Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 02:27:54 +1000 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Marty Poulin <mpoulin@honk.org> Cc: newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Installing X Message-ID: <19980611022753.65391@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980609162128.17174A-100000@mail.honk.org>; from Marty Poulin on Wed, Jun 10, 1998 at 11:12:45AM -0400 References: <19980606074507.47760@welearn.com.au> <Pine.LNX.3.95.980609162128.17174A-100000@mail.honk.org>
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On Wed, Jun 10, 1998 at 11:12:45AM -0400, Marty Poulin wrote:
> On Sat, 6 Jun 1998, Sue Blake wrote:
>
> > The first steps are basically: install X,
>
> Ok - what would be *really* helpful would be some sort of instructions
> on how to install X. Is it available as a package or a port, what is
> needed in preparation, where to get it... - a complete break
> down of the steps required.
>
> > make sure your path includes X
> > (you'll probably see how to change it if you edit your ~/.profile and log
> > in again), run xf86config as root (very carefully! a wrong answer can fry
> > your monitor so run it again if you made a mistake), and then as a humble
> > user type 'startx' and see if it works. Use Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to get out
> > of X if you can't see another way. If the screen seems happy, use
> > Ctrl-Alt-+ (that's the plus on the numeric keypad) a few times slowly to
> > see how easy it is to cycle through the available resolutions.
>
> That helps too. I assume by including "X" in my path you mean
> "/usr/X11R6"?
Errr... that sounds like it :-) To tell you the truth, I just look in my
~/.profile (the default one) where there's a comment saying you can
include these paths if you want to have X or games. Then I paste them
into the line below, counting and distinguishing between colons and
semicolons carefully. I think it's really silly that these are not
included in the path already, but someone clever must have had a reason
for it.
> > Next: you need to install and configure a 'window manager' to make it work
> > nicely. Out of the box it has an old plain window manager called twm but
> > you're sure to want something better. The one called fvwm2 is good to
> > start with (install from the FreeBSD packages collection) and experiment
> > with other ones after the basics are a bit more familiar. Hint: click on
> > the background with different mouse buttons to get menus, including one
> > that'll let you exit gracefully. By now you'll be interested in colour
> > depth as well as resolution, so try changing to something like
> > 'startx -- -bpp 16' to get more colours
>
> That's really helpful too. I would recommend just pasting the above
> instructions directly into the FAQ or handbook.
>
>
> > Would it help much to have a brief summary like this in the
> > Handbook or FAQ? Raise enough hands and it'll happen.
>
> I think it would definitely help. A brief overview, with a few specifics
> to point people in the right direction would be a great help.
OK, thanks for the feedback. Anyone else got comments? When it's got some
more flesh and polish I'll run it by the -doc people, unless someone else
does a better job first.
> (BTW - I still have yet to successfully install X. Now that I have the
> above info, I will try again this weekend. Just for fun, I'll let you
> know how I make out)
Please do! I'm not in a position to install X right now. Please pass on
any observations that might be too obvious for a non-newbie to see.
> I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
> - Confucius
I hear and I forget. I see and I forget. I do and I forget.
- Confused
--
Regards,
-*Sue*-
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