From owner-freebsd-newbies Mon Mar 15 17:38:13 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Received: from cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com (cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com [24.2.89.207]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 275291535E for ; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 17:37:21 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from cjc@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com) Received: (from cjc@localhost) by cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com (8.9.3/8.8.8) id UAA01899; Mon, 15 Mar 1999 20:36:56 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from cjc) From: "Crist J. Clark" Message-Id: <199903160136.UAA01899@cc942873-a.ewndsr1.nj.home.com> Subject: Re: Query / Laptop Install In-Reply-To: <3.0.6.32.19990315165947.008f51a0@mail.bfm.org> from "G. Adam Stanislav" at "Mar 15, 99 04:59:47 pm" To: zen@buddhist.com (G. Adam Stanislav) Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 20:36:56 -0500 (EST) Cc: Gus@Economics.net, freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Reply-To: cjclark@home.com X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL40 (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org G. Adam Stanislav wrote, > At 15:20 15-03-1999 -0500, Edwin Gustafson wrote: > >My solution was to just reinstall the system, which may not be convenient > >if you're installing from floppies, as Larry aparently is. If anyone can > >enighten me about how to gauge how much disk space a package will require > >before installing it, I'd be grateful. > > There does not seem to be an easy way of determining it beforehand. One > thing that can help is to go to the ftp site (or study the CD ROM if you > have one) and see how many files are in the directory for whatever > distribution you want to install. > > Those files always start with the .aa extension, then go to .ab, .ac, etc, > all the way to a theoretical .zz. > > Although this will not tell you exactly how much disk space you need, you > can estimate that if there are twice as many files in one distribution > directory as in another one, that distribution will require *roughly* twice > as much disk space. Note that each of those files, e.g. bin.aa, bin.ab, ..., is 2.88 MB, exactly what fits on a 2.88 floppy. Counting files tells you how many floppies you would need. Also realize the data in the files is compressed so it will take up more space when extracted. > Another thing you can do (with a new install) is to install just the > "minimum" installation which will give you nothing but the > binaries. I'd suggest binaries and manpages for the bare minimum. Then, depending on your preference, move to X binaries or to source distributions. I seem to recall the original poster said he had 500 MB? There really is not too much to worry about. You can install the basic binary, X binary, manpages, the ports, and the kernel sources without a problem. If you need the sources later, CVSup them and move to STABLE at the same time. IIRC, I'd be more concerned about 16 MB of RAM than 500 MB of HD. X might be a bear with that. > When > it is done, choose to install additional packages one at a time. That way > at least you know exactly what you have installed. I wish I did it that > way. I went for "all" and eight-nine hours later I lost carrier. Now I do > not know which packages are installed and which are not. (I did it > overnight, so I was not sitting at computer taking notes.) Which distribution was the screen stuck on when you found it in the morning? -- Crist J. Clark cjclark@home.com To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message