Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 23:36:21 -0500 (EST) From: alissa bader <molbloo@interport.net> To: Larry Hawk <larryhawk@sprintmail.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Getting on the internet w/FreeBSD Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.3.96.981219231225.28675C-100000@interport.net> In-Reply-To: <367C7450.E1FDD92B@sprintmail.com>
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Hey there Larry. I read your email and I'd like to offer my opinions on the subject. I'm pretty far from being anything but a total Unix newbie at this point, myself, but I think you might find what I have to say interesting, because I think we come from much the same computer background: I've worked almost exclusively with macs and windows machines ever since I became really interested in computers, about 10 years ago. In order to get your machine connected to the Net, you need to set up PPP. This is not an easy, brainless thing, because you must configure PPP yourself. There are excellent instructions on how to do this in the online FreeBSD manuals, and if you have any further questions on this, just post to this mailing list. You'll find that there are lots of helpful people around. But setting up and getting PPP working is just the start of it. You've got to make sure X is set up correctly so that you can run lots of cool GUI applications. You've got to set up user accounts and learn how to "su" and "sudo." You've got to learn how to shutdown your machine properly--I mean the list goes on forever. You've seriously got to put a lot of work into getting a Unix machine fully functional. It's not something you can do overnight, or even in a few days. The odd thing is, none of it is particularly hard, I don't think, but it's a lot of trial and error, a lot of understanding just how stupid and verbose a computer can be. That's the only way you can get it. And if you get frustrated: hell, think of it this way: everyone had to start somewhere, right? I think after a couple of months of running a FreeBSD system, you'll know so much more about computer internals than you've learned in all your years of screwing around with windows machines and macs. Here's a reading list that you might find useful: The Unix Programming Environment by Kerningham and Pike. VERY useful and easy-to-read. I have to get this book back to my friend before he tracks me down and kills me, because I've had it for god-knows-how-many months. Unix for the Impatient, Abrahams and Larson Unix System Adminstration Handbook, Nemeth, Snyder, Seebass, and Hein Unix in a Nutshell, published by O'Reilly good luck, and don't give up! Think of it this way: at the end of this, you'll have a terrific working system you've completely configured and customized yourself. Not something that was just brainlessly put into a box and handed off to you. --alissa To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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