Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 20:11:17 -0700 From: Loony Bomber <LOONY@208.25.164.82.pacificlaw.org> To: freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.org Subject: XFreeBSD Install - 4.1-RELEASE #:0 Fri Jul 28 14:30:31 GMT 2000 Message-ID: <39D94E55.6E33BD67@208.25.164.82>
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Ok it's a bad thing to submit to a mailing list I don't subscribe to, but, the FreeBSD Handbook says general comments should be posted here, and I am inspired, dammit. The purpose of this comment is to provide general comments on the installation of FreeBSD - RELEASE 4.1. It took me about one day to get FreeBSD w/ X windows running reliably with a new MB, memory, and CPU's & support for svga, mail, web-browsers, and a smorgasborg of ports. Some components, primarily support for my creative AWE GOLD soundcard and 32x CDROM aren't presently usable. I am still not satisfied I have KDE and Gnome running correctly. I believe I answered the setup and installation questions correctly. It is relevant that this is only the second *nix (FreeBSD) system I've ever done, and, that the only thing I knew about *nix before I started reading the FreeBSD documentation project materials was that a friend I met playing Quake told me to go to FreeBSD.org and that I could download a free operating system that would perform much better as a network router/firewall/gateway/modem device driver (ISDN then, ADSL now) than win nt 4.0 server. Given these qualifications, and the fact that the first router I built on a recycled 286 system (as a lark) really does perform tons better than win nt 4.0 Routing & RAS, I am extemely impressed by the relative ease of using FreeBSD. There's no way I'd recommend win2k server for the role my fBSD plays for the lawfirm/school I admin. Just then for the edification of the people who continue to contribute to the development of this project, it is helpful to describe where a new user such as I found problems: First, the CDROM on the 286 system went in like a charm ... that is, I don't believe I did anything specially related to the CDROM to get it working. That was with version 3.3, which I installed from the CDROM after making the boot floppies and installing them first on the target drive. This time around, with version 4.1, the CDROM didn't get picked up or configured properly automatically during the installation process. The differences are that I installed by booting from the CDROM this time around, and, the system is a dual p3 600 p133 tyan tiger w/ 256 mem. I chose to install xfreebsd with KDE, Gnome, and some ports (I forget which) which use Enlightement or maybe are part of it. This was my first time doing it and I did have problems, which after fussing with the windowmanager, produce not the most pleasing desktop, but, at least something I can get work on. For instance, at first, I didn't know how to get X-Windows running after the installation ended and the system re-booted. Has anyone considered having an option for FreeBSD to prompt people who have installed KDE, Gnome, X-windows support to start the system in X-Windows mode after installation? When I finally figured that startx works better than xwin (or whatever xwin commands I first came across (logically), I was totally confounded by the fact that I now had 4 taskbars on the top and bottom of the screen, two hidden behind others. I'm doing unorthodox things like loading KDE as a non-managed session in windowmanager to get my desktop approximating a single taskbar desktop. In short, the visual installation program didn't provide me with a harmonious desktop. Would it be too hard to get the KDE and Gnome folks together with installation program coders to figure out an improved x-windows installation routine? The sound card didn't go in either. Ok, so ya purposefully wanted to give people incentive to build their own kernels. After all the hard work you put into it, I can see that you might just want to throw up your hands and say, "If ya can't do that, go back to whatever OS ya' came from." Im sorry, what was supposed to be a quick 'helpful' comment is turning into a gripe, which is almost opposite of the reason why I thought I would make my 'contribution.' Please note I said, 'relative ease' above. What I mean by that is unlike windows nt, where you have to go out and buy some book, hire some person, or purchase new software when something MS says works doesn't work, you can at least look up the answers and solve things for yourself, if you have the time and patience. So far I haven't come across anything that I can eventually fix by entering the proper values someplace I never beforehand knew existed. unaloony To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
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