Date: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 07:49:18 -0700 (PDT) From: David Wolfskill <dhw@whistle.com> To: newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: A first encounter with 'vi' Message-ID: <199806181449.HAA09256@pau-amma.whistle.com>
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>Date: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 23:28:41 -0400 (EDT) >From: James <dominus@minos.dyn.ml.org> >However, like it or not, windows DOES have one thing over UNIX. That is >the interface. Do you find it so? I find it quite the opposite. >How hard is it to learn when you turn the thing on and >you see a little yellow arrow moving across the bottom of the screen >saying click here to start? With which button? What do you mean by using a mouse with only 2 buttons? Which button is missing? How do I get the missing button's function? The few times (< a dozen) that I've tried to get anything done in such an environment, I'd generally get an interface I couldn't understand, applications or machines that would hang, or some combination thereof. How stuff could be sold that does that is something that I find mind- boggling. That folks would actually spend money to acquire something that does that is truly incredible. And the goofy little meaningless icons on a low-resolution display don't help, either. [Ref: "low-resolution" meaning that I'm not real happy with the resolution on my ancient Sun 3/60, which is 1120x900.] And the ability to use forms of regular expressions on command lines (in UNIX) is quite useful, powerful, and -- once you get used to it -- inuitive. >I know all the arguments about KDE, CDE, >FVWM95, and such but how many machines have you seen preloaded with those? Well, as a UNIX sysadmin, it's my job to make sure things like that are set up for my colleagues. >How many people ask questions about setting them up? What about just X >alone? X *is* complicated; no question. It's also more than just a little configurable.... :-) I generally invite folks to copy any files in my home directory that are world-readable, including any "dot files" there. >Then how many people have problems with PPP user or god forbid kernel >mode. Then you have to think about PAP and CHAP vs. plaintext passwords. If you're using passwords *without* thinking about them, that's a significant concern.... >Modem init strings? god forbid we use those they came from DOS. I used MODEMs prior to Microsoft's existence (when "DOS" referred to "DOS/360").... But a "MODEM initialization string" should be used for precisely the function described by the name: it's a string to use to initialize a MODEM. Normally, I'll initialize the MODEM for "normal" use (and write that configuration to the MODEM's memory -- NVRAM). Then, if a particular use of the MODEM requires something different, the "chat script" or whatever the application uses can set that.... >These are the issues that should be addressed before something like BSD or >Linux appears in a common household. Well, I could probably be convinced that my household isn't all that "common" -- the machines my wife & I have & use are Suns.... :-) [My involvement with FreeBSD is strictly here at work. And lest I be accused of not being a true "newbie," I've only dealt with FreeBSD since the end of February. I do have a fair amount of other UNIX experience, as well as IBM mainframe experience. IBM PC-type hardware continues to baffle me -- if anything drives me away from FreeBSD, that will be it. By contrast, the Suns are so much easier to work with -- plug things in, and they just work....] david -- David Wolfskill UNIX System Administrator dhw@whistle.com voice: (650) 577-7158 pager: (650) 371-4621 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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