven't a clue where to begin. I don't know the diff. between KDE and=20 > GNOME or how they relate to Blackbox or Afterstep or any of the others=20 > window managers. (I do have an X11 config file for my computer[2]). >=20 > So does how do Average Newbie Desktop User figure out where to go from=20 > here? As a desktop user, you will need to install some sort of working environment, plus any specific applications that you need. By "working environment" I mean essentially an X window manager and any supporting infrastructure that it requires. This can vary from the minimal (fluxbox, fvwm) to the gargantuan (kde, gnome). See http://www.xwinman.org/ for the definitive guide to X window managers. Personally I like WindowMaker, a nice middleweight WM with a very NeXT-like look'n'feel. As for the applications you want to install, that depends on what you're going to be using the system for. There are (better or worse) examples of most sorts of desktop applications available from ports, and with a little know-how it is generally possible to get most Linux applications to run. However, in order to install any of these software packages, the first thing you will need is an understanding of the ports system and an up-to-date ports tree. Read the OnLamp articles by Dru Levign for the former: http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2003/08/07/FreeBSD_Basics.html http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2003/08/28/FreeBSD_Basics.html http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2003/09/18/FreeBSD_Basics.html and for the latter, install a cvsup(1) package from the FreeBSD ftp servers, and use it to update your copies of the system and ports trees. You can probably just run: # pkg_add -r cvsup The appropriate parts of Appendix A of the handbook should tell you pretty much everything you need to know to start using cvsup(1): http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors.html and a quick perusal of the sample supfiles in /usr/share/examples/cvsup will pay dividends. Cheers, Matthew --=20 Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK --k1lZvvs/B4yU6o8G Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.3 (FreeBSD) iD8DBQE/cWYUdtESqEQa7a0RAqUwAKCQnlGj7v3CSPME4O29hEBSPZGzJwCcDZfZ cKf6A0Yh1m5A2SCIk96wnSc= =E+Ia -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --k1lZvvs/B4yU6o8G--
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