Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2002 12:20:59 +0200 From: Roman Neuhauser <neuhauser@bellavista.cz> To: Greg 'groggy' Lehey <grog@lemis.com> Cc: FreeBSD LIST <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: <20020729102059.GA73294@freepuppy.bellavista.cz> In-Reply-To: <20020728023016.GA51076@wantadilla.lemis.com> References: <00d301c23504$9bbe0c60$0a01a8c0@mswolf> <20020726210341.N20468-100000@earl-grey.cloud9.net> <20020728023016.GA51076@wantadilla.lemis.com>
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> Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2002 12:00:16 +0930
> From: Greg 'groggy' Lehey <grog@lemis.com>
> To: Peter Leftwich <Hostmaster@Video2Video.Com>
> Cc: Michael Wells <mwvw@adelphia.net>,
> FreeBSD LIST <FreeBSD-Questions@FreeBSD.Org>
> Subject: What do we need in a FreeBSD desktop? (was: Peter heads back to M$FT WinBloze [support groups])
> The real problem I have is knowing which of the over 7,000 ports you
> want to install to get "basic" desktop functionality.
yes. and this is the problem with stuff like your
instant-workstation port. you can't please everyone, and i dare to
say that any such thing will only please a tiny minority of people.
probably the reason you haven't got much feedback on the port.
> 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.
yes. last time i tried (two months ago), netscape port was broken
(or was it FORBIDDEN for a reason i forgot? dunno)
> 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.
as suggested by someone else before, it could use packages where
possible, but that would make it fall out of the ports system
pretty much.
> 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.
this still makes it lag behind most of linux distros in terms of
"ease of use". the (new) user still has to know to perform these steps.
note that i don't care. i don't use linux for a reason.
> 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?
inevitably, yes. plus there are things *i* don't use on that list.
shell, for example. i don't use bash. if you want to make the port
attractive for me, you have to let me choose my favorite shell.
if, however, i have to select a shell, i can
% (cd /usr/ports/shells/chooseone && make install clean)
just as well. same with the other software.
repeat with all the other programs on the list.
> Has anybody tried instant-workstation? I'd be interested in
> suggestions about how to improve it.
you could perhaps abstract the installed software away into software
categories similar to the /usr/ports directory:
which shell do you want to use? (ash bash tcsh ksh zsh):
which browser do you want to use? (...):
etc. but one can install the ports the usual way just as well.
a big boon would be a possibility to configure the ports from here.
that would probably require a change to the ports system: right now
you can only tell what knobs a port features by reading the
Makefile.
--
FreeBSD 4.6-STABLE
12:03PM up 12 days, 22:22, 4 users, load averages: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
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