Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 21:56:29 -0400 From: Jud <jud@myrealbox.com> To: Greg 'groggy' Lehey <grog@lemis.com> Cc: Hostmaster@Video2Video.Com, mwvw@adelphia.net, FreeBSD-Questions@FreeBSD.Org Subject: Re: What do we need in a FreeBSD desktop? (was: Peter heads back to M$FT WinBloze [support groups]) Message-ID: <20020729215629.435b4356.jud@myrealbox.com> In-Reply-To: <20020728023016.GA51076@wantadilla.lemis.com> References: <00d301c23504$9bbe0c60$0a01a8c0@mswolf> <20020726210341.N20468-100000@earl-grey.cloud9.net> <20020728023016.GA51076@wantadilla.lemis.com>
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On Sun, 28 Jul 2002 12:00:16 +0930 Greg 'groggy' Lehey <grog@lemis.com> wrote: [snip] >The real > problem I have is knowing which of the over 7,000 ports you want > to install to get "basic" desktop functionality. Some time ago > I created the "instant-workstation" port, but didn't make much > noise about it. instant-workstation basically installs a number > of dependent ports (see below for a list) and then does some > minor configuration. Over the past couple of days I've been > installing a brand new machine (laptop) for a friend, and I've > been looking at the rough edges. Here's what I've found: > > 1. Some of the dependent ports don't build cleanly. This > obviously > requires some attention. > 2. "instant" is a misnomer, at least if you build from source. > I'm > building on a Dell Inspiron 7500 with a 600 MHz processor, > and it takes over 12 hours. > 3. Once it's built, it works "out of the box". I've installed > the > XFree86 4 port, and installation is really nothing more than > this: > > # X -configure > # mv /root/XF86Config.new /etc > # echo exec kdestart > ~me/.xinitrc > > You can then run startx or xdm and end up in a relatively > complete kde environment. > > So what's in instant-workstation? Currently I have: > > acroread > bash > cdrecord > dos2unix > emacs > fetchmail > gs > grip > gimp > gv > gpg > ispell > startkde > mkisofs > mount_smbfs > mutt > netscape > xtset > xmms > xv > > My questions to you: is there anything missing? Has anybody > tried instant-workstation? I'd be interested in suggestions > about how to improve it. > > Greg I haven't tried instant-workstation, so of course I'll rush in where angels fear to tread. One of the instant-workstation ports I have not tried is mutt, though I've read much praise for it and no negatives that I can recall. I wonder, though, whether a gui mail application might be a good choice for this "target market," in addition to, instead of, or as another choice besides mutt. Sylpheed happens to be the one I prefer, and it seems to be well liked by many other users. Speaking as someone who didn't know a thing about Unix a couple of years ago (and hasn't improved on the situation all that much since:), it was very easy to learn. Another place where options might be appreciated is browsers - perhaps Galeon, Opera, Mozilla? And Lynx I think is excellent for getting around on the Net at times when one doesn't want to or can't be in X. Perhaps that's taken care of by w3m (I don't remember ATM whether that's part of the default emacs install)? That brings me to my last and likely most controversial thought. Emacs does everything but bake blueberry muffins, but it might be more intimidating (or puzzling - took me awhile just to understand what "M-x" meant) than useful to someone fairly new to Unix. It does take a while to build and install (and download, for those of us on dial-ups). And the configuration options! - not exactly 'instant.' If it's part of the install, it seems to me users will try it, and may wind up thinking "Jeez, this stuff is hard" as a first impression of FreeBSD. HTH, Jud To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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