Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 12:33:33 -0800 From: David Johnson <djohnson@acuson.com> To: Mom <agogol@mediaone.net> Cc: freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: X - Windows system, help! Message-ID: <3A96C91D.5719663E@acuson.com> References: <000801c09dd1$14b69690$64ca1f42@jody>
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> Mom wrote: > > How do i acces the x-windows system. i can only get to the command > prompt. I hate to sound like a broken record, but -newbies is not the mailing list for questions like this. Q: Why can't you even answer a simple question like this? A: Because we have no idea what video card or monitor you are using. Besides which, an improperly configured X can literally destroy your monitor. Q: Well, where do I go to find help? A: The FreeBSD believes in helping those who first help themselves. We hear that even the Big Guy does it that way. The FreeBSD Handbook, cheefully included with your OS, or available online, has an excellent chapter on configuring and using Xfree86. After first reading that section, then you can ask any technical questions to freebsd-questions@freebsd.org. Q: Okay fine, I'll buy that. But what CAN you tell me? A: First, you will need to properly configure XFree86 to work with your hardware. If you went through the complete FreeBSD installation process, there was a step that included this. If this process was successful, then you should be set for the next stuff. If not, use the sysinstall program while logged in as root to get it configured. Second, if you are running too high of a security level in FreeBSD-4.2, X will not run. This tiny bit of information is not included in the documentation, so I do not feel guilty by conveying it to you in the -newbies forum. Third, you need to start X. There are many ways to do this, but I have heard that some people simply use the command "startx". Finally, if the window manager that you chose (during installation) leaves you underwhelmed, I can recommend some others. Blackbox is small, fast, and elegant. Windowmaker is bigger, but still fast and elegant and with more polish. KDE and GNOME are desktops that add a unified look-and-feel, control panels, utilities, etc, to your window manager. KDE comes with its own window manager, but GNOME doesn't, so use the Sawmill window manager with it. There are other great window managers available, but as a newbie, I would save exploring these for later. David To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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