Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2011 17:45:57 -1000 From: Al Plant <noc@hdk5.net> To: Lars Eighner <luvbeastie@larseighner.com> Cc: scott mcclellan <rockabyeinn@yahoo.com>, "freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: new to os Message-ID: <4E4DDC75.7020503@hdk5.net> In-Reply-To: <alpine.BSF.2.00.1108182221410.1428@abbf.6qbyyneqvnyhc.pbz> References: <1313705889.77615.YahooMailNeo@web45712.mail.sp1.yahoo.com> <alpine.BSF.2.00.1108182221410.1428@abbf.6qbyyneqvnyhc.pbz>
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Lars Eighner wrote: > On Thu, 18 Aug 2011, scott mcclellan wrote: > >> I'm looking to try something different with my machine (or maybe I'm >> going >> through a midlife crisis). Currently run Wimdows (point and click), and >> would like to gravitate back to DOS (this is a thing of the ancient past >> for me 30 years - on a TRS-80). I know remember extremely little of OS >> vernacular. > > The main problem with DOS is lack of applications. If it was not so, > I would be running it myself. You might, for example, still have your copy > of WP 5 -- I do. But printers that work with the printer drivers are now > museum pieces. There are work-arounds for this sort of thing -- including > the hobby of maintaining ancient hardware -- but as for a working > machine to > do anything practical, there are stumbling blocks like this at every turn. > >> Am I biting off more than I can chew, or is there a OS commands for >> dummies out there, or does FreeBSD have such a critter that one can go >> through. > > Of course there are still many old DOS tutorials online in various archives > and some games and stuff. But now you are asking about FreeBSD, I think. > > One of the virtues of all of the unix-like systems (the BSDs and > Linuxices) > is that there are many maintained command-line applications, and the basic > stuff is well-domuented with the online manual (man command). These > applications are very similar from one BSD or Linux system to another, and > are often compiled from the same source code. They all have true > multiprocessing so you can switch from one command line environment > (virtual > terminal) to another with a keystroke. They are a little short of > command-line (launched) graphics programs (viewers, paint, etc.) but they > have a choice of GUIs, some of which are very lightweight, when you have to > have graphics, and you can switch between the GUI and a command line > virtual > terminal with a keystroke. > >> I'll pour through the FAQ and got hrough the online manuals for now. But >> it all seems greek. Can someone point me in a diresction to degreek this >> stuff for me. > > No ONE thing comes to mind. There are some web versions of the man command > online, which is a good place to start. But the best thing seems to me is > to find some disk space and make a small installation. Start by running > > #man man > > and go from there. > > > Aloha Lars, You mentioned WP5 in this thread. I have some docs on disks that were created in WP5. You know any FreeBSD based app like abiword that can read them for transfer to a contemporary program? -- ~Al Plant - Honolulu, Hawaii - Phone: 808-284-2740 + http://hawaiidakine.com + http://freebsdinfo.org + + http://aloha50.net - Supporting - FreeBSD 7.2 - 8.0 - 9* + < email: noc@hdk5.net > "All that's really worth doing is what we do for others."- Lewis Carrol
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